Rebirth and Revolution: Nation-Building in East Asia and the Pacific Rim 1945-2000

1. Rebirth and Revolution: Nation-Building in East Asia and the Pacific Rim 1945-2000

2. Post-War Asia: Occupied Territory • USA: Japan, Philippines, South Korea • USSR: North Korea • Guomindang: Taiwan • France: Southeast Asia (Indo-China) • Britain: Indian subcontinent

3. Japanese Recovery • US occupation until 1952. • Major Reforms • War crimes trials • Diet reestablished as supreme body • Emperor made figurehead • Women granted suffrage • Military disbanded: Article 9 • Unions allowed

4. The Japanese “Economic Miracle” • Government planning along with capitalism. • Emphasis on hard work, loyalty, and group responsibility for quality. • Confucian values. • Export of technology for resources.

5. Continuities in Japanese society • Group over individual. • Shame and honor. • Women’s status not equal to men. • Respect for government authority.

6. Asian Tigers of the Pacific Rim • South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan (ROC). • Followed similar economic models as Japan.

7. Cold War in Asia Korea • North Korea: Led by Stalinist Kim Il-Sung. • South Korea: Parliamentary capitalist democracy. • North invades South in 1950. • UN action. • 1953 Armistice. • South prosperous and global trader; North destitute and isolated.

8. Vietnam • French control Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) by the 1890s. • French exploitation created strong resentment and famines. • Western-educated elites fought French discrimination. • Nationalist elites lead violent revolution. • Comintern funded Communists (Viet Minh) led by Ho Chi Minh fought French and Japanese (WWII) imperialists.

9. After WWII, Communist controlled the North; French the South. • UN partitioned Vietnam after French defeat. • US supported non-communist dictatorship in South Vietnam, who worked to crush the Vietcong (Southern Communists). • US sent troops to stop North from taking the South from 1964-1973. • In 1975, the North captured the South after the US withdrew.

10. Vietnam Since 1975. • Marxist-Leninist policies adopted. • Opposition suppressed. • Economic stagnation. • “Boat People” escape. • Communism spilled over into Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot. • Privatization in the late 1980s has helped the economy.

11. Chinese Communist Revolution • Mao Zedong and the Communists take power in 1949. • Cooperate with the Soviets until late 1950s. • 5-year plans adopted. • Land redistributed. • Industrial collectives created. • Heavy industry emphasized. • Rejects Lenin’s elitist revolution for a revolution of the peasants. • 1957 purge after call for openness.

12. The Great Leap Forward 1958 • Focused on agriculture. • Created enormous collective farms. • Peasant resistance led to famine and death of 20 million (hungry ghosts). • Mao lost post as Chairman.

13. The Cultural Revolution 1965 • Mao uses China’s youth to secure his power and remove all traces of the traditional order. • The Cult of Mao and the Little Red Book. • The Red Guard and attacks on elite. • Schools and businesses closed. • Families broken up. • Red Guard gets out of control.

15. Women in Communist China • Legal equality established. • Arranged marriages less common. • Worked in industry. • Received an education. • China is still male dominated despite gains.

16. The Struggle for Control after Mao’s Death in 1976 • Gang of Four (led by Jiang Qing) seize power. • Deng Xiaoping and reformers imprison Gang of Four.

17. Deng initiates the Four Modernizations. • Builds up industry, education system, scientific research and defense. • Allows elements of capitalism: economic boom. • Allows foreign investment and western influence. • Institutes One-Child Policy. • Does not allow political or religious freedom: Tiananmen Square.