Asia Aftermath of World War II

1 asia

1.1 china
1.2 korea
1.3 malaya
1.4 french indochina
1.5 dutch east indies

asia

world map of colonization @ end of second world war in 1945

in asia, surrender of japanese forces complicated split between east , west movement toward national self-determination in european colonial territories.

china


generalissimo chiang kai-shek, leader of chinese nationalist kuomintang

as agreed @ yalta conference, soviet union went war against japan 3 months after defeat of germany. soviet forces invaded manchuria. end of manchukuo puppet state , japanese settlers forced leave china. soviet union dismantled industrial base in manchuria built japanese in preceding years. manchuria became base communist chinese forces because of soviet presence.

after war, kuomintang (kmt) party (led generalissimo chiang kai-shek) , communist chinese forces resumed civil war, had been temporarily suspended when fought against japan. fight against japanese occupiers had strengthened popular support among chinese communist guerrilla forces while weakened kmt, depleted strength fighting conventional war. full-scale war between opposing forces broke out in june 1946. despite u.s. support kuomintang, communist forces victorious , established people s republic of china (prc) on mainland. kmt forces retreated island of taiwan in 1949. hostilities had largely ceased in 1950.

with communist victory in civil war, soviet union gave claim military bases in china had been promised western allies during world war ii. defeat of us-backed kmt led debate in united states in government responsible this, debate commonly labeled lost china?

the outbreak of korean war diverted attention of prc @ same time bolstered support chiang kai-shek, 2 main factors prevented prc invading taiwan. intermittent military clashes occurred between prc , taiwan 1950-1979. taiwan unilaterally declared civil war on in 1991, no formal peace treaty or truce exists , prc officially sees taiwan breakaway province rightfully belongs , has expressed opposition taiwanese independence. so, tensions between 2 states has decreased on time example chen-chiang summits (2008-2011).

sino-american relations (between prc , us) continued hostile until president nixon visited china in 1972. point relations between them have improved on time although tension , rivalry remain end of cold war , prc s distancing communist ideology.

korea


evolution of border between 2 koreas, yalta soviet-american 38th parallel division stalemate of 1953 persists of today

at yalta conference, allies agreed undivided post-war korea placed under four-power multinational trusteeship. after japan s surrender, agreement modified joint soviet-american occupation of korea. agreement korea divided , occupied soviets north , americans south.

korea, formerly under japanese rule, , had been partially occupied red army following soviet union s entry war against japan, divided @ 38th parallel on orders of war department. military government in southern korea established in capital city of seoul. american military commander, lt. gen. john r. hodge, enlisted many former japanese administrative officials serve in government. north of military line, soviets administered disarming , demobilisation of repatriated korean nationalist guerrillas had fought on side of chinese nationalists against japanese in manchuria during world war ii. simultaneously, soviets enabled build-up of heavy armaments pro-communist forces in north. military line became political line in 1948, when separate republics emerged on both sides of 38th parallel, each republic claiming legitimate government of korea. culminated in north invading south, start of korean war 2 years later.

malaya

labour , civil unrest broke out in british colony of malaya in 1946. state of emergency declared colonial authorities in 1948 outbreak of acts of terrorism. situation deteriorated full-scale anti-colonial insurgency, or anti-british national liberation war insurgents referred it, led malayan national liberation army (mnla), military wing of malayan communist party. malayan emergency endure next 12 years, ending in 1960. in 1967, communist leader chin peng reopened hostilities, culminating in second emergency lasted until 1989.

french indochina

events during world war ii in colony of french indochina (consisting of modern-day states of vietnam, laos , cambodia) set stage first indochina war in turn led vietnam war.

during world war ii, vichy french aligned colonial authorities cooperated japanese invaders. communist-controlled common front viet minh (supported allies) formed among vietnamese in colony in 1941 fight independence of vietnam, against both japanese , prewar french powers. after vietnamese famine of 1945 support viet minh bolstered front launched rebellion, sacking rice warehouses , urging vietnamese refuse pay taxes. because french colonial authorities started hold secret talks free french, japanese interned them 9 march 1945. when japan surrendered in august, created power vacuum, , viet minh took power in august revolution, declaring independent democratic republic of vietnam. however, allies (including soviet union) agreed area belonged french. nationalist chinese forces moved in north , british south (as french unable themselves) , handed power french, process completed march 1946. attempts integrate democratic republic of vietnam french rule failed , viet minh launched rebellion against french rule starting first indochina war same year (the viet minh organized common fronts fight french in laos , cambodia).

the war ended in 1954 french withdrawal , partition of vietnam intended temporary until elections held. democratic republic of vietnam held north while south vietnam formed separate republic in control of ngo dinh diem backed in refusal hold elections us. communist party of south organized common front nlf fight unite south , north under democratic republic of vietnam , began vietnam war, ended democratic republic of vietnam conquering south in 1975.

dutch east indies


a soldier of indian armoured regiment examines light tank used indonesian nationalists , captured british forces during fighting in surabaya.

japan invaded , occupied indonesia during war , replaced of dutch colonial state. although top positions held japanese, internment of dutch citizens meant indonesians filled many leadership , administrative positions. following japanese surrender in august 1945, nationalist leaders sukarno , mohammad hatta declared indonesian independence. 4 , half-year struggle followed dutch tried re-establish colony, using significant portion of marshall plan aid end. dutch directly helped uk forces sought re-establish colonial dominions in asia. uk kept 35,000 japanese surrendered personnel under arms fight indonesians.

although dutch forces re-occupied of indonesia s territory, guerrilla struggle ensued, , majority of indonesians, , international opinion, favoured indonesian independence. in december 1949, netherlands formally recognised indonesian sovereignty.