Cold War and Asia

1. China
a. Japan defeated in WWII
i. Civil war between Guomindang and Communists
1. Briefly worked together
2. Outcome?
a. Once Japan was expelled out of China, the two went at it
i. Winner: Communists
ii. People’s Republic of China (1949)
1. Leader: Mao Zedong
iii. The Guomindang fled to Taiwan
1. Republic of China
b. Both governments said that they were the legitimate rulers of China and there was only
one China
i. Guomindang took all the gold and the art from ancient China to Taiwan
c. Neither side recognized each other as being legitimate
i. US recognized Taiwan to be legit
1. Thought that the communists were the puppets of the Soviet Union
d. Why did the Communists win?
i. Got the support of the Chinese peasants who were desperate for land reform
1. Majority of the population
2. Were able to appeal in simple, easy to understand slogans
a. Supported the creation of the simplified Chinese script
i. Promotion of mass literacy
ii. Women
1. Were egalitarian
a. didn’t like Confucianism
iii. Party discipline
1. People were very firmly committed
a. Everyone was very loyal
2. The Long March  helped people become dedicated, became
heartened revolutionaries
e. Mao’s Policies
i. Military influence in nearby areas
1. The Red Army extends its influence and consolidates its control over its
territory
a. Satellite regimes in Tibet and Mongolia
i. Tibet was extremely unhappy, Dalai Lama fled into
Northern Asia
1. Felt discriminated against
b. Theoretically, there was freedom of religion, but they were
atheist countries
i. There was persecution during different time periods
c. Korean War (originally from USA and Soviet Union), Vietnam
War
ii. Rift with Soviet Union
1. Mao didn’t see himself as anyone’s tool
2. Independence and self sufficiency
a. Briefly went into war over some territory
Cold War and Asia
3. Rather than trying to create economic ties, it was better for China to
create economic independence and self sufficiency
iii. Economy
1. Land redistribution
a. After the rift with the Soviet Union, he embarks on a program
called the “Great Leap Forward”
2. Great Leap Forward (1958)
a. Industrialization through small scale production in rural
communities
i. Not through big factories
ii. In practice, people could make iron and stuff in their
back yard
b. Complete disaster
i. No one knew the technology that was required
c. Collectivization of agriculture
i. Pissed off the peasants because they had just gotten
land
d. Effects?
i. Awful
ii. Economy basically plummeted
1. Country plunged into mass famine
2. Mao refused to acknowledge defeat and tried
to find scapegoats
a. Ex: sparrows  were all killed off
iv. Population policy
1. At first, believed that everyone should have as many kids as possible
a. Recognized that it wasn’t a good idea
b. In the 1960’s  One Child Policy
i. Eventually, this was relaxed for couples in wealthy
urban areas
ii. Primarily for peasants
iii. They already had a huge population
c. Boys were privileged over girls
i. However, there was no way of ensuring that it was a girl
1. Led to surplus of girls in orphanages,
infanticide, and abortion
v. Cultural Revolution (1965-1968)
1. Started like the Purges
a. Doubts and questions about Mao
b. Began politically marginalizing him
2. Goal: destruction of state apparatus on path to communism
a. People who were fiercely devoted to Mao
i. Fused with idealism and enthusiasm
ii. Attacked everyone who might be seen as more
conservative
1. Anyone that was associated with the state
a. Included diplomat, artists, teachers
3. Cult of Mao
Cold War and Asia
a. Little Red Book
i. Sayings by Mao
4. Methods
a. Who were the targets?
i. Once they started targeting the military, the people
turned against him
5. Outcome: pragmatists triumphed
6. Mao dies in 1976
f. China after Mao
i. Normalized relations with the US (1972)
1. Nixon visited China
a. Sees an opportunity in China
b. WE GOT PANDAS! <3
2. Why?
a. China and Soviet Union still hate each other
i. Détente
1. Limiting the number of nuclear weapons each
side has, etc
ii. Taiwan
1. Recognized Taiwan but not PRC
a. The PRC joins the UN
i. Considers Taiwan  renegade breakaway province
2. No hostile actions against Taiwan
a. Overtly stated that they were the military thing for Taiwan
i. Taiwan is a democracy has strong economic ties with
mainland China
iii. Private enterprise
1. Foreign investment  became a state capitalist society
a. Communist Party elites are the richest
iv. One-party state
1. Strict political control
a. When people began to advocate for greater relaxation in the
late 1980’s
i. The Communist Party squashed all the
rebellions/liberals
1. Tiananmen Square (1989)
2. Wanted more freedom of press, etc
a. The government brought in tanks
v. WTO – World Trade Organization
1. A group of countries that agree to abide by a certain set of rules
a. Lessen tariffs on imports  overall idea
2. Had to agree on some economic reforms
vi. Gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council
2. Korea
a. Occupied by Japan before/during WWII
i. Comfort women  coercion of Korean women as forced prostitutes
b. Partitioned by US and USSR after war along 38 th parallel
i. Two new countries established (1948)
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1. North: Communist
a. Capital: Pyongyang
2. South: not communist
a. Capital: Seoul
c. North Korea invaded (1950)
i. US sent troops to help South Korea
1. Alarmed China, who sent troops in
d. War ended in stalemate (1953)
i. DMZ  demilitarized military zone
1. Today = flashpoint (with nukes)
a. North: repressive communist dictatorship
b. South: dictatorship until mid 1980’s  now a democracy
e. Creation of SEATO
i. South east asian treaty organization
3. Vietnam
a. French control from late 18th century onward
i. Opium and alcohol
1. Had the monopoly  everyone got addicted
b. Resistance to French control
i. Educated middle class  from civilizing missions
1. Wanted autonomy
2. French response = repression
ii. Ho Chi Minh
1. Leader of the communists
a. Started out as a nationalist
b. Communist Party = Viet Minh (Viet Cong)
2. Educated in both Paris and Moscow
c. Conquered by Japan in WWII
d. Ho Chi Minh helped oust Japanese from Vietnam
i. Declared independence for Vietnam
1. Had been part of French Indo China
a. French response: determined to hang on and sent in troops
ii. Communists fought back
1. Extensive use of guerilla warfare h
2. Aid from China
a. Alarm bells in the US  communists!
3. Defeated at Dienbienphu (1954)
a. Geneva Peace conference = division into North and South
i. North = Communists (Ho Chi Minh)
ii. South = More supportive of capitalism and Western
interests
e. Front in the Cold War
i. Eisenhower’s domino theory
1. US supported anticommunist govt. in the south
a. Avoided elections that would have favored Ho Chi Minh
i. Led to guerilla warfare in the South
1. Those that were sympathetic to Ho Chi Minh
rebelled (aided by the north)
Cold War and Asia
a. Additional aid from China and Soviet
Union
i. China and USSR fight as well
ii. Escalation (1965-1973)
1. Sent advisors, then troops
a. Up to 500,000 US troops
b. Started during the late Eisenhower and ended with Kennedy,
but LBJ escalates the war dramatically
2. LBJ uses planes to extensively bomb N. Vietnam (carpet bombing)
a. Napalm  gel form of gasoline
3. Quagmire
a. Bogged down and can’t get out