Japanese Occupation and Recovery: America’s Role Essay

Introduction

Despite the overall positive impact of the American intervention in the post-war reconstruction of Japan, the means by which they have achieved all of these improvements cause ambiguous evaluation many years later. Historians of the United States are now far more likely than in the past to treat the Occupation as a questionable imperialist venture.¹ The international policy of the USA demands the rigorous analysis not only in the context of the occupation of Japan but also concerning other countries of Asia involved in the conflicts during the post-war period.

Japanese Occupation and Recovery

Japan’s position at the end of the Second World War was catastrophic. Massive bombardments at the end of the collision brought terrible destruction. The main concern of the United States was how to prevent Japan from becoming an enemy again. It was necessary to promote the creation of an economic system that would allow Japan to develop without using external aggression. This system could only be a market economy.

Given the fact that the Japanese did not have any democratic traditions in the Western sense of the word, it was not easy to build its basics for them. In 1946, the Constitution of Japan was adopted, legally enshrining some important democratic achievements of the Japanese people.² Under the command of General MacArthur, the U.S. mission pursued a comprehensive policy of rebuilding the country. By the end of the twentieth century, Japan had finally transformed from a militaristic state into a peaceful, stable developing country.

Sino-American Relations

The internal political situation in China was characterized by the confrontation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China. The US supported the Kuomintang by helping to transport Kuomintang troops to Northern China after the allied victory over Japan. Taiwan became the largest US military base in the Pacific region. Due to the complications caused by the Caribbean crisis and its consequences, relations between China and the United States were deteriorating.

By the early 70-es, bilateral relations began to improve. On February 1972, President Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai of the People’s Republic of China held peace talks that put an end to conflicts over some international interests of both countries.³

The two sides agreed that countries, regardless of their social systems, should conduct their relations on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, nonaggression against other nations, noninterference in the internal affairs of other states, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.⁴ The talks affected some countries involved in the conflict, such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Pakistan.

India and Pakistan During the Cold War

The conflict between India and Pakistan is a protracted armed confrontation that continues since 1947 when these countries gained independence. ‘Independence Day’ was, then, in South Asia a loaded term which, after 1947, continued to have complex and difficult meanings for those who had lived through it.⁵ Three major wars and many minor conflicts have already occurred during this time. It has not been possible to reach an agreement so far, moreover, at the beginning of the XXI century relations between these countries only worsened.

The main cause of the conflict between India and Pakistan is the dispute over the Kashmir region. Its division is not fixed by any formal agreements; it is a crucial source of tension between the countries that occupy it. As a result of the first Kashmir collision, India gained control over two-thirds of the region; the rest went to Pakistan. At various times, the United States has supported different parties to the conflict; relations with Pakistan are deteriorating more than ever because of the US suspicions of Pakistan’s support for terrorists.

The Korean War and the Development of the Two Koreas

The division of North and South Korea begins after the defeat of Japan and its colonies in World War II. The US was the first to propose guardianship. It was assumed that this measure would contribute to the optimal development of ways of formation of Korean independence. The division of Korea and the delimitation of the zone of responsibility were made on the 38 Parallel. By creating a zone of responsibility, the victorious countries divided Korea into the Northern and Southern parts.

Each zone of influence had its own political system, protected by the initiators of the division. During the talks with China in 1972, the American side headed by President Nixon spoke about the attitude to the Korean conflict. “The United States will maintain its close ties with help and support for the Republic of Korea; the United States will support efforts of the Republic of Korea to seek a relaxation of tension and increased communication in the Korean peninsula”.⁶ The Americans were able to protect the South of the country, but the division of Korea and the split of one people became a problem that is not solved even now.

Vietnam’s Struggle for Unification

In the first half of the XX century Vietnam was a colony of France. This order was broken by the Second World War. First, Vietnam was occupied by Japan; then there were supporters of communism, as opposed to the French imperialist authorities.

The Declaration of independence of Vietnam from 1945 stated: “The truth is that we have wrested our independence from the Japanese and not from the French.⁷” These supporters of national independence received strong support from China. There, immediately after the war, the Communists ‘ power was finally established, taking control over the North of the country. In 1957, an internal confrontation between the two regimes began.

America’s protracted battle with Vietnam could not stop for years because of partisans. The main task of the Americans in the fight against the guerrillas was to protect Saigon. Washington fundamentally deepened the U.S. commitment to Saigon by initiating the regular bombing of North Vietnam and by sending American ground combat troops to South Vietnam.⁸ By 1971, the Americans stopped major operations and gradually began to withdraw the army from the country. The US army left Vietnam under the Paris peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973; in April 1975, the Communists finally established their power over the territory of Vietnam.⁹ Although both sides of the conflict had suffered considerable losses, Vietnam had been able to defend the socialist unification of the legal system.

Conclusion

The activities of the United States of America in Asia were subordinated to some ideological and economic reasons, mostly related to the suppression of Communist hotbeds that erupted around the world. The confrontation with the Soviet Union, which was conducted in foreign territories often with the help of puppet governments, led to irreversible changes. They affected not only the territorial division in Asian countries but also multiple ideological, cultural and economic aspects.

Bibliography

“Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XVII, China, 1969–1972“. 2018. Web.

Hein, Laura. “Revisiting America’s Occupation of Japan.” Cold War History 11, no. 4 (2011): 579-599. Web.

“Japan Under American Occupation”. YouTube video, 44:50. Posted by Documentary World, 2012. Web.

Khan, Yasmin. “The Ending of An Empire: From Imagined Communities to Nation States in India and Pakistan.” The Round Table 97, no. 398 (2008): 695-704. Web.

Lin, Mao. “China and the Escalation of the Vietnam War: The First Years of the Johnson Administration.” Journal of Cold War Studies 11, no. 2 (2009): 35-69. Web.

Minh, Ho Chi. Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960-1962. Web.

Footnotes

1. Laura Hein, “Revisiting America’s Occupation of Japan,” Cold War History 11, no. 4, (2011): 584. Web.
2. “Japan Under American Occupation,” YouTube video, 44:50, posted by Documentary World, 2012. Web.
3. “Foreign Relations of the United States, Volume XVII, China, 1969–1972,” 2018. Web.
4. “Foreign Relations of the United States, Volume XVII, China, 1969–1972.”
5. Yasmin Khan, “The Ending of An Empire: From Imagined Communities to Nation States in India and Pakistan,” The Round Table 97, no. 398, (2008): 702. Web.
6. “Foreign Relations of the United States, Volume XVII, China, 1969–1972.”
7. Ho Chi Minh, Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. (Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960-1962). Web.
8. Mao Lin, “China and the Escalation of the Vietnam War: The First Years of the Johnson Administration,” Journal of Cold War Studies 11, no. 2, (2009): 35. Web.
9. Lin, “China and the Escalation of the Vietnam War,” 61.