2/25 3/2
Developments in Asia & Indochina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l
b0aZc97dKc
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At first US had not been
worried about Chinese
Civil War between the
nationalist Guomindang
(GMD) & Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)
Japanese aggression first
against Manchuria and
then against mainland
China led US gov’t to
increase support for Jiang
Jieshi’s nationalist gov’t
after 1941
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Overview:
1945 – US & USSR hoped
China could form a
coalition gov’t
Truce broke in early 1946
US continued support of
Jiang Jieshi and as
communist victory
seemed imminent, US
began to slow aid
Communist China was
seen as a defeat of
Truman’s policy of
containment
1950 – Sino Soviet Treaty
increased US concerns
and contributed to the
McCarthy ‘witch hunts’
US would give aid to
France in their struggle
against communist led
Viet Minh in Indochina
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Early Soviet
Involvement
◦ 1921 CCP (Chinese
Communist Party) is
formed & advised by the
Bolshevik gov’t of
SU..Sun Yat-sen would
pass away in 1925 &
Jiang Jieshi succeeded
Sun Yat-sen & moves the
country to the right
(democratic)
1937 US had not placed
much importance on
events in China
Japan’s invasion of China
causes concern because
of US interest in Pacific
region
China would be liberated
from Japenese control
with the dropping
atomic bombs on
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
US attitude toward communism in
China
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US does not want
CCP to take control –
send aid and troops
to key cities
Marshall Mission –
create a coalition
gov’t backed by US &
SU
Civil War between
CCP & GMD 1946
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US sent $200 million
in aid to China and
Jiang Jieshi to fight
off CCP but in 1947
Jiang flees to Taiwan
as capital city Nanjing
falls to CCP & Mao
proclaims the birth of
the new People’s
Republic of China
US Involvement in China
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August 1949 – SU explodes first atomic
device
One month later China falls to
communism
No longer threat of nuclear monopoly
enough to contain communism
Truman’s gov’t scene as weak
Mao & Stalin sign 30 Year Treaty of
Friendship, Alliance & Mutual Assistance
Impact of communist victory in
China
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Senator Joseph
McCarthy’s anticommunist crusade
within the US
‘Red Scare’ –
suspicions of people
working within our
country to aid SU
McCarthy claimed he
had a list of 205
State Department
officials who were
members of the
Communist Party
McCarthyism
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Later he would
reduce # to 57
Red Scare became
more hysterical after
the start of the
Korean War
1946 – Congress
made increasing use
of the House UnAmerican Activities
Committee (HUAC)
◦ McCarthy used HUAC in
his campaign against
communism in the US
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In response to the 1949
events of Asia Truman
called for revision of Cold
War policies
NSC – 68 is a document
that claimed SU as a
military threat because of
its commitment to world
wide revolution and its
status as a totalitarian
dictatorship
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Called for a HUGE
increase in military
strength
Historian Walter LaFeber
points to this document
as key element of the
Cold War
Expand its conventional
and nuclear forces
Containment – be
replaced with
confrontation - ‘roll back’
of communism across the
world
◦ In Asia, Europe, and
eventually Soviet Union
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NSC-68
US permanently have a
powerful military
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Cold War tensions in Asia
shifted from China to
Korea, which had been
divided in 1945 at the
38th Parallel (for purpose
of dealing with Japanese
troops)
North Korea – Kim Il Sung
supported by SU – US
believed Kim was merely
Stalin’s puppet, as part of
Soviet Union attept to
world domination
South Korea – Syngman
Rhee supported by US
Korean War
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Communist North attacks
the South in attempt to
reunify country
SU had been boycotting
participation in UN
Security Council…UN
agrees to send army to
help South
North had early
victories…pushed back by
US General Douglas
MacArthur
As US / UN forces drive
up the peninsula and
invade North Korea
 This was a clear sign
the US had moved past
its containment policy
 Mao wanted to stay out
of conflict but feared of
a US invasion of
mainland China – China
gets involved on North
Korean side
 MacArthur calls for
nuclear weapons vs.
China
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Korean War
Stalemate in the war
sets in and an armistice
is signed in 1953
 US begun to arrange a
series of military
alliances in the Pacific,
designed to secure
what it called
Defensive Perimeter
 Crucial to this was the
reconstruction of Japan
– vast industrial
potential…US gave
$500 million in aid to
rebuild
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ANZUS Pact – US support against
communist activities in Pacific Region
while Australia and New Zealand promised
to help US against any military aggression
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Korean War Impacts – increased military
spending, becomes global phenomenon,
US takes role as global ‘policeman’
against communism
Treaties
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Who were the two political parties in China?
Who were the leaders?
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Who did the US support in China?
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What did NSC-68 call for?
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What were the impacts of the Korean War?
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Why was the rebuilding of Japan seen as
crucial?
Exit Card