Birth and Revolution: Nation-Building in East Asia and the Pacific Rim
Chapter 35 Reading Guide
1. What happened to Japan after World War II? What effect did the U.S. occupation have on
Japan? Which political party was the most important?
2. How did Japan revive its economy? What were the characteristics of the new economy?
3. What was Korea like after the war?
4. What happened to Taiwan?
5. What were common themes in the Pacific Rim at the new problems they faced? Who are the
“little tigers”?
6. What accounts for the enormous economic growth of Japan and the Pacific Rim after 1945?
7. What happened to Chiang Kai-shek?
8. How did the Communists under Mao come into power?
9. How did Mao rule China? What was the “Great Leap Forward”? What was the Cultural
Revolution?
10. Who came to power after Mao? How did China change under its new leader?
11. Why did the communists achieve permanent success in China?
12. How did France gain control of Vietnam?
13. What happened in Vietnam after the war? How did it become communist? What happened
after the Vietnam war?
14. What gains did women achieve in China, Japan, and the Pacific Rim states after 1945?