CONTINUITY AND CHANGE LEADING TO THE 21 ST CENTURY IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ASIA STANDARD:SS7H3 THE STUDENT WILL ANALYZE CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ASIA LEADING TO THE 21 ST CENTURY A. DESCRIBE HOW NATIONALISM LED TO INDEPENDENCE IN INDIA AND VIETNAM

NATIONALISM Nationalism occurs when people of a country are strongly devoted to their country. It is when a country controlled by a foreign country desires political independence from that foreign country.

The people of India desired such freedom from Great Britain. Great Britain had controlled India for almost 350 years. Nationalism began in India during the 18 th Century. Their Nationalist leader was an unlikely candidate. Mohandis Gandhi was a very small mild mannered holy man. He led the country in their non-violent passive resistance of British dominance. He was called “Mohatma” which meant “great soul.” HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1948 BY ONE OF HIS FELLOW HINDUS FOR HIS ATTEMPTS TO BRING HINDUS AND MUSLIMS TOGETHER.

He led non-violent resistance to British rule and domination that led to the creation of a free and independent India and Pakistan. A Hindu himself, he tried hard to keep India and Pakistan together although the Hindus and Muslims fought bitterly in religious wars. His non-violent means of resistance inspired the non-violent protests of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement.

The story of nationalism in Vietnam is very different from that of India. Vietnam was once ruled by China, and it gained its independence from China only to find itself bitterly divided into civil factions that led to violent upheaval and civil war especially in divisions between the northern part and southern part of the country.

France took control of Vietnam in The Vietnamese people sought freedom from the oppressive French. A northern leader Ho Chi Minh (pictured here) looked for help from Communist China to oust the French. The United States sent weapons and aid to the French to try and keep communism from spreading to the south. The French were defeated and the country was divided into North and South Vietnam in The United States took the lead in the fight against the communist North and the Viet Cong (communists seeking reunification of the country under Communist rule).

The Viet Cong used guerilla tactics against American troops. The more the Americans bombed the countryside trying to get to the Viet Cong, the less popular the war became back home in the U.S. and amongst the local people in Vietnam. The unpopularity of the war led to the ultimate withdrawal of forces from Vietnam in Vietnam went on to unify as a communist nation in Thousands of south Vietnamese fled the country as communist rules brutally took over the democratically sympathetic south. Vietnam’s history is littered with violent, corrupt, and almost continuous nationalism.

REBUILDING JAPAN AFTER WORLD WAR II STANDARD: c. explain the role of the United States in the rebuilding of Japan after WWII JAPAN SURRENDERED TO ALLIED FORCES AFTER THE DROPPING OF THE ATOMIC BOMBS ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI IN 1945.

OUT OF THE ASHES Japan was a wreck after WW2. Much of Japan’s infrastructure (buildings, public systems, services) was gone due to the bombings. The U.S. provided loans and advice while occupying Japan in martial law after the war. Japan lost control of all of its overseas possessions. The Japanese people put off their ancient warlike traditional ways and turned their attention on their fallen economy. America helped Japan establish a new democratic form of government modeled much like their own.

OUT OF THE ASHES On May 3, 1947, Japan’s new constitution became official. In this constitution, the Japanese emperor was stripped of his power and became a figurehead; article 9 states that Japan would never again be the aggressor in war. Japan could not longer use its land, sea, or air forces to settle international disputes. Today, they have one of the most powerful economies in the world with a democratic constitutional monarchy led by a prime minister and a legislature called the Diet. The Japanese people are now a mostly homogeneous society (one ethnic group) that live by the principle of Ohn or membership to the group first, and to the individual second. They are closely tied to the United States today even though we were bitter enemies during WW2.

COMMUNIST CHINA STANDARD: d. describe the impact of communism in China in terms of Mao Zedong, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen square CHINA’S HISTORY IS MUCH TOO LONG AND COMPLEX TO ANALYZE IN THE TIME WE HAVE. BASICALLY, CHINA HAS BEEN A CLOSED SOCIETY FOR MUCH OF ITS HISTORY. THEY FOUGHT AMONGST THEMSELVES SUCESSIVELY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS IN AND OUT OF IMPERIAL DYNASTIES WITHOUT FOREIGN INTERFERENCE. EVENTUALLY, FOREIGNERS LIKE THE BRITISH, FRENCH, AND AMERICANS WOULD PENETRATE THEIR CLOSED DOOR POLICY.

COMMUNIST CHINA LIKE MANY OTHER EASTERN NATIONS, CHINA EVENTUALLY REACHED A POINT OF STRUGGLE INDUCED BY THE UNITED STATES AND ITS ALLIES AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION AND ITS ALLIES OF THE COLD WAR. CHINA WOULD ULTIMATELY DECIDE THROUGH VIOLENT UPHEAVAL WHETHER IT WOULD BE A FREE DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY OR A COMMUNIST ONE. DEMOCRATIC FROM 1911 TO 1945, THE CHINESE AGAIN DIVIDED AND THE COMMUNISTS LED BY MAO ZEDONG TOOK OVER CONTROL OF CHINA MAKING IT A COMMUNIST COUNTRY.

CHAIRMAN MAO, AS HE WAS CALLED, TOOK CONTROL OF CHINA’S ECONOMY. HE LED A MOVEMENT CALLED “THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD”. IT WAS A HUGE FAILURE! HE TRIED TO SET UP HUGE COMMUNES TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY, BUT ALMOST 20 MILLION STARVED. IN RESPONSE TO HIS FAILURE, A MOVEMENT AMONG THE CHINESE PEOPLE CALLED FOR REFORM. IN FEAR OF LOSING POWER, MAO DID WHAT MOST COMMUNISTS DO.

HE BEGAN A POLICY OF DICTATORIAL RULE CALLED THE “CULTURAL REVOLUTION” WHERE ANYONE WHO SPOKE AGAINST THE GOVT. WAS PUT DOWN INHUMANELY BY THE MILITARY CALLED THE “RED GUARDS.” MAO DIED IN SINCE THEN CHINA HAS SLIGHTLY OPENED UP TO THE WORLD, BUT IT IS STILL A COMMUNIST NATION WHOSE GOVT. DOES NOT LIKE BEING CRITICIZED.

TIANANMEN SQUARE 1989, MOSTLY COLLEGE AGED YOUNG PEOPLE SPOKE OUT AND DEMONSTRATED AGAINST THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT IN THIS BEIJING SQUARE. HUNDREDS WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED AS THE MILITARY PUT THE DEMONSTRATION DOWN. SINCE THEN, THE WORLD HAS PUT PRESSURE ON THE CHINESE TO GIVE AND PROTECT MORE HUMAN RIGHTS LIKE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND RIGHT TO PURSUE HAPPINESS.

COLD WAR ASIA STANDARD: e. Explain the reasons for foreign involvement in Korea and Vietnam in terms of containment of Communism MANY OF THE NATIONS OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ASIA TODAY OWE THEIR CURRENT STATUS TO THE EVENTS OF THE COLD WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION (NOW RUSSIA) BETWEEN 1945 AND VIETNAM AS WE HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED AND KOREA ARE TWO. VIETNAM WAS REUNITED IN 1976 AS A COMMUNIST NATION. HOWEVER, KOREA WHICH WAS A SITE OF UNITED STATES INVOLVEMENT VERY SIMILIARLY IN THE 1950’S, REMAINS DIVIDED INTO A FREE SOUTH AND COMMUNIST NORTH WITH A DMZ (DEMILITARIZED ZONE) DIVIDING THEM. THESE GEOGRAPHIC OUTCOMES ARE A DIRECT RESULT OF THE UNITED STATES’ ATTEMPTS TO CONTAIN THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM DURING THE COLD WAR.