The Cold War in Asia
The Western Powers & Asia to 1945
Western Powers & East + Southeast Asia Context:
● Before 1941 5 imperial powers possessed colonies
● 4 were Western: US, Britain, France & Netherlands
● 1 was Asia: Japan
● US acquired the Philippines after 1898 war with Spain but FDR promised
independence in 1946
● Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) was French
● Malaya, Borneo and Hong Kong were British
● Dutch East Indies was controlled by the Netherlands
WW2 1939-45:
● War in Europe forced the British, French and Dutch to focus on the threat from
Nazi Germany
● This made their Asian colonies vulnerable
● Nazi control over France and the Netherlands gave Japan the chance to gain
territories
● The US had placed restrictions on Japan in response to Japanese expansion into
China, a country the US was sympathetic to
● This led Japan to strike America’s Pacific naval base Pearl Harbor in December
1941
● This brought the US into the war in the Pacific and Hitler’s declaration of war on
the States days later brought them into war in Europe and into an alliance with
Britain and the USSR
● After Pearl Harbor, Japan occupied the Philippines, Indochina, Malaya, Borneo
and the Dutch East Indies.
● Many inhabitants of the colonies thought Japanese occupation would be better
than Western imperialism but they soon found out that it was worse
● During WW2 the allied powers discussed the future of Japanese occupied
nations
● FDR opposed territorial imperialism and resented the exclusion of American
goods from European colonial possessions
● FDR stated that “white nations” couldn’t hold onto their colonies forever and was
very critical of the French in Indochina (said French shouldn’t return)
1
, ● FDR urged Churchill to return Hong Kong to China and exit India but the PM
hoped Britain could retain it’s empire for as long as possible
● FDR hoped China would be allowed to play a major role in the post WW2 world
but Churchill and Stalin were sceptical about their power
● By 1945 FDR shared a similar view
● Stalin hoped to exploit Chinese weakness and ensure Soviet naval access
across the Pacific
Decisions on Asia at Yalta:
● The Big Three met at the Soviet Black Sea resort of Yalta from 4-12 February
1945
● Stalin insisted the conference take place on Soviet territory so Churchill and FDR
made the trip to discuss winning the war and post war arrangements
● War in Europe dominated Yalta (bombs not dropped on Japan yet) but Asia was
also discussed
● FDR was desperate for the USSR to enter the war against Japan so he promised
Stalin easier Soviet naval access to the Pacific (through acquisition of the
Japanese Kurile Islands, joint control with China of the Manchurian railroad +
Port Arthur, recognition of interest in the port of Dairen) and the island of South
Sakhalin
● Stalin then promised he would enter the war against Japan 3 months after
Germany’s defeat and support Chiang Kai-shek instead of Mao Zedong and the
Chinese Communists
● FDR and Stalin agreed to a Soviet-American-British trusteeship of Korea to help
steer them towards independence
Decisions on Asia at Potsdam:
● Stalin, Truman, Churchill and Attlee (until GE results) met in the Berlin suburb of
Potsdam on 17th July 1945
● Stalin reaffirmed his intention to enter the war against Japan
● Truman rejected Stalin’s idea of working out the details of Korea trusteeship
before end of war with Japan
● Agreed that China would occupy northern Indochina and the British South East
Asia Command (SEAC) would occupy southern Indochina
● US retreated from it’s fully anti-colonial stance as they saw the USSR as a bigger
threat than European imperialists
2
,Summary:
Nation Pre WW2 WW2 Yalta Potsdam
Philippines US Colony Japanese N/A N/A
Occupation
Indochina French Colony Japanese N/A China takes
Occupation North, SEAC
takes South
Malaya British Colony Japanese N/A N/A
Occupation
Korea Japanese No Change Trusteeship N/A
Colony eventually
leading to
independence
China Government= No Change FDR gives N/A
Chiang Stalin territorial
Kai-shek’s concessions in
Chinese China
Nationalists but
Manchuria and
some coastal
areas
controlled by
Japan
Japan Expansionist War with USA Stalin promises Stalin
to enter war reiterates
with Japan. promise
FDR promises
him territory
US Containment Policy
Context:
● Prior to Russian Rev, US and Russia had good relations but these soured after a
Communist government was established
● US Ideology: Capitalist (free trade, minimal intervention), multi-party state with
free elections, thought Communism would leave the US with no allies and take
over the country
3
, ● Soviet Ideology: State controlled economy, Communists were the party of the
people, promoted worldwide Communism
● Ideological differences made the USA and USSR suspicious of each other
● Only in 1933 did the US give diplomatic recognition to the USSR
Wartime allies to Cold War enemies:
● Soviet-American alliance (1941-5) seemed to work but quickly deteriorated after
war
● Due to ideological differences, Soviet establishing domination of Eastern Europe,
the atomic bomb programme, clashes of interest over countries eg. Germany +
Korea, Stalin’s defensive personality and Truman’s feisty character
George Kennan’ Long Telegram and US Containment Policy:
● Kennan was a leading State Department expert on the USSR
● In February 1946, the State Department asked him for an explanation of the
increasingly anti-American tone in Soviet speeches
● Kennan responded with an 8000 word Long Telegram in which he said that
Soviet antagonism was the result of the Soviet government exaggerating external
threats to gain domestic legitimacy, not the result of American actions
● Kennan depicted the Soviet’s as aggressive which became the common Western
view of the origin of the Cold War
● Long Telegram was a decisive factor in the Truman administration’s tough line
against the USSR
● Truman was already anxious about Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and
saw the USSR as being aggressive over Iran, Germany, Greece and Turkey
● Truman advised Congress in March 1947 that the United States would need to
support “free peoples” resisting Communist pressures
● Truman Doctrine advocated for the containment of Communism
The Korean War
Contributions of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee to the Outbreak of War:
● North Korea (NK) was Communist, pro-Russia and pro-China
● South Korea (SK) was anti-Communist and pro-America
● NK was armed by the USSR and was militarily superior
● USA gave SK less military aid as they feared Rhee would attack NK
● Rhee and Sung both wanted reunification but under their own respective terms
4
The Western Powers & Asia to 1945
Western Powers & East + Southeast Asia Context:
● Before 1941 5 imperial powers possessed colonies
● 4 were Western: US, Britain, France & Netherlands
● 1 was Asia: Japan
● US acquired the Philippines after 1898 war with Spain but FDR promised
independence in 1946
● Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) was French
● Malaya, Borneo and Hong Kong were British
● Dutch East Indies was controlled by the Netherlands
WW2 1939-45:
● War in Europe forced the British, French and Dutch to focus on the threat from
Nazi Germany
● This made their Asian colonies vulnerable
● Nazi control over France and the Netherlands gave Japan the chance to gain
territories
● The US had placed restrictions on Japan in response to Japanese expansion into
China, a country the US was sympathetic to
● This led Japan to strike America’s Pacific naval base Pearl Harbor in December
1941
● This brought the US into the war in the Pacific and Hitler’s declaration of war on
the States days later brought them into war in Europe and into an alliance with
Britain and the USSR
● After Pearl Harbor, Japan occupied the Philippines, Indochina, Malaya, Borneo
and the Dutch East Indies.
● Many inhabitants of the colonies thought Japanese occupation would be better
than Western imperialism but they soon found out that it was worse
● During WW2 the allied powers discussed the future of Japanese occupied
nations
● FDR opposed territorial imperialism and resented the exclusion of American
goods from European colonial possessions
● FDR stated that “white nations” couldn’t hold onto their colonies forever and was
very critical of the French in Indochina (said French shouldn’t return)
1
, ● FDR urged Churchill to return Hong Kong to China and exit India but the PM
hoped Britain could retain it’s empire for as long as possible
● FDR hoped China would be allowed to play a major role in the post WW2 world
but Churchill and Stalin were sceptical about their power
● By 1945 FDR shared a similar view
● Stalin hoped to exploit Chinese weakness and ensure Soviet naval access
across the Pacific
Decisions on Asia at Yalta:
● The Big Three met at the Soviet Black Sea resort of Yalta from 4-12 February
1945
● Stalin insisted the conference take place on Soviet territory so Churchill and FDR
made the trip to discuss winning the war and post war arrangements
● War in Europe dominated Yalta (bombs not dropped on Japan yet) but Asia was
also discussed
● FDR was desperate for the USSR to enter the war against Japan so he promised
Stalin easier Soviet naval access to the Pacific (through acquisition of the
Japanese Kurile Islands, joint control with China of the Manchurian railroad +
Port Arthur, recognition of interest in the port of Dairen) and the island of South
Sakhalin
● Stalin then promised he would enter the war against Japan 3 months after
Germany’s defeat and support Chiang Kai-shek instead of Mao Zedong and the
Chinese Communists
● FDR and Stalin agreed to a Soviet-American-British trusteeship of Korea to help
steer them towards independence
Decisions on Asia at Potsdam:
● Stalin, Truman, Churchill and Attlee (until GE results) met in the Berlin suburb of
Potsdam on 17th July 1945
● Stalin reaffirmed his intention to enter the war against Japan
● Truman rejected Stalin’s idea of working out the details of Korea trusteeship
before end of war with Japan
● Agreed that China would occupy northern Indochina and the British South East
Asia Command (SEAC) would occupy southern Indochina
● US retreated from it’s fully anti-colonial stance as they saw the USSR as a bigger
threat than European imperialists
2
,Summary:
Nation Pre WW2 WW2 Yalta Potsdam
Philippines US Colony Japanese N/A N/A
Occupation
Indochina French Colony Japanese N/A China takes
Occupation North, SEAC
takes South
Malaya British Colony Japanese N/A N/A
Occupation
Korea Japanese No Change Trusteeship N/A
Colony eventually
leading to
independence
China Government= No Change FDR gives N/A
Chiang Stalin territorial
Kai-shek’s concessions in
Chinese China
Nationalists but
Manchuria and
some coastal
areas
controlled by
Japan
Japan Expansionist War with USA Stalin promises Stalin
to enter war reiterates
with Japan. promise
FDR promises
him territory
US Containment Policy
Context:
● Prior to Russian Rev, US and Russia had good relations but these soured after a
Communist government was established
● US Ideology: Capitalist (free trade, minimal intervention), multi-party state with
free elections, thought Communism would leave the US with no allies and take
over the country
3
, ● Soviet Ideology: State controlled economy, Communists were the party of the
people, promoted worldwide Communism
● Ideological differences made the USA and USSR suspicious of each other
● Only in 1933 did the US give diplomatic recognition to the USSR
Wartime allies to Cold War enemies:
● Soviet-American alliance (1941-5) seemed to work but quickly deteriorated after
war
● Due to ideological differences, Soviet establishing domination of Eastern Europe,
the atomic bomb programme, clashes of interest over countries eg. Germany +
Korea, Stalin’s defensive personality and Truman’s feisty character
George Kennan’ Long Telegram and US Containment Policy:
● Kennan was a leading State Department expert on the USSR
● In February 1946, the State Department asked him for an explanation of the
increasingly anti-American tone in Soviet speeches
● Kennan responded with an 8000 word Long Telegram in which he said that
Soviet antagonism was the result of the Soviet government exaggerating external
threats to gain domestic legitimacy, not the result of American actions
● Kennan depicted the Soviet’s as aggressive which became the common Western
view of the origin of the Cold War
● Long Telegram was a decisive factor in the Truman administration’s tough line
against the USSR
● Truman was already anxious about Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and
saw the USSR as being aggressive over Iran, Germany, Greece and Turkey
● Truman advised Congress in March 1947 that the United States would need to
support “free peoples” resisting Communist pressures
● Truman Doctrine advocated for the containment of Communism
The Korean War
Contributions of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee to the Outbreak of War:
● North Korea (NK) was Communist, pro-Russia and pro-China
● South Korea (SK) was anti-Communist and pro-America
● NK was armed by the USSR and was militarily superior
● USA gave SK less military aid as they feared Rhee would attack NK
● Rhee and Sung both wanted reunification but under their own respective terms
4
