POST WORLD WAR

Post World War 2 Asian history

Post World War 2 Asian History

Introduction

Often wondered how the superpowers achieved their place of dominance. It seems that the maturation of the two superpowers, Korea, Japan and the United States dates back to World War II. To be a superpower, a country wishes to have a powerful ranch, one of infantry overwhelming, immense political power in the world and, associated with this, a national ideology powerful. It was this conflict and its results, which started each of the superpowers to expertise as the preponderance of power. Before the conflict, both countries were able to be counted as major forces, but it would be wrong to say that were the superpowers at that point.

U.S. actions in Korea

While the end of World War II brought peace and prosperity to most Americans, but also created a tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Fearing that the Soviet Union's intention to "export" communism to other nations, U.S. foreign policy focused on "containment" of communism, both at home and abroad. Although the formulation of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift suggested that the U.S. had a concern with the spread of communism in Europe, the U.S. policy of containment spread to Asia. In fact, Asia proved to be the site of the first major battle undertaken on behalf of containment: the Korean War.

In an effort to avoid a long-term decision on the future of Korea, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Korea temporarily along the 38th parallel, a latitudinal line that bisected the country. This line became more rigid after 1946, when Kim Il Sung organized a communist government in the north --- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Shortly thereafter, the nationalist exile Syngman Rhee returned to Korea and established a rival government in the south --- the Republic of Korea (ROK). Each government hopes to reunify the country under their own rule (Goncharov, 1993).

Conflicts with US

The decision to intervene in Korea grew out of the tense atmosphere that characterized Cold War politics. On the eve of the invasion of North Korea, a series of events has made Truman anxious. The Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb in 1949, ending the U.S. monopoly on the weapon. In Europe, the Soviet intervention in Greece and Turkey has led to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which channels aid to devastated Europe in the hope of averting communist political victories. In early 1950, President Truman ordered the National Security Council (NSC) to carry out an analysis of U.S. and Soviet military capabilities. In its report, known as NSC 68, "recommended by the Council of the huge increases in military funding to help contain the Soviets.

Events in Asia also contributed to a greater sense of insecurity. In 1949, China experienced a revolution that brought Mao Zedong and his Communist Party in power. Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek, had retreated to the island of Formosa (Taiwan), while they continued ...