Nationalism in India and Vietnam: Nationalism - loyalty to a group that shares a common history, culture, and/or religion.
Nationalism was the primary factor in the moves by India and Vietnam to be free and declare independence. India at the time was a British Colony, and Vietnam was a French colony.
After World War I, many Indians had fought for Britain and lost many lives, but Britain broke their promise to India promising them that they could self-govern. Mohatma Gandhi fought for independence with India, in a movement called the Satyagraha Movement. Mohatma believed strongly in non-violent protests, which resulted greatly in the end, because after the Satyagraha Movement, the government became angry and killed several people in India who were protesting. This ignited even more fury from nationalists around the country, showing how violent Britain was to Gandhi's very peaceful protests. He led another movement of civil disobedience and peace to overthrow British rule. Indians refused to obey laws and boycotted all British goods as part of this movement. Finally, in 1935, the British gave in and passed the Government of India Act, which made India a self-governed dominion, but it did not mean absolute independence from the British. India didn't gain independence until August 15th, 1947.
Vietnam was controlled by France in the early 1900's, and the region was known as French Indochina. Nationalism was also a major factor in the region. The people felt separate among groups in the region of Asia. The people directed their nationalist energy toward the French colonists. Ho Chi Minh, a young man, led protests against the French rule. He felt that communism was the best way to lead the protest. After World War II, he would lead a revolt for a new group called the Vietminh. Ho Chi Minh lead the fight against France for nine years. In 1954, the French surrendered control of Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh.
Role of United States in Rebuilding Japan After World War II:
After World War II, Japan was pretty banged up. So, in response to this, General Douglas McArthur was put in charge of rebuilding Japan and putting them back on their feet. The U.S. did several things. Those things include
-Making Japan in the style of a unitary government, and a constitutional monarchy.
-Creating a constitution for Japan, as well as a bill of rights.
-Creating the Diet, the parliament group of Japan
-Enforcing laws that they cannot declare war, neither attack first, and that they couldn't rebuild their military, but could still keep it.
-Japan was granted universal suffrage.
-Making Japan pay war repairs.
Without the U.S. helping Japan, Japan would most likely not be as good as they are now.
Impact of Communism in China:
In 1921, a group of young men met in Shanghai to form the first Chinese Communist Party, headed by Mao Zedong. They promised to improve peasants' living conditions and won the support of several Chinese people. A civil war soon began between the Nationalists and Mao's communist followers. In 1933, Mao led over 600,000 people on the Long March through the mountains for over 6,000 miles to avoid being captured by the nationalist government. The Communists and the Nationalists had to call a truce during World War II, as both were fighting to keep the Japanese out of China. The civil war had continued on from 1946 - 1949, until the Communists, now known as the Red Army, took control of China's government. On October 1st, 1949, Mao declared the creation of the People's Republic of China, a communist country.Mao was made head of China's government and had almost complete control over China. He became popular with many Chinese people when he took from the rich and gave to the poor. He wanted to improve horrendous living conditions for peasants.
Mao implemented a program to organize all farms into collectives where large communes of about 25,000 people farmed together under government supervision. Zedong believed that this would improve China's economy, so naturally, he called this program the Great Leap Forward. It was an utter disaster. Farmers did not like government making every decision, and because they no longer owned the land, they had no reason to work hard. Droughts and floods followed and damaged the food supply, making things even worse. As a result, over 20 million people died from 1958-1960.
In response to this awful famine, made everyone lose confidence in Mao, so in response, he created the Cultural Revolution. This revolution was all about out with the old, and in with the new. Another reason he created it was to stop all opposition to the Chinese Communist party. Students soon quit school and organized an army called the Red Guards. They attacked, imprisoned, and even killed those suspected of not agreeing with Mao. The Cultural Revolution created mass chaos in China for almost an entire decade. Several schools and factories were closed, and people were denied healthcare. In 1976, Mao finally died, and so did the Cultural Revolution. The new leader, Deng Xiaoping, made many reforms to Mao's rules, but China still remained to its communist roots.
Over 10,000 students around the college ages came to Tiananmen Square and protested against the Chinese Communist Party. On June 4th, 1989, the Chinese government sent tanks and soldiers to the square, killing hundreds of innocent protesters. Countries around the world condemned this violence and began urging China to improve the amount of human rights given to their citizens.
Foreign Involvement in Korea and Vietnam to Contain Communism:
Korea and Vietnam were at the brink of communism, until the U.S. decided to get involved, hoping to stop the spread of communism.
At the Geneva conference in Switzerland in 1954, the U.S. became alarmed at the spread of communism into Indochina. The U.S. used its influence to divide the country into two parts, North - Communist, and South - Capitalist. The U.S. then entered the Vietnam war after the country was divided. U.S. forces would remain in the country until 1975 when they withdrew. The Communists took over the rest of Vietnam but at a cost of several thousands of lives.
After World War II, the Soviet Union controlled North Korea, while the United States controlled South Korea. An agreement to unify these countries was never reached. The US feared that if any more Southeast Asian countries fell to communism, more would follow (the Domino Theory). War broke out between the two countries in 1950. After 3 years of fighting, a truce redrew the original boundary where it remains today. North Korea is now an autocracy under Kim Jong-Un, and South Korea is more prosperous because they are more open to trade and accept aid from US and others.
Nationalism was the primary factor in the moves by India and Vietnam to be free and declare independence. India at the time was a British Colony, and Vietnam was a French colony.
After World War I, many Indians had fought for Britain and lost many lives, but Britain broke their promise to India promising them that they could self-govern. Mohatma Gandhi fought for independence with India, in a movement called the Satyagraha Movement. Mohatma believed strongly in non-violent protests, which resulted greatly in the end, because after the Satyagraha Movement, the government became angry and killed several people in India who were protesting. This ignited even more fury from nationalists around the country, showing how violent Britain was to Gandhi's very peaceful protests. He led another movement of civil disobedience and peace to overthrow British rule. Indians refused to obey laws and boycotted all British goods as part of this movement. Finally, in 1935, the British gave in and passed the Government of India Act, which made India a self-governed dominion, but it did not mean absolute independence from the British. India didn't gain independence until August 15th, 1947.
Vietnam was controlled by France in the early 1900's, and the region was known as French Indochina. Nationalism was also a major factor in the region. The people felt separate among groups in the region of Asia. The people directed their nationalist energy toward the French colonists. Ho Chi Minh, a young man, led protests against the French rule. He felt that communism was the best way to lead the protest. After World War II, he would lead a revolt for a new group called the Vietminh. Ho Chi Minh lead the fight against France for nine years. In 1954, the French surrendered control of Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh.
Role of United States in Rebuilding Japan After World War II:
After World War II, Japan was pretty banged up. So, in response to this, General Douglas McArthur was put in charge of rebuilding Japan and putting them back on their feet. The U.S. did several things. Those things include
-Making Japan in the style of a unitary government, and a constitutional monarchy.
-Creating a constitution for Japan, as well as a bill of rights.
-Creating the Diet, the parliament group of Japan
-Enforcing laws that they cannot declare war, neither attack first, and that they couldn't rebuild their military, but could still keep it.
-Japan was granted universal suffrage.
-Making Japan pay war repairs.
Without the U.S. helping Japan, Japan would most likely not be as good as they are now.
Impact of Communism in China:
In 1921, a group of young men met in Shanghai to form the first Chinese Communist Party, headed by Mao Zedong. They promised to improve peasants' living conditions and won the support of several Chinese people. A civil war soon began between the Nationalists and Mao's communist followers. In 1933, Mao led over 600,000 people on the Long March through the mountains for over 6,000 miles to avoid being captured by the nationalist government. The Communists and the Nationalists had to call a truce during World War II, as both were fighting to keep the Japanese out of China. The civil war had continued on from 1946 - 1949, until the Communists, now known as the Red Army, took control of China's government. On October 1st, 1949, Mao declared the creation of the People's Republic of China, a communist country.Mao was made head of China's government and had almost complete control over China. He became popular with many Chinese people when he took from the rich and gave to the poor. He wanted to improve horrendous living conditions for peasants.
Mao implemented a program to organize all farms into collectives where large communes of about 25,000 people farmed together under government supervision. Zedong believed that this would improve China's economy, so naturally, he called this program the Great Leap Forward. It was an utter disaster. Farmers did not like government making every decision, and because they no longer owned the land, they had no reason to work hard. Droughts and floods followed and damaged the food supply, making things even worse. As a result, over 20 million people died from 1958-1960.
In response to this awful famine, made everyone lose confidence in Mao, so in response, he created the Cultural Revolution. This revolution was all about out with the old, and in with the new. Another reason he created it was to stop all opposition to the Chinese Communist party. Students soon quit school and organized an army called the Red Guards. They attacked, imprisoned, and even killed those suspected of not agreeing with Mao. The Cultural Revolution created mass chaos in China for almost an entire decade. Several schools and factories were closed, and people were denied healthcare. In 1976, Mao finally died, and so did the Cultural Revolution. The new leader, Deng Xiaoping, made many reforms to Mao's rules, but China still remained to its communist roots.
Over 10,000 students around the college ages came to Tiananmen Square and protested against the Chinese Communist Party. On June 4th, 1989, the Chinese government sent tanks and soldiers to the square, killing hundreds of innocent protesters. Countries around the world condemned this violence and began urging China to improve the amount of human rights given to their citizens.
Foreign Involvement in Korea and Vietnam to Contain Communism:
Korea and Vietnam were at the brink of communism, until the U.S. decided to get involved, hoping to stop the spread of communism.
At the Geneva conference in Switzerland in 1954, the U.S. became alarmed at the spread of communism into Indochina. The U.S. used its influence to divide the country into two parts, North - Communist, and South - Capitalist. The U.S. then entered the Vietnam war after the country was divided. U.S. forces would remain in the country until 1975 when they withdrew. The Communists took over the rest of Vietnam but at a cost of several thousands of lives.
After World War II, the Soviet Union controlled North Korea, while the United States controlled South Korea. An agreement to unify these countries was never reached. The US feared that if any more Southeast Asian countries fell to communism, more would follow (the Domino Theory). War broke out between the two countries in 1950. After 3 years of fighting, a truce redrew the original boundary where it remains today. North Korea is now an autocracy under Kim Jong-Un, and South Korea is more prosperous because they are more open to trade and accept aid from US and others.