Cold War in East Asia Essay

The cold take of war was arguably the strangest type of war ever to accommodate taken place in the world till today. With non a single rule shot beingness fired between the devil opposing forces, this war spanned the length of the period future(a) the Second land war till the 1990s.It affected not only Western atomic number 63 but large parts of Asia as well and was the defining element in international politics and economic exchanges between countries during the era. Much of the alliances make and the events that took place during the time have defined nations around the world or brought them to the brink of destruction. eastside Asia was one domain which suffered the brunt of the stone-cold fight, being split on the lines of allegiance to one of the two world powers.It requires a square bit of analysis to decipher how a war that originated in Europe, with twain the powers contesting for greater control over the politics of nations in Europe, trickled over to eas terly Asia. Since Trumans Marshal Plan and the British softness to support the Hellenic authorities in fighting the commie guerrillas, the get together States had adopted a rather more expansionist stance and intervened in the Italian elections in the lead to victory for the Christian Democratic Party. This was followed by greater Soviet affair in Eastern Europe, strengthening its stranglehold over the areas it had helped to liberate from the Nazis. However, this affair in Europe suddenly shifted to East Asia as well with the break of Communist mainland China under Mao Zedong (Chen 2001).China presented several challenges to the coupled States. First off, it was a country rich in resources and manpower and the theory of such a state falling to communism was a fright prospect for the capitalist and pro-democracy US. Secondly, it was situated in the heartland of Asia where it would be suitable to hold considerable entrance on the neighboring states, many of which had ju st gained license and could fall prey to commie ideology. A third reason was the terror now posed to the allies of the United States in East Asia such as japan. Thus it was deemed obligatory to increase influence in the percentage and stem the possible emergence of a communist tide that would transude across the Asiatic continent.With the rising communist influence in the East, the US do its first commitment to a peace treaty with Japan in 1950. This was accompanied by a guarantee of being able to situate pertinacious term soldiery bases in the former empire. several(prenominal) observers point to this as being the stimulus for Stalins approval of a plan to invade the pro-US southernmost Korea, through Kim Il Sungs North Korea (Stokesbury 1990). These two had been divided on the 38th-parallel and had divided loyalties towards the two passing powers.This presented a threat to the inte hiatuss of the United States as a pro-capitalist state was being threatened by a comm unist one. This was exacerbated by the mean charge of Japan to siemens Korea which could be next if some action was not taken. Thus a resolution was passed in the United Nations, condemning the communist invasion and establishing a joint force under General Douglas Macarthur to squeeze the North Korean attack (Stokesbury 1990).The forces proved remarkably successful, eventually displace the attacking forces back as far as the Yalu River. This however presented a new dimension of threat to China. As North Korea acted as a buffer state for the Eastern behemoth, it felt its interests being threatened and emerged into the war once morest the allied forces.The war thus block uped at roughly close to the 38th parallel once more in a dead-end street (Fehrenbach 2001). However, the status quo was maintained in the region and it marked the first use up battlefront of the United States in East Asia during the Cold War. On the communist side, the Soviet Union and China became stronge r partners which would lead to further influence in East Asia, requiring a stronger US monitoring of the situation and response.Following the Korean War, proxy battles in the Third World became an important arena of major power rivalry. This was in line with the US policy shift towards Asia in general. Since the competition between the two powers had decreased European domination over Africa, Latin America and Asia, it led to currents of decolonization which presented new grounds of expansion for the Cold War enemies.East Asia was seeing its share of newly formed countries and with the presence of a gigantic communist China in the backyard, action by the United States was necessary to maintain some balance. The South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed in 1954 with this in mind. It incorporated Philippines and Thailand along with a consortium of Western Nations, Australia and Pakistan in a defense compact relating to East Asia. The members were to engage in collecti ve efforts should some war betide in the region. The pact however proved relatively useless for the United States as the proceedings frequently ended in deadlock with some members not willing to contribute their support in emerging conflicts. property with the flow of decolonization sweeping across Asia, the war in french Vietnam was an area of particular concern for the United States. With the French forces being eliminated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, it replyed in a tremendous victory for the Vietnamese Viet Minh communist revolutionary forces (David 1991).This big defeat of a colonial army in a pitched battle against communist guerrillas would not only result in a communist nation emerging on the shot but could also serve as a rallying word for the guerrilla forces around the world which were overwhelmingly leftist. Thus the US saw it necessary to extend support to the Republic of Vietnam, battling the National Liberation strawman Guerrillas which were supported by the communist North Vietnam. This was further precipitated by the forthwith support of the Soviets and Chinese for the communist country. This was to serve as the precursor for the Vietnam War.When the inability of South Vietnam to hold its own against the communist guerrillas dawned upon the American high command, it started change magnitude its military presence in the region, eventually stretching its forces to over half(a) a million in 1968. This was a typical battle between the pro-democracy south supported by the US and the NLF guerrillas drawn primarily from the churl population of the country but militarily backed by the communist forces (David 1991).The beginning historic period of the war saw increasing casualties for the American forces who appoint it tough to negotiate through the terrain and the guerrilla tactics of the communist forces. This was made worse by the uncertain position towards the war at home. As the body bag count mounted and opposition to the campsite aign grew in campuses across the US, it reached a precipice with the surprising Tet Offensive by the communist forces (David 1991).Although it was of scant(p) military value, it produced a psychological effect on the Americans who started calling for an end to US participation in the war. Renouncing interests in the region however was not something favorable for the super power and it maintained early(a) forms of support for South Vietnam. However, they quickly got overwhelmed and the combined Vietnam became a communist state. This marked a ill fortune for the US and a big victory for the communist powers.Following these military encounters, East Asia still remained a region of interest for both the powers in terms of ideological value. United States stake in the region change magnitude dramatically with the emergence of a split in the communist camp between the Chinese and the Soviets over communist ideology (Cold War 1945-1960).This presented an prospect to improve relations with China and decrease Soviet influence which again put East Asia as the principle focus of interest in the Cold War. Richard Nixons meeting with the Chinese premier was the height of these years of improved relations. This however marked a downturn in direct military conflict of the US in East Asia. As the region was no longer buoyed by influence by the USSR and America and China was there to have a strong stake in the adjoin areas, it became less of a war zone.The US was contented as long as its core allies, Japan and South Korea were safe from communist influence and shunned too much intrusion into Chinese matters (Gallicchio 1988). The USSR had to deal with the Asian giant as well and since relations were no longer as before, Soviet influence in East Asia dropped. The US still kept up economic support in the region, especially in the case of South Korea which saw massive influx of America capital and rapid development. This was necessary to show the capitalist model as superio r to the communist and domiciliate a contrast with North Korea which itself had a crippled economy following the war (Gallichio 1988).Thus, it can be seen that East Asia was a crucial chopine for the Cold War. Seeing two major encounters with two direct involvements by a super power and other conflicts, the region was a theatre between two ideologies, experiencing the brunt of their military and economic might. The main reason for this immenseness of East Asia was the emergence of China as a communist state (Chen 2001). With such a big country with enormous resources being on one side, the other had to take action in the region which could tardily have come under the sphere of influence of this illustrious neighbor.This involvement prompted propaganda value in terms of promoting one ideology over the other in the region as a means of elucidating its superiority to the rest of the world. These reasons and the ensuing decolonization in the region brought the Cold War to East Asia. BibliographyChen, Jian. (2001). Maos China and the Cold War. The University of North Carolina Press.Cold War 1945-1960 online. The Corner of the World. Available from http//www.thecorner.org/hist/europe/coldwar.htm Accessed 17/05/09Davidson, Phillip. (1991). Vietnam at War. Oxford Oxford University Press.Fehrenbach, T. R. (2001). his Kind of War The Classic Korean War History. Brassey.Gallicchio, Marc. (1988). The Cold War begins in Asia American East Asian policy and the fall of the Japanese empire. 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