www.explaininghistory.

com

VIETNAM:PART TWO

The eventual fall of China to communism would spark suffucient anxieties in America to allow Se. Joseph McCarthy to undermine the constitution and civil liberties.

America, Asia and Chinas Open Door

US interests in Asia
By Nick Shepley

Since the 19th Century Americans had looked to Japan, China and the rest of Asia as potential lucrative sources of trade. Japan opened herself up after the 1860s to the west and by the turn of the century was importing as much modern technology and expertise from Europe and America as she could. China in the 1890s and 1900s looked under the Dowager Empress Cixi as if she might emulate this, and for American business, having a open door into China, or unrestricted free trade was the prize they yearned for; A market of hundreds of millions of potential customers without any domestic business rivals presented American capitalists with unrivaled opportunities. America did have trading rivals already in the

region, specically the British, French and other Europeans who seemed poised to carve up China as they had done in Africa, and after 1894, the Japanese also joined the powers planning to devour China. Britain, France and the Netherlands also had protective tariffs in their colonies across Asia, making a large chunk of the worlds markets inaccessible to American manufacturers, even though their goods were often more popular and sought after. As we have already seen in part one Japanese-American tensions over China and then Vietnam led to the crucial oil embargo that pushed Japan into her fateful attack on Pearl Harbour, but the naval battles that resulted from the attack were only part of the story of

Americas involvement in Asia. The Americans offered lend lease funds and equipment to Chiang Kai Sheks nationalist army along the Burma Road from British Burma. They built huge air bases in China to y B-29 Bombers to attack Japan in the nal stages of the war. China was seen as a pupil for America to educate in its values (liberal democracy, free market capitalism and religious freedom) and more importantly a customer for US goods in the post war era; A lot of hope was invested in China to become part of a democratic post war world, which is why her fall to communism in 1949 was an immense shock to Americas political and business classes and her media commentators

www.explaininghistory.com

Mao, McCarthy and Vietnam Ho Chi Minhs Revolution

By Nick Shepley

The threat of communism in China had long been apparent, as was the spectre of communism across Asia. Many of the resistance movements that had fought the Japanese in Malaya, Indonesia or the Philippines had been dominated by local communist parties, many of whom were still armed, militant and believing that whilst the war had ended, the revolution had not. Within ten days of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan Ho CHi Minh staged a national revolution in Vietnam against French rule, deposing the emperor B!o "#i who had been put into power by the Japanese after they dissolved the Vichy French regime in Vietnam earlier that year. The Americans, in a sign that they distrusted and resented the French, sent arms shipments to Ho Chi Minh, which suggests that either they were unaware of Hos sympathies towards communism, or American antipathy towards it as an idea was only to really take hold in the coming months and years as the realities of the Cold War emerged. During the war America had cooperated with the USSR and Roosevelt saw himself and Stalin as the two great men who would reshape the world at the end of the war. Ho Chi Minh allowed negotiations with the French to begin and initially may have been willing to simply accept home rule and a degree of autonomy that fell short of full independence, he allowed the French Army to reestablish itself in Vietnam. The French initially cooperated with the Viet Minh, the national revolutionary army, but it was an uneasy peace that would quickly break down, resulting in the First Indochinese War. In America, the tide of
Ho Chi Minh reading the declaration of independence in 1945. The document was closely modelled on the US declaration.

French Indochina: * Vietnam * Laos * Cambodia

popular opinion about communism was turning for a number of reasons. The alliance of convenience against fascism was over, the Soviets appeared to have broken all their promises over eastern Europe and the extent of wartime cooperation and intelligence sharing now made many Americans, both in the government and beyond distinctly nervous about how far they had been inltrated by communists. America herself has a strong leftwing tradition dating back to the 19th Century and the 1930s saw a profusion of communist parties and left intellectuals expressing support for the USSR. US Diplomat George Kennan wrote in 1946 from Moscow his Long Telegram to president Truman spelling out the threat of the Soviet Union and dispelling any rosy notions that may have been held in the White House. The anti communist hysteria that would do so much to shape American ofcial and public attitudes throughout the Cold War had both a grass roots origin and a more ofcial source. McCarthys red baiting was designed to whip up popular mass support for his agging career, but in 1947 it would be the presidents own policies in the form of the Truman Doctrine that would have more long term and far reaching consequences.

www.explaininghistory.com

In the next part of this series I will explore the long term interests of the USA in South East Asia from the start of the 20th Century onwards. If you found this handout useful you can find more free materials at: www.explaininghistory.com/freestuff/

Red Sun At War Part Three Fighting Back From The Coral Sea to the Kokoda Trail
The speed with which European empires and American inuence in South East Asia were swept aside in 1941 and 1942 was historically unprecedented and in the rst few months of 1942 it seemed as if Japans advance towards Australia was unstoppable. However, the early months of 1942 would prove to be the apex of Japanese successes and the remainder of the year would see her ambitions to become Asias hegemonic power dashed. In a six month period her advance was halted, never to be resumed, in a series of naval battles and land campaigns that left her ghting a long and ultimately futile defence over the next two years. Facing Japan was a US Navy under Admiral Chester Nimitz, eager to avenge Pearl Harbour and the Army, led by General Douglas MacArthur, the vain and ego-driven warlord of Manila, concerned equally to retake the Philippines that he had been ejected from and to present himself in a positive light in the US papers for a possible post war presidential race. Beneath these men and their Australian counterparts were countless soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and civilians who drew a bloody line across the South Pacic, nally stopping the enemy at Milne Bay, Buna and Guadalcanal. This is the third of six Explaining History ebooks that chronicle the entire Pacic War from Pearl Harbour to the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The ebooks are short accessible guides to the main themes and events of the 20th Century, written for newcomers to modern history and seasoned enthusiasts who want concise but in depth writing that gets to the underlying causes of war, revolution and the massive changes of the past 100 years. Red Sun At War Part Three will be available on January 1st 2014 for Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks and in PDF format, you can access it at:

www.explaininghistory.com