SCAP: Post-war recovery of Japan
I realized I can’t find the essay on the Occupation of Asia by Japan…
No choice.. Have to post on SCAP: Post-war recovery of Japan instead.
By the way, “SCAP” is short for “Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers”
Japan’s post war situation did not look promising. Most of her major cities lay in ruins. About 30 % of her industrial capacity, 80% of her shipping capacity and 30% of her thermal power were destroyed. Industrial production was only 10% of pre-war levels. Territories were all lost. There were food shortages and inflation. However, the Japanese accepted the…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/05/11/scap-post-war-recovery-of-japan/
Bolsheviks Consolidation
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Bolsheviks consolidated power militarily, socially, economically and politically.
Politically, they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918), which marked the withdrawal from war. Armistice between Russia and Central Powers agreed in Dec 1917 ceased hostilities. Russia suffered major losses that adversely affected its economy. It was high price to pay but this allowed time for Russia’s recovery.
Victory in Civil War (April 1918-1921) helped Bolsheviks consolidate power militarily. By April 1918, armed opposition to the Bolsheviks was erupting in many areas of Russia. Whites, consisting of SRs, Mensheviks, Cadets, ex-Tsarist officers & other opposition groups, aided by western powers wanted the fall of Bolsheviks and to set up a democratic government on Western lines. When Czech Legion captured Siberian towns and cities, it stirred the Allies into action. Foreign intervention was explained to be aiding Russian government to continue war against Germany.
Admiral Alexander Kolchak became the leader of the…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/05/04/bolsheviks-consolidation
Mao: Political Policies and Cultural Revolution
Last week was on Mao’s economic policies. These week will be on his Political Policies and the Cultural Revolution…
Mao implemented political policies after the fall of Kuomintang to set up a socialist state along Maoist lines and consolidate CCP’s power.
In September 1954, the National People’s Congress was formed with Mao as the first President. CCP controlled elections, supplied all election candidates and monopolized membership of governing bodies. Opposition parties could not express themselves legally. The people’s courts imposed summary justice in which 2 million people died.
At the local level, CCP grouped the country’s 18 provinces into 6 regions governed by councils. At each level, there was…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/04/27/mao-political-policies-and-cultural-revolution/
Mao: Economic Policies
Mao Zedong is an important figures in modern world history and till now is still quite a controversial figure…
So here’s a look at his economic policies…
From 1949, Mao implemented economic policies after coming into power to prove that Chinese communism would be a success in bringing about economic growth.
In agriculture, changes were made in 3 levels. First stage, land reform was introduced in 1950. It aimed to take land from land owners and redistribute them among poor peasants, and to increase produce to help industrial development in China. But as average holdings of land of peasants was less than 1 acre, mechanization and new farming methods were not utilized and China remained poor. Though peasant support increased, productivity level dropped.
Therefore, collectives were introduced to…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/04/20/mao-economic-policies/
History of China: 1936-1949
This is the second essay about china. The first was about 1920-1936.
Read about History of China: 1920-1936…
Now for 1936 to 1949…
The CCP gained some support from Jiangxi, but it was insufficient for a revolution. Realizing that only a unified China could defeat the Japanese with the rise of nationalism, Mao offered to cease fighting with KMT and form a coalition. This gained him the support of nationalistic citizens. Chiang refused, demanding that Mao submit to him and allow his troops to be part of KMT. However, this changed after the Xian Incident.
On 7th December, Chiang returned to Xian, aiming to start the 6th suppression campaign. Zhang Xue Liang refused to participate and was dismissed from his post. Encouraged by the anti-Japanese demonstrations by the National Salvation League, Zhang arrested Chiang and announced a united front with CCP. Chiang was ironically saved by CCP, who felt dealing with him was easier than with Zhang. On December 15, after Zhou Enlai’s arrival, Chiang accepted the coalition. The Second United Front was formed in September 1937, officially ending the civil war and…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/04/13/history-of-china-1936-1949/
History of China: 1920-1936
China was one of the more focused on topics when I was learning history…. To me, it was also one of the more troublesome topics due to the amount of things that I have to remember.. Looking back at these essays, I really wonder how I remembered all of them…
We learned about China in a few parts at that time…
- 1920-1936,
- 1936-1949,
- Mao Zedong Economic Policies and Political Policies.
Heres the first part…
USSR saw China as a potential ally, but China would need a democratic revolution first. CCP was not well recognized because it had small membership and little influence with workers. In August 1922, Moscow sent a diplomatic mission to Peking under Adolph Joffee. In June 1923, urged by Comintern, the First United Front, which aimed to free the Chinese from yokes of powerful militarists and foreigners, was formed with KMT as the central force. CCP was to assist KMT and abide by…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/04/06/history-of-china-1920-1936/
Stalin: Purges
A continuation of last weeks Stalin: Power Struggle essay…
Stalin was constantly suspecting a coup or assassination, as well as conspiracies against him.
There was a need to rid the country of anti-Communist elements. Stalin wanted total power for himself and wanted to terrify and disorientate population to prevent assembly of rebels. There were internal party rivalries, while the NEP worsened and thus needed a scapegoat for its failings. There were serious differences over how society develops and stability was required to build a country as quickly as possible. These reasons accounted for Stalin’s purges.Target groups of purges were technocrats, managers, military led by Trotsky and political opponents.
Engineers, managers and planners of the First 5 year plan [Mensheviks background] in pre-1934 were used as purged and used as scapegoats as industrialization was not going smoothly.
Kirov, second in charge and party secretary in Leningrad, was murdered by the secret police in 1934, because he was more popular than Stalin, and Stalin feared Kirov would replace him. Furthermore Kirov had criticized Stalin’s role in speech, and was seen as a political opponent, especially since he won the highest number of votes. Following Kirov’s purge, purges were no longer selective. Kirov’s assassination was used as a pretext for unleashing terror upon old enemies and potential Nikolaev. These caused almost 1 million associate deaths.
An extraordinary law denouncing…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/03/30/stalin-purges/
