Japan+and+the+Pacific+Rim

East Asia in the Postwar Settlements
 * MI: At the end of WWII, a zone of reasonably stable non communist states developed along the Pacific Rim. Linked to the West, these states maintained a neo-Confucian emphasis on the importance of conservative politics and a strong state.**
 * Following WWII, Taiwan was restored to China and the US occupation of Japan was strengthen to ensure de-militarization.
 * De-colonization of islands in the Pacific (ex. Indonesia)
 * New period of selective westernization in Japan; vigorous economy built up with amazing speed
 * Japanese forces were decentralized
 * Democratic reforms were initiated under American occupation.
 * Economic reforms were made to break up big businesses.
 * A new constitution was developed to grant greater civil liberties and ensure democracy.
 * The new Liberal Democracy Party monopolized Japanese politics from 1955 to 1990.
 * Japanese politics began to emphasize the interests of order and elite control.
 * Although Korea was promised independence before the war, the US and the USSR could not agree on the unification, mainly due to Cold War rivalry.
 * The US sponsored a Republic of Korea in the south, while the USSR supported a People's Democratic Republic of Korea in the north.
 * North Korea develops a stalinist gov't
 * Korean War begins after north Koreans invade south korea, attempting to impose unification.
 * The Guomindang (Nationalist) regime prepared to fall back on Taiwan.
 * Hong Kong remained a British colony following WWII until the 1980s
 * **The keynotes of Japanese history from the 1950s onward were an intense concentration on economic groth and distinctive political and cultural reforms as the nation proved that industrial success did not depend on a strict Western pattern.**
 * **Economic and political developments in several nations and city-states on Asia's Pacific coast echoed important elements of Japan's 20th Century history. Political authoritarianism was characteristic of most Pacific Rim states, though there were periodic bows to parliamentary forms and protests from dissidents who wanted greater freedom.**


 * Japanese politcs remained in conservative political stability.