(OSEA) Origins of Southern and Eastern Asia Overview

Origins of Southern and Eastern Asia

Introduction 

Southern and Eastern Asia is filled with conflict and change that shaped the region to what it is today. Key historical events in Southern and Eastern Asia have shaped the governments, nations, economies and culture through conflict and change. The history of World War II, The Korean War, and The Vietnam War along with nationalist and independence movements greatly influenced the continent politically and socially while developing the connection to the current state of events in the region.

Module Lessons Preview

 In this module, we will study the following topics:

Conflict and Change: India

India protested for its independence from Great Britain for many years under Mohandas Gandhi’s leadership. After World War II the rise of nationalism spread and freedom was granted to India. Today, India is the world’s largest democracy.

Conflict and Change: China

Post World War II, China saw rapid change due to the spread of communism. Mao Zedong instituted major changes such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. This spread of Communism caused the original government of China to flee to Taiwan.

Conflict and Change: Japan

Japan was devastated after World War II and the dropping of two atomic bombs. At the beginning of the Cold War and other Asian countries falling to communism, the United States stayed and helped create a constitution for Japan and rebuild its economy and government. Today the constitution is still used.

Conflict and Change: Korea and Vietnam

Korea and Vietnam had similar fates after World War II with the spread of communism. Both regions saw intense United States involvement in their nation to try to stop the spread of communism but ultimately failed.

Key Terms

  1. Communism - a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.
  2. Containment - A United States foreign policy doctrine adopted by the Harry S. Truman administration in 1947, operating on the principle that communist governments will eventually fall apart as long as they are prevented from expanding their influence.
  3. North Vietnam - A former country of southeast Asia. It existed from 1954, after the fall of the French at Dien Bien Phu, to 1975, when the South Vietnamese government collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War. It is now part of the country of Vietnam.
  4. South Vietnam - A former country of southeast Asia. It existed from 1954, after the fall of the French at Dien Bien Phu, to 1975, when the South Vietnamese government collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War. It is now part of Vietnam.
  5. North Korea - known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and divided from the Southern portion after the Korean War.
  6. South Korea - is a republic in north-east Asia that is separated from the North after the Korean War along the 38th parallel.
  7. Mao Zedong - commonly known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who became the founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.
  8. Great Leap Forward - was an economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China (CPC) from 1958 to 1962. The campaign was led by Chairman Mao Zedong and aimed to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization.
  9. Cultural Revolution - Begins in the 1960s, Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong came to feel that the current party leadership in China, as in the Soviet Union, was moving too far in a revisionist direction, with an emphasis on expertise rather than on ideological purity.
  10. Tiananmen Square - commonly known in mainland China as the June Fourth Incident were student-led demonstrations in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, in 1989.
  11. Commune - a group of people living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities.
  12. Propaganda - information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
  13. Collective Farm - a jointly operated amalgamation of several small farms, especially one owned by the government.
  14. Red Guards - any of various radical or socialist groups, in particular, a militant youth movement in China (1966–76) that carried out attacks on intellectuals and other disfavored groups as part of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution.
  15. World War II - was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.
  16. Constitutional monarchy - a system of government in which a country is ruled by a king and queen whose power is limited by a constitution.
  17. Pearl Harbor - the site of a naval base after the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the base, and the United States entered World War II the following day.
  18. General MacArthur - Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II.
  19. Nationalism - advocacy of political independence for a particular country.

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