Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
HY 2229/SSA2204: Lecture 4
SINGAPORE A Nation Forged by War?
A.
Introduction
1.
2.
B.
In The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18, war was seen
as a major force in the forging of the Australian nation. As Charles Bean
wrote, The Australian nation came to know itself through the
participation of some 300,000 of its men in the First World War.
Prior to it, Australia is a country with 6 different factions
First world war forge the bonding in these countries in a common effort to
defend themselves
China did not care about the rising power of the western countries, believing that there is
nothing to learn from the wwest (stick to traditional methods)
Japan on the other hand aims to catch up with the western nation in order to break free of
western rule
With modernization, Japan then aims to colonise asia
Japan attacked korea and chase China away (1894)
Japan defended its control in korea by winning the war against Russia when they
invaded korea
Japan also gained control over china
WWI Japan was added in some seats (1914-18)
Depression Severely affected by it due to the heavy dependence on trade
o Lack of funds to draw in raw material for production
o Turn towards colonization to solve their problems
o This is further reinforced by the poor response to the economic situation
which results in the growth of military power (they are focused on
expansion of land)
Etablishment of Manchuria (1931-32)
Chinese nationalism aims to over throw the Japanese rule in china
o This threat was noticed by japan hastening the conquer of china
1
o Sino japansese war (1937 1945) Japan took over most of the important
parts of china, namely the industrial and costal regions
o Fall of china was due to the lack of help from external forces
US did not need to help due to the lack of investment in china
European people rather be on good terms with japan due to
investment in china and the lack of ability to protect eeastern areas
WWII
o US helped China in forms of loans to build train to supply war material for
the fight against Japan
o War in Europe Germany invaded France and Netherlands
o Someone forced the train to stop transporting
1.
2.
11
Japan also concluded the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy (1940)
and Neutrality Pact with Russia (1941) to position itself for a southward
advance into Southeast Asia the former to ensure US inaction (unless it
was prepared to declare war also on Germany and Italy) and the latter to
ensure that Russia would not attack Japanese positions in north China as
they campaigned south.
Japans moves brought her into conflict with the US, the other major Pacific
power. The US saw Japanese expansionism in Asia as linked to German
expansionism (rise of 2 huge power would threat US position) in Europe and
2
C.
However the polical part of Japan wanted to negiotiate with the US to lift the
embargoment in exchange of them giving up their conquest southward.
Hoever, US at that point was no longer in the mood to negotiate and will ony
settle for a retreat of Japan to 1931 borders. Unwilling to return to the 1931
borders, which would imply accepting national humiliation, Japan chose war
and targeted the destruction of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7
December 1941.
o
o
o
o
3.
Main argument: Britains neglect of its imperial defences during the interwar period (1919-1939), a consequence of economic overstretch after the
First World War, was decisive in the development of the flawed
Singapore strategy based on the building of a naval base at Singapore
3
and the arrival of the British fleet from its permanent deployment in
Atlantic waters, to protect its eastern empire during times of crisis.
D.
d.
2.
This view argues that the Japanese Occupation was not really as
transforming an event as it was made out to be. It would be disingenuous
to generalize that it transformed the region. The myth of western
invincibility was not really destroyed in some cases, old elites continued to
be in power, and the nature of nationalism remained essentially
unchanged.
-
a.
Rethinking Decolonization
Decolonization was not inevitable after the war. In fact, the British
returned to Malaya and Singapore as colonizers, not decolonizers.
Is there really a change in mindset? (took 17 years for
independence)
b.
Conclusion
The war produced its own share of contradictions. No one could possibly have
foreseen that an independence movement would emerge in its aftermath and that
this would culminate in the island achieving self-government in 1959 and then
independence in 1963.