SHIFTING TIDES IN THE ORIENT

[Music] SP by [Music] under the Japanese Occupation during much of World War II the doctrine of Asia for the asiatics was spread across eastern and southern Asia during this period the people of many Asiatic lands had their thirst for Independence wetted that Yearning For Freedom was seized upon by the opportunistic Japanese leaders in their campaign to stimulate the people to hatred of the allies with the end of World War II the stirrings of nationalism flared into eruption throughout most of Southern and Eastern Asia in the spring of 1945 American and Australian bombers opened up on Borneo the largest island in the invaluable Dutch East Indies Baro strategically located between Malaya and Australia was an important Invasion Target Allied warships performed their familiar Prelude to invasion Australian soldiers went ashore at several points on the large island and drove Inland against spirited resistance tank infantry teams made rapid progress on June 10th General MacArthur landed on labuan island off British North Borneo and congratulated the Australians on a job well done Japanese domination over the peoples of Asia was nearing an end with the end of World War II the islands of the East Indies which had been ruled by the Dutch before the war became the new independent nation of Indonesia in the eyes of the people of those islands in Jag Jakarta Java akmad sukaro the native leader during the Japanese Occupation and a group of Associates proclaimed the independence of of the Isles of the Indies the nationalists Consolidated their position quickly everyone available was enlisted to work in the common cause the setting up of a functioning government strong enough to withstand any attacks upon it by the Allied Forces scheduled soon to arrive the nationalists were determined to stand their ground in December 194 5 the first Dutch troops arrived in the Indies 4 months after Japan's surrender the Dutch Marines were assigned to take over the job of keeping order and restoring the islands to Dutch rule a job which had been performed by British troops until the arrival of the Dutch Queen's forces the men went right to work in an attempt to quell the Insurgent Rebellion at chabon on the island island of java Dutch and Indonesian leaders affected a partial compromise of differences and a ceasefire in the lingti agreement but that condition did not last long Dutch troops moved into territory acknowledged to be Republican by the terms of the agreement the Dutch police action resulted in a renewal of violence a settlement of differences between the Dutch and Indonesians seemed more remote than ever Bridges were destroyed by the retreating natives the Indonesians ravaged their own land rather than have it prove useful to the Dutch in mid 1947 the United Nations attempted mediation Australia's delegate William Hudson called for an immediate cessation of H hostilities and peaceful arbitration but the issue was far from being settled the Communists in Indonesia who had been supporting the nationalists in their fight for independence rebelled the Republican troops went to work quickly rounding up every communist they could locate the uprising was ineptly stayed and within a month it was decisively crushed by the Indonesian Republican forces with its leaders either captured or killed the Communist Force collapsed and the threat to the success of the Nationalist cause ended in December 1949 the islands of the Indies officially became the Republic of the United States of Indonesia elected president by the 16 naras of the Federation of Indonesian States Saro was sworn in and ceremony at jug dearta the new ruler who had collaborated with the Japanese had been striving toward this day for some 30 years finally after 4 years of fighting and negotiating he and his people were officially recognized as an independent nation [Music] in Indonesia as elsewhere in Asia colonialism was dying India had been working toward an independent status for several decades with World War II the stirrings of nationalism throughout southern Asia accelerated the tempo of that movement the people of the subcontinent of India had been promised a certain degree of self-rule by the British finally on August 15th 1947 jaah haral Neu represented India's Millions at the ceremony in which Britain's Lord montbatten presented India her sovereignty the new India became an important member of the British Commonwealth of Nations but Britain no longer ruled the vast territory which held a dominant position in southern Asia in Karachi Lord montbatten attended another ceremony to celebrate the creation of a new IND dependent Nation Mohammad alaj and some 75 million supporters mostly Muslim were at last the masters of their own destiny as The Sovereign Nation of Pakistan the new Muslim nation of Pakistan was carved out of parts of what had been the India of the British Empire the balance of the Indian Colonial territory became the new Hindu nation of India but freedom for the peoples of the Indian subcontinent was accompanied by rioting and bloodshed hundreds of thousands died in these Fierce clashes between the Muslims and Hindus over the division of the land between Pakistan and India some of the territory at issue became a n man's land millions of natives left their homes to move to an area where their religion was honored Muslims poured into Pakistan and Hindus caught within the borders of the new new Muslim Nation migrated to the new India for many the move meant uprooting their lives but no sacrifice was too great to make for their religious freedom India's Independence was a high point in the life of mandas Gandhi the spiritual leader of the nation's millions and its most powerful nationalist leader passive resistance was Gandhi's approach a Doctrine he practiced with great effect in furthering the cause of nationalism but in January 48 Gandhi was assassinated by a member of an extremist faction India had lost her steadiest guiding hand thousands upon thousands paid homage to India's great leader the MERS included not only Hindus but Muslims siks and Britain who sincerely believed that the world had lost a great man in Pakistan as in India strong efforts were made to affect conciliation of differences between the two Nations but in Kashmir a disputed Province the strange situation flared into open Warfare to the Western World cashmir had long been a fabled remote land in 1947 kashmir's Maharaja refused to exceed to either India or Pakistan and the fight was on Indian Armed Forces arrived to combat the Muslim troops from Pakistan in the closing months of 1947 the disturbance turned into a real war on January 1st 1949 through the efforts of the United Nations a ceased fire was affected Pakistan refused to withdraw its troops from the disputed Province when India declared its intentions of keeping its soldiers in the area Pakistan held some economic advantages over India for in East Pakistan the bulk of the world's jute has grown Pakistan's supply of this precious fiber no longer sent to India was now shipped directly overseas both Nations underwent rigid economic Readjustment even India's fabulous wealthy maharajas felt the pinch they were stripped of much of their political power and some of their wealth but India's former ruling classes still managed to lead a luxurious existence far removed from the lot of The Untouchables at the lowest level of Hindu life for millions of India's people lived on only a few grains of rice on January 26th 19 1950 the Republic of India was established India had been a free Nation for almost 2 and A2 years but this ceremony heralded the severing of the bond with the British crown that on and from this the 26th day of January 1950 India that is bat shall be a sovereign Democratic Republic the raising of the flag of the Republic's first president symbolized complete freedom to the Indian people in Burma which was granted its independence by Britain in 1948 a struggle for control was waged by about a dozen political factions of varying Shades including two communist groups in nearby Malaya Britain continued to rule but its Colonial Administration was constantly challenging by communist gorillas operating from the hills British and Colonial troops were pressed into service to protect mala's rubber plantations and Tin mines from the Reds of the gorillas but the soldiers had difficulty in coming to grips with an enemy which disappeared Into Thin Air or so it seemed to the Colonial troops in the Years following the defeat of Japan Britain's control of the melee Peninsula was far from strong the Philippine Islands had been promised their independence by 1946 but with the Japanese invasion and conquest of the islands the people's hopes dimmed but in spite of that strong setback the Philippines celebrated their independence just as planned on July 4th 1946 with this ceremony a new nation is born a nation conceived in the centuries old struggle of a people to attain the political Liberty to Embark upon its own National Destiny a nation upon whom the eyes of all oppressed peoples are today cast with the burning light of a new Fai the formal Declaration of Philippine Independence was made by us commissioner Paul mcnut I am authorized and directed by the president of the United States to proclaim the independence of the Philippines as a separate and self-governed Gover in nation the infant Republic experienced the customary growing pains during those first heady months of Freedom Philippine political life still reflected the upheaval caused by the war and the Japanese Occupation in fact one of the election issues in addition to government corruption and the control of Communism was the degree of collaboration with the Japanese indulged in by one or another of the candidates the Philippine political picture remained moddel for many months the first president of the Republic was Manuel roas who had worked with the Japanese but was cleared by General MacArthur the hu baps constituted the government's biggest headache once strongly anti-japanese the hux now trained their sites on the new government and its policies with the end of World War II French Indochina seemed destined for a Revival of French Colonial Administration in the French Empire no colony was more desirable than Indochina General jacqu laclair The Liberator of Paris arrived in Indochina in late 1945 to conduct mopping up operations against the Vietnamese the Vietnamese were Ardent nationalists who lived in an area comprising almost half of French Indochina the bitter clashes with the French troops marked the start of a fullscale war which continued for some 17 months the French proclaimed their control and backed up their statements by Force of Arms frch soldiers were fighting in dead Earnest for Frenchman no part of the war ravaged colony was entirely safe the military operations the French were conducting against the Vietnamese were in no way dissipating the natives desperate urge for freedom from French colonial rule as they had known it before the Japanese Occupation most of the fighting was in Vietnam which includes three of the five countries comprising pre-war French Indochina finally on June 14th 1949 the independent state of Vietnam under Bai former emperor of Anam was recognized by the French as independent but existing within the French Union but to the natives of Vietnam even this limited form of Independence under a leader who did as directed by the French was some improvement over pre-war French colonial rule the age-old countries of coochin China Anam and kin United as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam embarked on a new era in the history of Southeast Asia a period which bore only surface resemblances to the era which ended in Asia with World War II this new day was inaugurated in Vietnam as elsewhere throughout Asia with Warfare the most urgent task facing the French and Vietnamese was the job of containing the advances of communist Viet forces which were operating in strong Guerilla groups throughout Vietnam to the north Asia's most troubled country China moved right from one war that with Japan to another the war with the Communist forces without a pause Jang kayek had led China through a series of great crisis but with the end of war with Japan Jang and China embarked on an even more critical period the new antagonist Chinese Communist mounty Tong gained adherence quickly jang's forces fought a long exhausting series of campaigns in a vain attempt to stop the Communist advance from spreading across China [Music] over a period of 2 years after the end of World War II China received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of material aid from onra the United Nations relief and Rehabilitation Administration the major part of that assistance about 2/3 of the total amount was furnished by the US in late 1945 General George Marshall arrived in China to try to affect the ceasefire between the two Chinese forces at first his mission seemed headed for Success during January 1946 a series of conferences involving both nationalists and Communists achieved some positive results on January 10th a ceasefire agreement was reached endorsed by the nationalists and Communists in the mediator's presence but the Marshall Mission and a subsequent survey of the problem conducted by General Albert way both proved inconclusive meanwhile Ma's forces grew stronger while the debate raged on what us China policy should be by early 1949 Mao commanded a formidable fighting force in late May of that year Shang High fell to the advancing Chinese Communist armies the Communist soldiers moved quickly Into the Heart of the City which had been evacuated by the nationalists after they had boasted that they would defend it with the last drop of their blood the Chinese civilians in Shanghai were quick to applaud their new Masters overnight shanghai's population became ardently communistic in baying in October 194 9 Russia's Ambassador rashan presented his credentials to mount sitong and the bond between the Chinese Communists and the Soviet Union was cemented Mong once a lowly party worker now assumed the stature of the dominant figure in all of Eastern Asia the Nationalist troops those that hadn't joined forces with the Communists fled Southward with their families many surrendered their weapons to the French in Indochina the Nationalist defense of China had turned into a route from a small area in North China Ma's forces swept over all of mainland China Formosa provided a Haven for Chong and the remnants of his army beginning in December 1949 on his Island Sanctuary Jong worked toward the day when China could be freed from the Communist yoke he had the support of the United States but Britain by recognizing red China weakened the cause of general isimo and Madame CH Britain has bed the soul of a Nation for a few pieces of silver I say for shame to Britain one day these pieces of silver will bear interest in British Blood Sweat and Tears on the battleground of freedom for that which is morally wrong can never be politically right in addition to US military aid for his troops Jang was furthered by the presence in waters off Formosa of the US 7eventh Fleet which was assigned by the US to save the island from the Communists in Korea which had been ruled by the Chinese and the Japanese during the past Century the end of World War II introduced two Allied Powers Russia and the United States which occupied the northern and southern sections of the country it is my sincere belief that our great victories on the battlefields of the world will be followed by complete cooperation and collaboration around the council tables of the great nation resulting in continuance of world peace and at our conferences here will solve the pressing problem of the Korean people I greet the Korean people who are liberated from the long oppression of the Japanese imperialist by the Glorious troops of the Red Army and the army of our allies the United States of America General H I would like to Express assurance that our negotiations with your representative will bring the solution of urgent problems having vital importance for the whole of Korea in North Korea the Soviet interpretation of administration and occupation consisted of impressing communism on the country soon after the Russians arrived a communist government was functioning in North Korea under such native leaders as communist kimil Sun a Russian puppet at the end of World War II Korea had been divided arbitrarily at the 38th parallel south of that degree of latitude the US was the occupying power on August 15th 1948 the US made South Korea an independent republic most South Koreans were determined to protect that newly won freedom in August 1948 that job did not seem too difficult but during the first years of the infant Republic's existence the job of protecting that Independence assumed larger proportions communist demonstrations inspired by natives in the northern half of Korea gave the first dling of further trouble ahead the 38th parallel of latitude was to prove a most ineffectual barrier against the sweep of communist aggression from the north [Music] andice [Music] in [Music]