SAJC H2 History Paper 2 2024 Lecture 2 Approaches to Governance SEA

Paper 2: Developments in Southeast Asia (Independence – 2000) Theme I: Forming Nation-States- Establishing Political Structures and Legitimacy 1 SAJC/History Department/SEA/JC1/Theme 1: Forming Nation-States/Lt2/2023/ INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY Lecture 2: Factors for the establishment of different forms of government - Decolonisation experience, Role of Local Political Elites and Masses, Cold War Developments SAJC History Unit, 2023 1. Impact of the decolonisation process: Overview 2. Impact of local political elites: Overview 3. Impact of mass political participation: Overview 4. Cold War Developments: Overview 5. Putting them together: Impact of decolonisation process, local political elites, mass political participation and Cold War Developments 6. Peaceful paths to independence: Philippines 7. Peaceful paths to independence: Malaya 8. Peaceful paths to independence: Burma 9. Violent paths to independence: Indonesia 10.Violent paths to independence: Vietnam

Paper 2: Developments in Southeast Asia (Independence – 2000) Theme I: Forming Nation-States- Establishing Political Structures and Legitimacy 2 SAJC/History Department/SEA/JC1/Theme 1: Forming Nation-States/Lt2/2023/ INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY 1. Impact of the decolonisation process 1.1 Overview Before we proceed further in this section, let us examine the following diagram: Vietnam Indonesia Burma Malaya, Philippines Largely negative experience Largely positive experience • One of the first things we should observe from the diagram above is that decolonisation was not a uniform experience for Southeast Asia. • Even between countries that are on the same end of the spectrum, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, it can be argued that Vietnam’s experience was even more negative than Indonesia’s. As History students, we need to be aware of the diversity of experiences that contributed at least partially to the different forms of governments that emerged in Southeast Asia over time.

Paper 2: Developments in Southeast Asia (Independence – 2000) Theme I: Forming Nation-States- Establishing Political Structures and Legitimacy 3 SAJC/History Department/SEA/JC1/Theme 1: Forming Nation-States/Lt2/2023/ INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY • Democracy got off to a somewhat better start in the newly independent Philippines and Malaya, but even in these countries there were issues, such as the de facto disenfranchisement of the Malayan minorities. • It is important that beyond the immediate post -independence years, decolonisation had a long-term impact that could possibly be seen around a decade after a country’s independence. • In the short term, decolonisation generally had the following impact: o New governments in the independent states under revolutionary leaders who had been popular since the pre-war period; o The emergence of domestic political (and ethnic-religious) divisions; o The continued legitimisation of the military as a political institution in some countries. o Singapore and Malaya were exceptions, where new parties were formed, and the British put in place constitutional processes. Stop and consider for a moment: Could the decolonisation experience alone fully explain the form of government that Southeast Asian countries adopted over time? Some food for thought: • It may be easier to draw a link between the decolonisation experience and the type of government adopted during the immediate post-independence years. • Even within the immediate post -independence period, there were other factors at play in determining the form of government that Southeast Asian leaders adopted initially. As we delve deeper into the developments of the respective Southeast Asian countries, look out for the impact of the Cold War, the role of Southeast Asian leaders and the masses.

Paper 2: Developments in Southeast Asia (Independence – 2000) Theme I: Forming Nation-States- Establishing Political Structures and Legitimacy 4 SAJC/History Department/SEA/JC1/Theme 1: Forming Nation-States/Lt2/2023/ INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY 1.2 By Case Study: Decolonisation experiences for Southeast Asian states [Summary] Year of attaining independ ence Country Path to independence Manner of attaining independence 1946 Philippines Peaceful • American tutelage of Filipinos in democracy prior to 1940: seen as their “daughter republic.” • Granted independence by the USA after negotiations with the Filipino nationalists. • Independence was guaranteed in the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 , promising independence in ten years’ time. • WW2 slightly delayed this to 1946. 1947/8 Burma Ultimately peaceful but under a threat of violence A hasty retreat by the British • A combination of negotiations between the British and the strengthened Burmese nationalists led by the AFPFL (“Anti Fascists People’s Liberation League) and British attitude to Burma made independence possible. • AFPFL helmed by Thakins and Aung San: moderate, Western educated intellectuals who believed in a socialist cum democratic principles. • British reluctance and loss of will to retain control of Burma [due to loss of India, economic devastation of Burma], and the threat of violence

Paper 2: Developments in Southeast Asia (Independence – 2000) Theme I: Forming Nation-States- Establishing Political Structures and Legitimacy 5 SAJC/History Department/SEA/JC1/Theme 1: Forming Nation-States/Lt2/2023/ INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY by the AFPFL led to independence in 1948. • Assassination of Aung San in 1947 was a setback. • Appointment of a reluctant U Nu & setting up of a new govt overnight. 1949 Indonesia Violent • Armed resistance by the Indonesian nationalists (called the Indonesian War of Independence) as the Dutch were unwilling to grant independence. • The Dutch saw the East Indies as crucial to its economic recovery after World War 2. • Negotiations between the Dutch and nationalists led by Sukarno and Hatta • International pressure on the Dutch led by the USA to leave , which they did in 1949. 1954 North and South Vietnam Violent and protracted warfare • After a guerrilla war to drive out the French starting in 1946, Vietnamese nationalists led by the Viet Minh finally won victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. • The French agreed to leave Indochina but the international community, including USSR and PRC, arranged to split Vietnam into two. North Vietnam would be under the Communist-leaning Viet Minh and South Vietnam under an anti-

Paper 2: Developments in Southeast Asia (Independence – 2000) Theme I: Forming Nation-States- Establishing Political Structures and Legitimacy 6 SAJC/History Department/SEA/JC1/Theme 1: Forming Nation-States/Lt2/2023/ INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY Communist regime supported by France and the USA. • Vietnam was ultimately unified in 1975 after North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam. Cambodia Gifted with independence when France withdrew after its defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Laos 1957 Malaya Peaceful • Peacefully negotiated between the British and Malayan nationalists. • The Malayan Communist Party attempted to drive the British out (the Malayan Emergency) starting in 1948 but was suppressed by the British by 1954. • Peaceful negotiations with moderate Malayan nationalist leaders could continue. These Malay, Chinese and Indian leaders showed they were willing to put aside their difference to both fight the Communists and work as a united body to negotiate with the British, thus fulfilling the British conditions for independence, which was granted in 1957. 1965 Singapore Peaceful A two-stage process: • The British wished to leave S’pore and so handed S’pore to Malaya to form Malaysia, as it was thought that S’pore was too small to functio