YIJC JC2 H1 History Notes (Japan)

Compiled by: Chris Loke (Jan 2024) 64 YIJC H1 HISTORY GCE A LEVEL THEME II (Syllabus: 8838) THE COLD WAR & EAST ASIA: 1945 – 1991 CHAPTER 2 – JAPAN & THE COLD WAR: 1952 - 1991 a) Development of Japan: US Relations i. Alliance & Tensions: Security Alliance, Share of Defence Burden, Economic Relations (Aid, Trade, Market Access) ii. Factors Shaping Relations: Japan’s Economic Status, Japan’s Domestic Politics (Differences over Japan’s Alliance with US, Role of Japan’s Security Forces, Consensus on Nuclear Weapons), Japan’s Perceptions of Communist Threat, US Cold War Strategy b) Japan’s Other Responses to Cold War I. Political Responses: Impact of Relations, Engagement of China II. Economic Responses: Impact of Relations, Engagement of China & SEA This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Compiled by: Chris Loke (Jan 2024) 65 1 Learning Outcomes - Evaluate the development of Japan’s relationship with the superpowers during the Cold War - Evaluate the factors that shape Japan’s relations with the superpowers during the Cold War - Evaluate the response of Japan to the development of the Cold Wa 1 chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2024syllabus/8838_y24_sy.pdf

Compiled by: Chris Loke (Jan 2024) 66 INQUIRY: 1) How important was SECURITY in shaping the relationship? 2) Was the US CONSTANTLY in control of developments in the relationship? Is it surprising? Overall Analysis of Significance OVER TIME:2 Over the course of four decades, Japan’s role in the US Cold War strategy was transformed from a rear basing area for combat operations in the Korean and Vietnam Wars to that of participant in the regional military balance of forces between the US and the former Soviet Union; with implications on China and the Cold War in turn as well. Japan’s role in US strategy during the latter part of the Cold War also reflected Japan’s great economic and technological strength, the growing capability of the Japanese Self-Defence Force (SDF), as well as the need to respond to improvements in Soviet naval and air deployments in the Pacific.3 Two major trends are visible throughout the Cold War period: - As the US military’s physical presence diminished on the main island, its composition changed coincident to the flow of the strategic competition between the Soviet Union and the US. - Japan’s economic growth and the rehabilitation of the military increased Tokyo’s value to the US in the effort to compete with the Soviet Union. As an ally of the US, Japan’s primary mechanism for coping with global changes that impinge upon its security has been through collaboration with the US. Since 1952, the US-Japan alliance has provided the context within which Japan developed its post-war security policy, and as US strategy unfolded over the course of the Cold War, Japan’s role in that str