Southeast Asia During World War II

1. Southeast Asia on the Brink of World War II

1. Colonies
1. Dutch East Indies (Java, Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, Irian Jaya, etc.)
2. French Indochina (Vietnam=Tonkin; Annam and Cochin China; Laos; Cambodia)
3. British Burma
4. British Malaya
5. British Singapore
6. U.S. (formerly Spanish) Philippines

3. Timeline for World War II

1930s Depression	1940s MacArthur pleads for aid to Philippines	1941	1942 Japan and BIA into Burma	1945
Japan into China Germany into eastern and western Europe Rising Southeast Asian nationalism Decreasing Western interest in Asian colonies	Japanese cultural and economic expansion Fall of France June	Japan into FIC Pearl Harbor December 7 and other attacks	Japan defeats UK-Singapore Philippines show greatest resistance to Japan Japan welcomed in Indonesia Japan and Thailand Alliance	August – A bombs

4. World War II as the Japanese Period in Southeast Asia – How did Japan appeal to Southeast Asians?
1. Japan success story, model for economic development
2. Racial solidarity – "Asia for the Asiatics"
3. Anti-colonialist
4. Support for independence – nationalist movements
5. Economic benefits – "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"
5. Southeast Asian Responses and Reactions to Japan
1. First six months to one year of war, at least some groups in each Southeast Asia colony/nation responded favorably to Japan. The reactions to Japan were shaped by the colonial experience. Burma (BIA), Vietnam (VietMinh), Philippines (MacArthur), Malaya and Singapore (Chinese vehemently anti-Japan), Indonesia (Sareket Islam).
2. As it became clear that Japan was no longer winning, nationalist groups turned to "resisting" the Japanese.
3. The special case of Thailand
1. Quasi-colonial/British influence
2. Dual diplomacy or duplicity?
1. Alliance with Japan, declaration of war against Allies, acquired territories French and British had taken.

vs.

2. Occupied by overwhelming force, Seri Thai (=Free Thai) outside and inside Thailand
3. Was Phibun pro-Japanese?
4. "Early" end of war – OSS and Seri Thai on the scene in Thailand.
5. British 21 demands.
6. How did Southeast Asia change because of World War II? The Results of WWII.
1. Decline/end of Western colonial power in Southeast Asia
2. Myth of European superiority exposed.
3. Rise in Southeast Asian nationalist, independence movements.
4. Southeast Asia begins to be part of global economy and society.
5. Rise in Japanese political and economic interest and influence (even though Japan lost the war).
6. Consciousness and status of overseas Chinese changes from temporary sojourner to permanent resident, from outside to split ethnicity (e.g., Sino Thai) and citizenship.
7. Increased U.S. interest in Southeast Asia (heir to British empire)