Essay Sample on Cold War's Importance in the Political and Economic Developments in East Asia

The term "Cold War" was used for the first time by the English writer George Orwell in an article published in 1945 (Cold War | Summary, Causes, History, & Facts, 2021). The Cold War was mainly the antagonism between the world's superpowers that emerged after World War 2. This Cold War period lasted from 1945 until 1989, and for almost forty-five years, Cold War dominated international relations. This war was called 'Cold' because it was mainly waged through ideological and diplomatic means rather than force (Canon, 2009). When World War 2 ended, the two big superpowers that emerged in the world were the United States Of America, and another one was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). However, they fought together in World War 2 as allies against the Axis powers, but their relationship was tense. Americans were concerned about Soviet Communism and the tyrannical rule of the Russian leader Joseph Stalin. The Soviets also resented America's decade-long refusal to treat the USSR as the legitimate part of the global community (Cold War History, 2009). Both of these superpowers believed in different ideologies. The United States of America was based upon capitalism and democracy, whereas the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) believed in communism and socialism. These superpowers antagonised each other through different ways like military coalitions, arms build-ups, political manoeuvring, propaganda, espionage, economic aid, and proxy wars between the other nations (The Cold War | JFK Library, n.d.).The world got divided into two blocs, i.e., Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc, and they both fought each other for the ultimate supremacy of the world. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established in 1949 in opposition to the Soviet expansion in the Western part of Europe. NATO was an intergovernmental military alliance led by the United States, and its main aim was to counter the attack by the USSR on the United States or its allies. In contrast, USSR and its partners established a collective defence treaty called Warsaw pact in 1955. Although there were no actual military conflicts between the two superpowers, some confrontations occurred during the Cold War.

During the Cold War phase, the conflict was limited to Europe and spread across Asia and Africa. The countries of East Asia like China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan played a significant role in the Cold war. The situation in Asia was quite different, and the Cold War tensions became entangled with the struggles that were going on in these countries to overthrow the colonial rule. This essay will mainly focus on how Cold War impacted these East Asian countries and Cold War's importance in the political and economic developments in East Asia.

It is argued that the Cold War in Asia stemmed from a three-stage interplay of the two superpowers in the earlier regional conflicts. These stages are – cooperation, confrontation, and competition (Chen, 2015). The tensions between the United States of America and the Soviet Union in East Asia were lesser than Europe. During the Cold War period, the countries in East Asia had their domestic concerns – nationalism, independence and nation-building. In East Asia, the bulk of the countries split, and, in some instances, the conflicts got developed into civil war or all-out war. Several countries were divided into two blocs, built on collective security cooperation, and fought against colonialism (Lee, 2021). The Korean War that broke out in 1950 was considered the onset of the Cold War East Asian region. The war never developed into full-scale combat between these two superpowers; still, it was one of the significant proxy wars between the different blocs. The Korean War greatly impacted the circumstances in the East Asian region.

The war began on the remote, inaccessible Ongjin Peninsula in the northwest of the national capital on 24-25 June 1950 (Cumings, 2010). The devastating North Korean artillery and mortar barrage opened on June 25 1950, at around 4:00 AM. The North Korean People’s Army possessed an armoured brigade equipped with Russian T-34 tanks, seven operational divisions and three newly activated divisions (Hastings, 2000). North Korea invaded South Korea in a coordinated attack at various strategic points along the 38th parallel. The 38th parallel was the line that demarcated communist North Korea from non-communist South Korea. North Korea militarily conquered South Korea and unified Korea under the communist North Korean regime. The United States President, Harry Truman, believed that the Soviet Union backed this invasion. The United States President Harry Truman said that “If we let Korea down, the Soviets will keep right on going and will swallow one[place] after another” (Editors, 2009). The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) quickly responded and called all members to help South Korea. The North Koreans were progressing rapidly, and they conquered the South Korean capital of Seoul (The Korean War | The Royal British Legion, 2020). By August 1950, North Korean armies swept across almost all South Korea. By the end of summer, US President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur decided on a new set of war aims. This new strategy was initially successful, and in September, the American troops invaded Inchon. The American forces routed the soldiers of North Korea from the south and sent them fleeing across the 38th parallel. China caught the wind of this, and they threatened a full-scale war. China warned the United States of America to keep its troops away from the Yalu boundary. The Yalu River was the border between China and North Korea. Despite the warning given by China, the forces moved towards the Yalu River. The Chinese government sent thousands of soldiers streaming into North Korea. The American and UN troops were outnumbered and retreated in the bitter winter back towards the 38th parallel. By March, American and UN forces regained their lost territories. They took back Seoul and pushed the communists north of the 38th parallel.

The United States President Harry Truman was determined to avoid the full-scale war with China because he feared that this might lead to a new World War. The President and his advisors were sure that this war could lead to Soviet Aggression in Europe and the deployment of atomic weapons, leading to millions of deaths. The US President Harry Truman worked inexhaustibly to prevent a full-scale war with China, whereas General Douglas MacArthur did everything possible to provoke it. In March, he sent a letter to House Republican leader Joseph Martin in which he wrote that “There is no substitute for victory” against international communism (Baker, 2020). For President, this letter was the last straw, and on April 11 1951, he fired General Douglas MacArthur for insubordination. In July 1951, US President and his newly appointed military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. There were negotiations for more than two years, and finally, the signatories signed an armistice on July 27, 1953, and the Korean War ended. This armistice allowed the POW’s to stay where they liked; a new boundary was drawn, which gave South Korea some additional territory of 1500 square miles and the formation of a demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.