The situation that formed in Asia and the Pacific Rim after WWII was basically a battle between the West (America, capitalism) and the East (USSR, communism). The war created two super-powers in Russia and the USA. Russia immediately began to convert all their territory gained into communist puppet governments. This caused disagreement between the US and the USSR. The US then tried to suppress the spread of communism. This started the Cold War. When other countries turned to communism, the US would try to stop it. The situation in Asia and the Pacific Rim during the Cold War caused many political, economic, and social changes.

The political changes that occurred usually involved communism. Many countries had revolutions that introduced communism. The People’s Republic of China was taken over by Mao Zedong, and they became communist. Chaing Kai-shek moved to Taiwan and started the Republic of China. This move toward communism was one of many. Other countries to change to communistic ways were Vietnam, which caused a war that the US got involved in, Korea, which also caused a war that the US got involved in. In South Asia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh all undertook political reforms as well. India was becoming too close with the Soviets, so Pakistan let the US cut ties between India and the USSR through Pakistan. Bangladesh, who has not had a stable government in ages, went through yet another attempt to salvage their government. This time they tried military rule.

The economic changes that these countries went through were very similar. All of the countries that went to communism changed their economy totally. A lot of the time, the countries that changed to communism spent so much money on military, that they had none to spend on the people. So all of the promised goods they couldn’t afford. This happened in China, and the USSR. In the Australia, they broke away from total British rule, and began trading with Asia; this caused them to become an industrial giant. Another industrial giant that formed during the cold war was Japan. The US disarmed them, but then promised to protect them if they were under attack. Japan then spent no money on military, so they had a lot of money to spare. They began to export like crazy, and soon became the richest country in the world.

Social changes that happened during the Cold War were less dramatic, but there were still some. Corazon Aquino became president of the Philippines, who was one of the earliest female presidents. She came to power after Ferdinand Marcos assassinated her husband, who had been the president. She came to power when the rumor spread and Marcos fled the country. Pakistan, as mentioned earlier, formed good relations with the US by letting them use their land as a base near India.

The social, political, and economic changes that occurred after WWII are ones that still have impacts on today’s world. Korea is still split in two, China is still communist, and Taiwan is still a republic. These are not bits of history that are irrelevant now; they are a part of the world that we live in. The Cold War era was one that was full of change. The change caused a lot of disorder. It even caused a war. The rise of communism caused panic by the USA, and they prevented it, but they didn’t get rid of it completely, the scars of the Cold War era are still there. They may never disappear.

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