The Korean war

The Soviet Union and the United States decided to temporarily split Korea at the 38th parallel of latitude north of the equator after the country was freed from Japanese rule at the end of World War II.

The upshot of this divide was the creation of two nations: South Korea (supported by the United States) and communist North Korea, which was backed by the Soviet Union.

• Kim Il Sung, the communist ruler of North Korea, decided to try to reunite Korea under his rule five years after the country was divided. Kim led a surprise invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950.
• In 1950, At the head of a United Nations force made up of more than a dozen nations, the United States assisted South Korea.
• In November 1950, Communist China sided with North Korea in the conflict, launching a large Chinese military attack against American forces. Additionally, the Soviet Union secretly backed North Korea.
• The border between North and South Korea(38 parallel) was nearly where it had been at the start of the war when the three years of warfare came to an end in a standoff.
• The United States demonstrated its continued commitment to containment during this first heated conflict of the Cold War (the idea that the US would ultimately defeat communism by containing its spread).

The Truman Doctrine, which pledged support for the “free peoples of the world” who sought to prevent communist aggression, was put into action in Korea by the United States.

The United States and its allies did succeed in stopping communism from taking over South Korea, even if the war came to a conclusion where it started.

The Vietnam war

• When World War II first broke out, Japan threatened to invade Indochina (an Area comprised of the presence of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). By 1938, France and Japan had both organized their armies to seize control of the area. When World War II started, the Japanese took control of the nation. Political leader Ho Chi Minh founded the Viet Minh to push out both the Japanese occupiers and the French colonial authorities.
• The communism of the Soviet Union and China, however, had a significant impact on the Viet Minh.
• Emperor Bao Dai was left in charge of the government after the Japanese were defeated in 1945, but his position was not particularly strong. Taking advantage of the situation, the Viet Minh revolted, took over North Vietnam, and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which is centred in Hanoi.
• . Both Bao and Ho Chi Minh, who were currently in power in North Vietnam, favoured the unification of Vietnam but with a different approach. Ho desired a communist state, whereas Bao wanted better ties with the Western capitalist powers.
• A treaty dividing Vietnam in two was signed in July 1954 during a conference in Geneva. Ho maintained sway over the North, and Bao held the South. But in the meantime, the anti-communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem toppled Bao’s government to become the President of South Vietnam.
• A prolonged military fight between free-market democracy and international communism, the Vietnam War began as an anti-colonial conflict against the French and developed into one throughout the Cold War.
• The Soviet Union, China, and other communist nations backed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in the north, while the Republic of Vietnam (ROV) in the south was backed by the United States and its anticommunist allies.
• The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.
• The more conventionally trained army of South Vietnam was no match for the guerrilla tactics of the North, so in February 1965 America decided to get involved with Operation Rolling Thunder.
• Agent Orange, a potent herbicide, was used by US military forces during the Vietnam War to clear crops and forest cover out of the way of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops.(During the tenure of US President Lyndon Johnson)
• The North Vietnamese army unexpectedly attacked US forces in the South in 1968. The American public was shocked by the attack’s sudden severity.
• Nixon(Who won the election after defeating Johnson) started a slow withdrawal of US forces to calm public opposition to the Vietnam War, but he kept up the bombing campaigns started by his predecessor.
• In January 1973, North Vietnam and the United States reached their final peace accord. Ho Chi Minh City replaced the name Saigon.

Political and economic changes in the communist nation started in 1986, assisting Vietnam’s slow but steady integration into the world economy. It joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007.

The Vietnam War had an ongoing impact on US foreign policy. In a clear attempt to reestablish some kind of control over the formulation of foreign policy and to place limits on presidential power, Congress approved the War Powers Act in 1973.

The idea of foreign intervention was opposed by the American public for well over ten years. The “Vietnam syndrome” was the term used for this.

1971 War and rise of Bangladesh

The south-central Asian nation of Bangladesh, officially the People’s Republic of Bangladesh with  Dhaka as the Capital. Bengalis make up the large majority of the population.

• East Bengal became a part of Pakistan known as East Pakistan after the British left the subcontinent in 1947.
• After Pakistan became an independent nation, Bengali nationalism grew.
• In 1948, Jinnah declared that Urdu would be the official language and the people of East Pakistan who were bangle speaking, will have to comply. This led to widespread protests in East Pakistan.
• The language movement was led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, who joined the Awami League party.
• The 1954 provincial elections saw a landslide victory of Mujibur Rehman’s Awami League over the Muslim league. However, west Pakistan was not willing to let a leader from its eastern provincial wing rule the country.
• Their six demands of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman for more autonomy were: a federal state; all subjects, excluding defence and foreign affairs; independent fiscal and monetary policies; taxing powers; commerce and foreign exchange reserves; and separate navies and armed forces.
• The 1970 election again saw a sweeping victory by the Awami League, but Zulfikar Bhutto-led PPP who won in West Pakistan refused to acknowledge Mujibur Rahman’s win
• Violence broke out in 1971, killing about a million Bengalis and forcing millions more to flee to India.
• On 25th March 1971 (Operation Searchlight), the Pakistan army struck at the Bengali independence movement at night.
• Mujibur Rahman was arrested and flown to West Pakistan, and many Bengali students and intellectuals were fired upon and arrested at Dhaka University.
• The Bengali armed resistance Mukhti Bahini arose against the Pakistan army and the Indian forces helped them with arms and training.
• On 16 December, Pakistan surrendered to India, and 93000 soldiers of Pakistan laid down their arms in Bangladesh.
• Mujirbur Rahman was released from prison in January and went on to become the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

The Shimla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan on 2nd July 1972- The LoC was recognized, and India gave occupied land back to Pakistan.

On a global scale, the U.S –Soviet tensions were high. India had signed a Friendship treaty in 1971 with Russia hence the U.S. was supporting Pakistan throughout all this.

Reunification of Germany

After World War II, Germany was divided and emerged as two republics in 1949  – West Germany—officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)—and East Germany—officially known as the German Democratic Republic(GDR).

• In 1961, when the Berlin Wall was built by the East Germans as a barrier between itself and the West.
• The West was strongly in favour of reunification but as long as the Soviet Union was able to pursue its ideological war with the West, the authorities in the East were not about to give up.
• Despite having the most successful economy in the Soviet Union, East Germany’s citizens yearned for the freedoms experienced by their compatriots in the West.
• When Mikhail Gorbachev visited East Berlin in October 1989, he urged the East German government to embrace change.
• Almost 1 million East Germans took part in a demonstration on November 4th, 1989 in East Berlin. The Berlin Wall eventually came down five days later, allowing civilians to enter West Berlin without restriction. East Germany began breaking down the Berlin Wall on November 12.
• This helped pave the way for the first free elections in East Germany, which were held on March 18, 1990.

On September 12, the two German States, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and Great Britain signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement About Germany.

On October 3, 1990, East Germany joined West Germany, uniting the two countries politically.

The disintegration of the Erstwhile Soviet Union and the Rebirth of Central Asian republicans

The Russian Empire was overthrown in the 1917 Russian Revolution. The Russian Civil War resulted in the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922.

Major reasons for the disintegration of the USSR:

• The fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany
• People in many East European countries(socialist bloc) started to protest against their governments and the USSR.
• Political and Economic reforms proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev – he presented two measures to address the economic crisis that, in his estimation, would turn the Soviet Union into a prosperous nation.
• Glasnost – The political openness – gave a degree of freedom to citizens of the USSR. For instance, Now, Newspaper could print criticism of government policies
• ‘Perestroika’ or economic restructuring – By enabling private property ownership and business establishment while promoting foreign investment in Soviet businesses, it renounced the former command economy doctrine.
• However, these changes were too little, too late. Gorbachev’s new policies appeared to have no effect other than rationing, food shortages, and long lines for necessities, fueling discontent with his regime.
• The rise of nationalism among countries like Russia, Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia etc is the most important and immediate cause of the disintegration of the USSR.
• Communist Party members put Gorbachev under house arrest on August 18, 1991, citing “bad health” as their justification. State of emergency was proclaimed by the coup leaders.
• After some time, Gorbachev was released and he travelled to Minsk to negotiate a separation agreement( Belavezha Accords) from the USSR with the presidents of Belarus and Ukraine. After a summit in Alma-Ata, modern-day Kazakhstan, additional Soviet Republics in Central Asia joined them a few weeks later.
• On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev tendered his resignation as the last premier of the Soviet Union.

There was no longer a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. From 1991 to 1999, Boris Yeltsin presided as Russia’s first president.

Consequences of the disintegration of the USSR:

1. Birth of 15 new republics including Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
2. End of the Cold War: End of the arms race, end of ideological confrontations.
3. Change in power equations: Unipolar world, capitalist ideology, IMF, World Bank etc.

It was in 1991 that the Cold War came to an end with the disintegration of the USSR.

Contemporary Boundary Problems

In the world, there are still several ongoing boundary disputes, including:

• Ethiopia – Eritrea issue was solved in 2012 and The birth of South Sudan in 2012.
• France – Madagascar dispute in the Indian Ocean
• Border disputes between India and China, China and Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, China in the South China Sea (9-dash line dispute), and
• The boundary conflicts between India and Pakistan and India and Nepal
• The conflict between the UK, Mauritius, Maldives, and Seychelles regarding Chagos Island.
• Conflict in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and numerous more Middle Eastern nation
• The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
• A territorial dispute sparked the Russia-Ukraine war.
• The Kuril Islands: Russia and Japan, etc

South Sudan, which separated from Sudan in 2011, is the youngest state in the world. Bavaria, North Cyprus, Belize, Tibet, French-speaking Quebec in Canada, and other places also claim to have had an independence movement.

Separatist movements can be found across three continents.

The number of countries in the United Nations has grown from 51 recognized states in 1945 to 193 states today. Hence redrawing of the boundaries of and demand for new separate countries is still ongoing.