A Continent Erupts: Decolonization, Civil War, and Massacre in Postwar Asia, 1945-1955

by Ronald H. Spector Narrated by BJ Harrison

Overview

The end of World War II led to the United States' emergence as a global superpower. For Western Europe it marked the beginning of decades of unprecedented cooperation and prosperity that one historian has labeled "the long peace." Yet half a world away, in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, and Malaya-the fighting never really stopped, as these regions sought to completely sever the yoke of imperialism and colonialism with all-too-violent consequences.



East and Southeast Asia quickly became the most turbulent regions of the globe. Within weeks of the famous surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri, civil war, communal clashes, and insurgency engulfed the continent, from Southeast Asia to the Soviet border. By early 1947, full-scale wars were raging in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Within a decade after the Japanese surrender, almost all of the countries of South, East, and Southeast Asia that had formerly been conquests of the Japanese or colonies of the European powers experienced wars and upheavals that resulted in the deaths of at least 2.5 million combatants and millions of civilians.



With A Continent Erupts, acclaimed military historian Ronald H. Spector draws on letters, diaries, and international archives to provide a comprehensive military history and analysis of these little-known but decisive events.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Ronald H. Spector’s history of post–World War II Asia fills a major gap in our understanding of the post-1945 world. His beautifully written narrative is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we arrived at current international conditions."— Robert Dallek, presidential historian

"Rich with battle detail.…There is engrossing color in Mr. Spector’s accounts."— Tunku Varadarajan Wall Street Journal

"Meticulously researched and carefully rendered.…Spector does an admirable job exploring the tumultuous events of his large canvas, and he is willing to look past the headlines for the underlying reasons, motivations, and dynamics of each conflict. An excellent starting point for anyone who wants to understand modern Asian history."— Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

2022-05-10
How a decade of violence in Asia laid the foundation for eventual stability.

In this meticulously researched and carefully rendered study of the region in the period between 1945 and 1955, military historian Spector examines the conflicts that engulfed nearly every country, resulting in untold deaths and misery. Before World War II, the European colonial powers had enforced stability, overturning old empires and drawing new maps. This system was upended by a period of Japanese domination, the end of which created a power vacuum, with many players rushing to fill it. The French and the Dutch tried to reassert themselves, but the colonial game was up. The British looked for an honorable way to withdraw while retaining an economic role, but their power was waning. In many nations, struggles against colonial rules morphed into civil wars: “Regional, religious, ethnic, and ideological differences turned out to be, in many cases, as potent as the desire for social justice and national emancipation or the struggle against racism and colonial exploitation.” Spector is wary of the view that the violence was a matter of Cold War proxies. “It might be more accurate,” he writes, “to say that the Cold War did not spread to Asia; it was invited in.” In fact, it is impossible to find a single definitive model, as the conflict ranged from the open warfare of Korea to the insurgency of the Malayan Emergency. China was in a class of its own for complexity and clashes. Gradually, the politics of the region stabilized, sometimes through compromises and sometimes through military victories. There would be more violence in the following decades—most notably, the Vietnam War—but by 1955, the political framework was largely established. Spector does an admirable job exploring the tumultuous events of his large canvas, and he is willing to look past the headlines for the underlying reasons, motivations, and dynamics of each conflict.

An excellent starting point for anyone who wants to understand modern Asian history.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175040891
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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