GBH Openvault
Course of Our Times, The; Japan After World War II
Part of Stories of East and South East Asia.
License Clip
More material may be available from this program at the GBH Archives. If you would like research access to the collection at GBH, please email archive_requests@wgbh.org.
- Series
- Course of Our Times, The
- Program
- Japan After World War II
- Program Number
36
- Series Description
Historical survey hosted by Abram Sachar, Brandeis University. Series release date: 1973
- Program Description
After the atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally and its stoic people resigned themselves to the usual fate of the conquered. There seemed little hope that there could be recovery for many years, since the major cities had been reduced to a shambles by the incessant American bombing. The Untied States sent in General MacArthur as a virtual proconsul with the mandate to keep Japan perpetually disarmed so that it could never again menace the peace of its neighbors. But just as the Cold War drastically changed objectives for the future of Germany, the Allied plans were similarly changed for Japan. The dynamism of Soviet policy in Europe, the triumph of Mao and Communism in China, and the Korean War dictated that the defeated enemy now be built up as a strong ally. The next decades witnessed the reconstruction of the Japanese economy with massive American help, and , though Japan was not obligated to support free world diplomacy in its dealings with Asia, in fact it did become the anchor point to prevent all of the Pacific world from falling to the Communist power block.
- Duration
00:32:00
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Politics and Government
- War and Global Conflict
- Military Forces and Armaments
- Global Affairs
- Genres
- Educational
- Topics
- History
- Creators
- Sachar, Abram (Host)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “Course of Our Times, The; Japan After World War II,” GBH Archives, accessed December 27, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_33A48E317F47417AAD338CD70D461EBF.
- MLA: “Course of Our Times, The; Japan After World War II.” GBH Archives. Web. December 27, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_33A48E317F47417AAD338CD70D461EBF>.
- APA: Course of Our Times, The; Japan After World War II. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_33A48E317F47417AAD338CD70D461EBF