world war ii and history repeats itself

world war ii and history repeats itself

There is a common phrase that stipulates ‘history repeats itself,’ but history provides an opportunity for people to learn from past mistakes and avoid similar mistakes in the future. The paper examines historical issues arising from Robert A. Bickers & Jeffery N. Wasserstrom’s article, “Shanghai’s ‘Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted’ Sign: Legend, History, and Contemporary Symbol.” The second part of the paper examines why and how Confucianism has been utilized in North Korean political ideology and how Confucianism can be reconciled in China’s socialist state. The article also discusses the historical factors that lead to China and North Korea being communist states and why Japan and South Korea were anti-communists. Finally, the paper examines the adoption of democracy in China, Japan, North, and South Korea. The document follows the argument that Confucian principles should be adopted to provide an alternative guide to the moral-ethical decay interrupting social order. However, only the ethical aspects should be picked from Confucianism but not as a legitimization of bad governance. The paper argues that China became a communist country after long battles between nationalists and communists, but other countries such as North and South Korea had their choices dictated to them by their invaders. Ultimately the paper is of the ideology that only Japan and South Korea achieved the goal of democracy after World War II.

What are some of the issues relating to the study of history that are raised in Robert A. Bickers & Jeffery N. Wasserstrom’s article, “Shanghai’s ‘Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted’ Sign: Legend, History, and Contemporary Symbol.”

Bicker and Wasserstrom’s article investigate the power of myth and language in making an impression. They specifically discuss the potency of a sign that is allegedly said to have been placed in Shanghai’s Huangpu Park. The sign is reported to have the following words “Chinese and Dogs Not Admitted.” These words allegedly embedded on the sign at the park’s entrance is said to have drawn so much attention among scholars and writers. Despite if the sign was there or it was just a creative imagination, the words embedded in it affirms to historians of the presence of Westerners in China before 1949. In this article, Bicker and Wasserstrom give a record of Shanghai’s Municipal Council regulations indicating how Chinese citizens were banned from the park, currently known as Huangpu Park. The evidence in this article speaks volumes of how foreigners treated the Chinese people in their own country and exhibit the cruelty of colonization. The prejudice of foreigners on Chinese citizens is also demonstrated in Bicker and Wasserstrom’s article. They illustrate that the only Chinese people allowed into the park were either servants of the Westerners accompanied by their bosses or city employees.

Imperialism had immense effects on China. After reading Bicker and Wasserstrom’s article, “Shanghai’s ‘Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted’ Sign: Legend, History, and Contemporary Symbol,” it is evident that China experienced colonization. The book highlights some of the signs in Chinese town in 1970 and 1980 that read “foreign guests only.” One significant effect of colonialism is local people tend to view foreigners as unique people and start directing attention, resources, and workforce towards the happiness and comfort of foreigners. The article also highlights other impacts of imperialism, such as the suffering of Chinese people under foreigners, which resulted in disagreements. These disagreements between Chinese and foreigners are said to have been carried forward for generations, and the difficulty in creating policies between China and foreign nations is evidence of the humiliations Chinese people experienced.

Historical events, such as the treaty port era, are also highlighted in Robert’s article. The treaty ports were ports in China and Japan that were opened up for foreign trade and residence. The treaties that were signed, leading to Chinese and Japanese ports being opened for trade, were unequal and were a result of pressure from powers such as France, Germany, Britain, and the United States. The foreigners were out to benefit at the expense of Chinese and Japanese citizens. Another historical event mentioned in the article “Shanghai’s ‘Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted’ Sign: Legend, History, and Contemporary Symbol” is the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The party was created after nationalist troops surrendered to the communist armies, which is a considerable part of China’s political history.

According to Charles Armstrong’s article, “Familism, Socialism and Political Religion in North Korea,” how has Confucianism been utilized in North Korean political ideology, and why? In 1949 Communist China rejected Confucian ideology as seen in the status of women and the exploitation of peasants, so how can Confucianism be reconciled in a socialist state?

Confucianism commonly refers to a system of ethical and social philosophy rather than religion. It is indeed based on a traditional religious foundation to establish the institutions, social values, and transcendent ideals. It can either be defined as a civil religion, a sense of religious identity, or diffused religion, where it is practiced in all institutions, including schools, family, and state. Confucianism was developed and founded by Master Kong in his aim to revive and interpret the unnamed religion of the Zhou dynasty in China. Armstrong, in his article, has illustrated how Confucianism has been incorporated in North Korea’s political ideology.

Armstrong claims that after the North Korean government was established in the late 1940s through the help of the Soviet Union. Kim II-Sung, who was the first leader, borrowed much from Marxist-Leninism. Kim II-Sung is said to have been heavily influenced by Stalin and Mao, who were also communists. During this period, Armstrong says that Confucianism was the fundamental way of life because most of North Korea’s ideologies were influenced by a language of family relationships, particularly filial piety and maternal love. Armstrong goes on to describe how, during this time, North Korea visualized itself as part of the communist family, and the Soviet Union, particularly Stalin, was considered pater familias. Pater familias translates to the head of the family, one with autocratic authority over the rest of the family.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Kim II-Sung adopted juche as the system of governance in North Korea. Juche system propagated that North Koreans were to be masters of their destiny through revolution and construction. Armstrong states that through this shift in governance, Kim II-sung became the pater familias of North Korea explicitly. The principles of Confucianism make it easy for its adoption in the political ideology because they emphasize moral values, respect of parents, and loyalty to the government. The reason Confucianism was adopted as a political ideology is that, through these principles, it is easy for the leaders in North Korea to serve without any opposition from their citizens, legitimize their governance, and being accorded god-like respect.

Confucianism originated in China before its adoption in other nations in East Asia. Elements of Confucianism are still evident in china; for example, during the Olympics, Confucian themes were highlighted at the opening ceremony. Due to the loss of inspiration in communism, China should consider readopting Confucianism as a new moral foundation for its political rule. China should revive Confucian principles by re-introducing them to the society that is because there is a general moral-ethical decay in society due to civilization that has caused social order disturbance. China should create awareness of Confucian moral ideals to its citizens because it may give alternative guidelines to the moral-ethical decay. They should pay close attention, particularly to the family, because it is the institution responsible for teaching children moral values. It should also consider introducing Confucian principles in schools because moral values such as empathy are very vital to disciplines such as health care.

Historical Factors that lead China and North Korea to be the Communist States and the Rejection of Communism in Japan and South Korea.

Communism is a social, political, philosophical, and economic perspective, which is guided by Marxism-Leninism. The political philosophy, Marxism-Leninism, dictates that communist states are governed by a single party that establishes the socioeconomic order structure, where the underlying ideology is collective ownership of production, distribution, and exchange of goods. Communist states eliminate private ownership of property and social classes claiming to work for higher social order, where all products are equally distributed among citizens. Karl Max developed the theory and method of Marxism in the 19th century. It first gained momentum in Europe, where its militant supporters orchestrated several failed revolutions. The success of Marxism theory was achieved in undeveloped countries such as the Republic of China and the Russian Empire.

Globally five countries are considered communist states, and they include; Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, China, and North Korea. North Korea is no longer a communist state but is commonly considered one because of its first president Kim II-Sung. 1n 1926 Kim II-Sung formed the Down with Imperialism Union, which promoted Marxism- Leninism and castigated Japanese imperialism. In 1937 Kim II-Sung became a legend for capturing a Japanese held town at the Korean border, and for this, the Soviets put him in charge of the coalition, North Korean Workers Party. After 1945, Kim remained the central figure of the Korean Communist structure with the help of the Soviets. Kim consolidated his powers by eliminating anti-communists and freeing communists from exile and imprisonment. While in some countries like North Korea, where the adoption of communism had no struggles, in China, the adoption of communism was a great struggle.

After the 1911 Revolution in China, which saw the end of dynasty rule in the country, two distinct factions arose, nationalists and communists. The nationalists, who included the educated class, lawyers, doctors, students, and government officials, were led by Chiang Kai-shek. In contrast, the communist, who included peasant factory workers and farmers, were led by Mao Zedong. The two groups had their armies; the Chiang armies were more established and had the support of the United States, which included; training of soldiers, funds, air transport around China, and billion dollars’ worth of American military supplies. Nonetheless, this did not stop the Mao guerrilla army of peasant farmers, and factory workers as a matter of fact when Japanese soldiers invaded the country, they forced Chiang to work with them to destroy the invaders.

The United States tried to unite the two groups, but the negotiations were fruitless due to Chiang’s poor administration. While Chiang lost favor among the Chinese elites due to corruption and bad governance, Mao ensured he kept his promises of land to the poor peasants gaining more support of nationalist soldiers and Chinese elites. After several battles, nationalist soldiers who were twice the number of Mao’s soldiers surrendered to the communist peasant armies, and in 1949 China’s great cities one by one went into Mao’s leadership. The defeat of Chiang and surrendering of his troops marked the end of nationalism and the beginning of communism.

The ideology of communism gained momentum across the globe; however, some countries rejected it and turned to other forms of government. In South Korea, it was not much a choice for them to reject communism but a decision made for them by the United States invaders. When the Japanese Emperor announced the unconditional surrender in 1945, the Korean peninsula had a power vacuum. The United States troops occupied the south part of Korea while the Soviet Union occupied the north. The United States advocated for capitalism, which is the general model of governance in South Korea. During the Cold War, the Korean peninsula acted as the forefront of the military conflict between the communist (Soviets) and the capitalist (United States), which lasted from 1948-1992. Therefore, the intensification of these conflicts, domestic South Korean politics, and the rise of anti-communism by Americans led to the rejection of communism in South Korea.

While some countries like South Korea had their decision to reject communism influenced by other nations, some nations like Japan just rejected communism. The relationship between Japan and the Soviet Union was hostile way before World War II. The Soviet Union was the principal advocate for communism and a common enemy to Japan over the years. Some of the wars that Japan and Soviets fought at opposing sides include the Russian Civil War, War about Sakhalin Island and Kuril Island, Cold War, and World War II. Therefore, the is no way Japan would have adopted communism, an ideology propagated by the Soviet Union.

The Adoption of Democracy in North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and China after World War II

Democracy is a political ideology that translates to rule by the people. Different forms of government use the term democracy to indicate that citizens decide on how they want their society run either directly or using representatives. The ideology of democracy is embedded by two principles political contestation and political participation. Political contestation means that citizens can express their will through freedom of speech and press without fear of prosecution from the government. Political participation means that all eligible citizens can contest in an election and can exercise their right to vote in free, fair, and competitive polls. After the election, power is to be transferred to the winners from the local level to the national level. After World War II, North Korea, South Korea, China, and Japan aimed at using democracy as a way of governance. This last section of the paper will explore if each of these states became democracies after World War II.

The Korean peninsula was under Japanese rule during World War II, but it was administratively partitioned after the surrender of the Japanese Emperor. The Soviet Union occupied the north part of Korea, and the United States held the southern part of Korea. The divisions back then were supposed to be temporary, and the two invaders were supposed to arrange a single government for the Korean peninsula. When the two invaders (the United States and the Soviet Union) failed to agree on how to implement a joint government, two separate governments were formed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the First Republic of Korea. They both claimed to be the legitimate government of the Korean peninsula, which led to the Korean War. The war lasted from 1950 to 1953, and none of the two governments was able to overpower the other, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone divided the peninsula into two. North Korea became the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and South Korea became the Republic of Korea.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was under the leadership of Kim II-Sung, who had embraced communism from the Soviets. The Soviets had handed power over to him, and as a result, he established communist governance and eradicated all those who opposed communism. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kim II-Sung established a family cult leadership in North Korea, which is still governing the country until today. Upon Kim Il-Sung’s death, his son Kim Jong-il succeeded him, and later Kim Jong-il’s son, Kim Jong-un, took to power after his dad’s death. In South Korea, from the First Republic government to the Sixth Republic, they have had alternating periods of autocratic and democratic rule. With the establishment of the Sixth Republic, South Korea stabilized into a liberal democracy.

Japan is another country that embraced democracy after World War II. After Germany surrender in 1945, Allied leaders organized a meeting at Potsdam to discuss postwar policies. One of the decisions made was to occupy Japan so that Japanese war criminals would face trial and the complete disarmament of Japanese military forces. General Douglas MacArthur was appointed as the Supreme Commander by the Allied Powers to oversee the occupation in Japan and to ensure democratic reforms in the Japanese government. MacArthur decided to use the Japanese government instead of establishing a United States military government, and he kept the Japanese cabinet, legislature, and the bureaucracy that was already in place. While MacArthur oversaw the trial and hanging of japan war criminals, he also released political prisoners and disbanded secret police.

MacArthur promoted the development of democracy in the country and suspended Japanese laws that restricted civil, political, and religious liberties. When MacArthur announced elections in Japan, he instructed the legislature and cabinet to create new election laws that fostered free and democratic election where for the first time, Japanese women voted. Japanese embraced these changes, and after experiencing the impacts of war and humiliation after defeat, they were ready to embrace the revolutionary change. To ensure the growth of democracy in Japan, MacArthur saw the creation of a modern constitution that would serve as a guide to the elected Japanese government.

While most countries embrace democracy, China adopted a communist system of governance. Before and during World War II, China experienced internal wars between nationalists and communists. After the battle in 1949, the communist under the leadership of Mao won the fight and overthrew Chiang, the nationalist leader. This indicated that the Communist Party of China was the central authority and should act in the interest of people. Most Chinese people consider social stability and economic growth more important than political participation or political contestation. Hence, despite the country being a superpower in the world, they have not achieved democracy.

Conclusion

This paper examined several historical issues in Japan, China, North Korea, and South Korea, relating to different ideologies that included Confucianism, communism, and democracy. The paper found that Confucian principles that advocate for respect of parents and loyalty to the government are the primary source of legitimization of the family cult leadership in North Korea. The paper also discovered that the ethical aspects of Confucianism should be reinforced in China as an alternative guide to the moral-ethical decay in the country through the creation of awareness, particularly to the family institution. The paper discovered that China is a communist state after a long struggle between nationalist armies and communist armies after the 1911 revolution. However, North Korea became a communist state and South Korea, a capitalist country after the invasion of the Soviet Union and the United States, respectively. As for Japan, it was a choice because they were opposing the Soviet Union, which was the primary advocate for communism. The paper also found that among the four countries, only Japan and South Korea governments exercise democracy. China is a communist country, where the ruling party decides the interests of the people. North Korea did not achieve democracy; instead, Kim II-Sung led the country into a family cult leadership, which is still existent until today.