ABSTRACT

From the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was a great deal of turmoil, tension and violence in what became Malaysia as a result of the 1963 Federation; upheavals included the Malayan Emergency of 1948・1960, the independence of Malaya in 1957, Konfrontasi with Indonesia of 1963・1966, the Philippines’ claim to Sabah, the Sarawak Communist Insurgency (1962・1990) and the Second Malayan Emergency of 1968・1989. This book breaks new ground in arguing for a longer trajectory of the Cold War, tracing this phenomenon back to 1920s’ colonial Malaya and Sarawak. Many new research findings showing how Malaysia coped with and overcame the many trials, challenges and difficulties are presented here, further enriching the historiography.

chapter 1|24 pages

‘Big’ picture and ‘small’ picture

An introductory essay

chapter 2|71 pages

Between left and right

Chinese politics in Malaya/Malaysia, 1920s–1990s

chapter 3|24 pages

Kuomintang man behind special force

Wu Tiecheng and Force 136, 1942–1945

chapter 4|24 pages

Anti-Japanese movement to Haadyai Peace Accord

The mobilization of Malayan women in the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), 1930s–1989

chapter 5|37 pages

From Malayan Union to Malayan Emergency

Nationalists’ resistance and colonial reaction in post-war Malaya, 1946–1948 *

chapter 6|22 pages

Malaysia, the Cold War and beyond

chapter 8|24 pages

The regression of Malaysian socioeconomic policy

Rise of state discrimination in the Cold War era, 1970s–1980s

chapter 9|15 pages

Malaysia and the Cold War

The longue durée approach