ABSTRACT

By 1949 the Western Pacific Basin had been dramatically reshaped since 1945. Much stronger postwar forces of Asian nationalism had achieved victory in Indonesia, had been granted success in the Philippines but faced French resistance in Indochina. The Huks, though fighting alongside the invading Americans, had been rejected by the postwar regime, which ordered them to surrender their arms and employed violence against those who refused. In Japan Douglas MacArthur became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), an acronym applying also to the planning organization he headed, and which was American in almost all but name. Though Emperor Hirohito's command had impelled Japanese armies to lay down arms and the people to accept peace, the first postwar Japanese Cabinet resigned on 16 October 1945 when faced with SCAP's directive to free political prisoners and to start the purge of military and civilian officials.