Reading Essentials and Study Guide Independence and Nationalism in the Developing World Lesson 1 South and Southeast Asia ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How can political change cause conflict? How can political relationships affect economic relationships? Reading HELPDESK Content Vocabulary principle of nonalignment Jawaharlal Nehru s refusal to align India with any bloc or alliance discrimination prejudicial treatment usually based on race, religion, class, sex, or age Academic Vocabulary role a socially-expected behavior pattern transfer to take over the control of TAKING NOTES: Categorizing 1. ACTIVITY As you read, use the web diagram below to identify challenges India faced after gaining independence. IT MATTERS BECAUSE Many South and Southeast Asian states gained their independence after World War II. British India was split into two nations India and Pakistan. Some Southeast Asian countries have moved toward democracy, but they have faced some serious problems along the way. India Divided GUIDING QUESTION How did India emerge as an independent country? Powered by Cognero Page 1
At the end of World II, the British were going to end their rule over India. The Muslims and Hindus there were divided. The leaders in India decided that British India would have to be divided into two countries. India would be Hindu, and Pakistan would be Muslim. Pakistan consisted of two geographic regions separated by India. West Pakistan was northwest of India, and East Pakistan was northeast. India and Pakistan became independent on August 15, 1947. Millions of Hindus and Muslims fled across the new borders. Hindus went toward India, and Muslims went toward Pakistan. Violence resulted from these mass migrations, and more than a million people were killed. One person who was killed was well known. A Hindu militant assassinated independence leader Mohandas Gandhi as he was going to morning prayer on January 30, 1948. India s new beginning had not been easy. The New India Jawaharlal Nehru (juh WAH huhr LAHL NEHR oo) led the Congress Party. This was formerly the Indian National Congress, which had long worked for Indian self-rule and independence. Nehru had worked closely with Gandhi for independence. He admired the socialist ideas of the British Labour Party and wanted a parliamentary government led by a prime minister. He also wanted a moderate socialist economy. Under Nehru s leadership, the state took control of major industries. It also controlled transportation and utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water. The state allowed private businesses at the local level, however, and farmland was left private. The Indian government tried to avoid dependence on foreign investment. India developed a large industrial sector and industrial production almost tripled between 1950 and 1965. Nehru guided India s foreign policy according to a principle of nonalignment. He was concerned about the military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nehru refused to let India join an alliance, or partnership, with either country and its allies. He was also concerned about the influence of former colonial powers. As a result, Nehru joined other developing countries in the idea that they should not take sides in the growing Cold War. After Nehru s death, the Congress Party selected his daughter Indira Gandhi as prime minister. (She was not related to Mohandas Gandhi.) She held office for most of the time between 1966 and 1984. India faced many problems during this period. India s population grew by 2 percent a year in the 1950s and 1960s. This led to widespread poverty. Millions lived in crowded city slums, or poor areas. It was in the slums of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) that Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun, helped poor, sick, and dying Indian people. Growing ethnic and religious troubles were another major problem. One conflict involved the Sikhs. The Sikhs followed a religion based on both Hindu and Muslim ideas. Many Sikhs lived in the Punjab, a northern province of India. Militant Sikhs wanted this province to be independent from India. Gandhi refused, and in 1984 she ordered the use of military force against Sikh rebels. More than 450 Sikhs were killed. Later that year, two Sikh members of Gandhi s personal bodyguard wanted revenge, and they assassinated her. Conflict between Hindus and Muslims also continued. Kashmir was a territory between India and Pakistan. Religious differences led to a long dispute, or fight, between the two nations over Powered by Cognero Page 2
Kashmir. Gandhi s son Rajiv followed his mother as prime minister. He began to move the government in new directions. The government encouraged private business and foreign investment. His successors have continued to transfer state-run industries to private ownership and to rely on the free market. These actions led to growth in the middle class. Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister from 1984 to 1989. He was assassinated while he was running for reelection in 1991. The Congress Party lost its leadership position in the Indian government over the following years. It had to compete, or run against, new parties to win elections. Pakistan and Bangladesh Pakistan was a completely new nation when it gained independence in 1947. East and West Pakistan were separate regions with different geographical features. There was a growing division between the two regions, which caused internal conflicts. The government was based in West Pakistan, and many in East Pakistan felt that it ignored their needs. In 1971 East Pakistan declared its independence. It became the new nation of Bangladesh after a short civil war. West Pakistan was now Pakistan. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan have remained very poor. They also have had trouble creating stable governments. Military officials have often seized control of the civilian, or nonmilitary, government. PROGRESS CHECK 2. Identifying Cause and Effect What were the immediate effects of the partition of British India? Southeast Asia GUIDING QUESTION What experiences did independence bring to new Southeast Asian countries? Most states in Southeast Asia gained independence from their colonial rulers after World War II. The United States gave the Philippines total independence in July 1946. Great Britain also ended its colonial rule in Southeast Asia. Burma became independent from Britain in 1948. Many leaders of the independent states in Southeast Asia admired Western political and economic practices at first. They hoped to form democratic, capitalist states like those in the West. However, hopes for fast economic growth had failed by the end of the 1950s. Internal disputes weakened new democratic governments. This also led the way to both military and one-party Powered by Cognero Page 3
autocratic governments. Indonesiaand Myanmar The Netherlands did not want to abandon its colonial empire in Southeast Asia. Achmed Sukarno proclaimed a republic in Indonesia, and the Netherlands tried to stop his action. Then the Indonesian Communist Party tried to seize power. The United States pressured the Netherlands to give independence to Indonesia under Sukarno and his non-communist Nationalist Party. The Netherlands recognized the new Republic of Indonesia in 1949. The new leaders created a parliamentary system under a president in 1950. Sukarno was elected the first president. However, he got rid of the constitution in the late 1950s. He tried to rule on his own under a system he called he called guided democracy. Sukarno also nationalized foreignowned businesses. He also asked China and the Soviet Union for economic help. Military officers overthrew Sukarno, and they created a military government under General Suharto. Democracy had failed in Indonesia. Burma is now called Myanmar. The military has been in complete control since the early 1960s. The people of Myanmar have continued to fight for democracy, however. Aung San Suu Kyi has been leading the struggle for democracy. She is the daughter of Aung San, who led the Burma Independence Army in 1947. Suu Kyi was educated abroad, and she returned to Myanmar in 1988. She joined in the movement for democracy. Her party won a landslide victory in 1990, but the military rulers refused to hand over power. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for many years. In 1991 Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy efforts. Vietnamand Cambodia By 1975, North Vietnamese Communist armies forced Vietnam to reunite. They began the process of rebuilding the land after years of civil war. The reunification of Vietnam had an immediate impact on the region. Both Laos and Cambodia had Communist governments by the end of 1975. Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. He massacred more than 1 million Cambodians. The government in Vietnam did not trust Western-style democracy. It stopped any opposition to the Communist Party s guiding role over the state. The Philippines Some Southeast Asian societies have shown signs of moving again toward more democratic governments in recent years. One example is the Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos came to power there in 1965. Fraud and corruption became widespread under Marcos. Benigno Aquino was a popular opposition leader. Marcos was accused of involvement in his murder in the early 1980s. Corazon Aquino, the murdered leader s wife, became president in 1986. As president, she worked for democratic reforms, or changes. She could not, however, solve many of the country s continuing economic and social problems. Women in South and Southeast Asia The rights and roles of women have changed across South and Southeast Asia in recent times. Women s rights in India expanded after its independence. Its constitution of 1950 did not allow discrimination based on gender. It called for equal pay for equal work and outlawed child Powered by Cognero Page 4
marriage. Women were encouraged to go to school and to get jobs. Most of the newly independent states in Southeast Asia gave women full legal and political rights. Women have become more active in politics, and they sometimes hold top positions in government and business. PROGRESS CHECK 3. Comparing What challenges did Indonesia and Myanmar confront following independence? Powered by Cognero Page 5
Answer Key 1. Growing population; worsening poverty; ethnic conflict; religious strife 2. Following the creation of a mostly Hindu India and a mostly Muslim Pakistan, millions died as Hindus fled to India and Muslims fled to Pakistan. 3. Democracy failed in both; they were ruled by military governments. Powered by Cognero Page 6