Chapter 5: The Pacific Trade Federation
-Stalin, the man that won and lost the two biggest wars of the USSR.
The Chinese, Koreans, and Americans emerged victorious over the demoralized and weakened Soviets after the First Sino-Soviet War. The Soviets were now forced to pay huge amounts of reparations to the Chinese annually and if that wasn't enough, the United States was moving forward rapidly so the Soviet Union poured the remaining money they had into weapons development and nuclear bombs. However, the cost of the war was high, and the USSR was unable to keep up with the pace of the United States and manage it's economy at the same time. Due to incredible restrains, Josef Stalin died on June 1st of 1952, forever remembered as the man that started the downfall of the USSR.
After the death of Stalin, Georgy Malenkov immediately took over, establishing his position as Premier and continuing the legacies of Stalin. However, many of the Communist party members believed that Stalin's policies led to the disorganization and destruction that the USSR suffered. As a result, Malenkov's rule as the Premier lasted only for two weeks, and Vyacheslav Molotov was made the Premier on June 16th of 1952. Originally, he had no plans to take over the Soviet Union following Stalin's death. However, the war with China changed his perspective, making him believe that the Soviet Union needed a strong leader to lead them through difficult times. As a result, Molotov was acknowledged as the new leader of the Soviet Union on June 20th of 1952. From that moment on, he pushed the USSR forward as Stalin did, though not with the same rigor or force that Stalin carried.
-Soviet Union's Fourth Premier, Vyacheslav Molotov.
Molotov began his leadership by rescuing his wife from exile, whom he loved despite the woman being a Jew. Polina Zhemchuzhina, once a firm believer of Communism and the Soviet Union, discussed certain things with Molotov after her release. What she said exactly is still unknown to this day, but those small talks apparently changed Molotov. After that moment, Molotov focused on internal policies and ignored external policies, despite the need to keep a buffer between the West and the Soviet Union. Some historians claim that he intentionally allowed the Eastern European countries fall under revolution to start the decline of communism throughout the world. Others claim that Molotov was focusing on the economy and the Soviet Union itself, believing that the USSR was more important than alliances. But despite these arguments, the facts remained. The Soviet Union abandoned her allies and allowed the West to gradually take down the communist Eastern European countries from behind the scenes.
-Czechoslovakia, the second communist country to fall. Official Liberation Date: December 2nd of 1952.
Molotov was also very lax in his policies against the Western nations. He grudgingly accepted the reparation demands and put little border guards along the new Sino/Korean-Soviet border. He also pursued for some ties with the United States of the policies of nuclear weapons. Many believed this was to put the Soviet Union in a better light. However, this was actually a plan to limit the arsenal of both nations so the Soviet Union wouldn't bankrupt itself making nuclear weapons and advanced weaponry. However, Molotov still supported to advancement of the space program, weapons program, and nuclear weapons. Despite his lax policies against the West, he didn't want the Soviet Union to be caught unprepared.
-Molotov speaking with a U.S. representative about a nuclear arms limitation deal.
For internal plans, he continued the communist domination with some hints of capitalism. He allowed the West to trade in the city of Leningrad. Despite the uproar of hardcore communist members, Molotov realized that trade was essential to the life line of the USSR. As a result, Leningrad became "an entrance and exit to the West." Western nations flooded the markets there, and though it did have short term benefits of economic gains, the city would prove to be the starting point of the June Revolution across the USSR in 1977. And even with the opening of Leningrad to foreign investors, the economy still suffered from stagnation and economic isolation following the First Sino-Soviet War.
While the USSR was busy trying to sort out it's own problems, China and the rest of Asia, along with America, was figuring out their problems. China lost a huge swath of their industrial base, economic base, and population in the First Sino-Soviet War. Additionally, the destruction of three cities by nuclear weapons contaminated parts of Manchuria, making the other world governments weary of assisting the Chinese rebuild Manchuria. As a result, the Chinese had to deal with economic slowdowns. Because of this, Mao Ze Dong would initiate the first of his "Great Leap Forward" plan to rapidly industrialize China as a whole and re-industrialize Manchuria. This was only possible through the First Sino-Soviet War, which consolidated Mao's power as the leader of China and the destruction caused by the Soviets to use as an excuse to push the population for "economic reforms." Mao believed that with the victory over the Soviets and the people willing to listen, he could finally root out the capitalist aspects of China while maintaining a cordial relationship with America.
-Chinese Propaganda of the Great Leap Forward.
The Great Leap Forward ended in a disaster. From 1952 to 1955, the Chinese economy completely tanked due to the lack of any major exports after the private farming was prohibited and millions were forced to build factories. Even with American and Korean aid, the entire country fell into disarray as famine struck the nation. Despite the best efforts of many countries, the aid provided wasn't enough to save millions of Chinese from dying from the oppressive policies and the Great Famine that struck.
-Korean and American aid heading to China.
The effect of this failed policy had several results. One was the sudden industrialization of parts of China. Though the policy failed overall, some parts did industrialized rapidly, mainly in Manchuria. As a result, the Chinese economy stabilized and didn't halt completely after the policy ended. Another was that the leadership of China began to see Mao as an unstable and unfit leader to lead China, with the government beginning to take away some powers of the Chairman. However, the biggest result was a growth of an anti-Communist movement in China. Influenced by the prosperity of Hong Kong and Korea, some young Chinese people began to start an underground movement against the regime. After the Great Leap Forward, this underground movement, dubbed the "True Republic", began to grow slowly and steadily. This group would lead the Chinese version of the June Revolution in the year after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
-The People's Liberation Army patrols Tiananmen Square after several threats from the True Republic.
With the power vacuum in Asia present after the Chinese tumbling from the top, Korea began to see it's influence increase in the region. With millions of Koreans returning from the war and Korea gaining several regions in Manchuria and Siberia, Korea was the country that came out with the best terms after the First Sino-Soviet War. Unlike China or the USSR, Korea didn't take enormous amounts of casualties or losses during the war. Around 100,000 Korean soldiers had died, but Korea gained southern Manchuria and eastern Siberia as a result. Southern Manchuria was annexed into the Republic of Korea while Siberia was set as a Korean territory, with the areas around Vladivostok being annexed.
After the war, Korea began to build up it's industry quickly to project it's power in the region. Korea received aid from America in order to expand it's economy, mainly due to the Koreans helping the defeat of the Soviets during the First Sino-Soviet War. As a result, Korea was able to build up very quickly and become the leading economy in Asia within 15 years. By 1967, Korea had the largest economy in Asia and the fifth largest behind the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and France. Additionally, Korea began to exploit it's natural resources and also experiment with technology and science, gaining huge markets with its resources and also becoming a lead research company in military and science. By 1962, Korea would detonate it's first atomic bomb in Siberia after the U.S. reluctantly allowed the country to proceed due to China's instability and the Soviet's thirst for revenge. As a result, Korea became one of the unofficial permanent security council member within the UN for some time.
The biggest accomplishment of Korea to date was the creation of the Pacific Trade Federation in 1958. After the rapid growth of the Korean economy, Korea sought to create a free trade agreement between Asian and Oceania countries in order to increase the rate of economic growth. As a result, talks began in 1957 between Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, China, Mongolia, Indonesia, and Thailand, with Taiwan attending as an observer nation. After a year of negotiating and the Chinese threatening to pull out of talks, the Pacific Trade Federation was unveiled in Seoul on March 2nd of 1958. The founding members were Korea and China, with the other members being part of the organization. Taiwan would join later that year in December 2nd of 1958. The United States would support this alliance and even encouraged members of it's sphere to join the PTF, believing that Korea could offset the balance in Asia against the communists.
-Korea, the new Tiger of the East, creates the Pacific Trade Federation to promote economic growth and free trade in Asia.
The organization would open barriers between all member nations, including free trade, limited travel restrictions, close diplomatic relations, and economic aid in growth. Despite the unease of the Oceania nations of being involved in the organization, the other members joined enthusiastically, looking to expand their economy after years of colonial rule or/and destruction from World War 2. This organization would serve as the model of the European Union in the coming decades, and the PTF would add more and more members as de-colonization occurred.
This federation allowed the accelerated growth of all nations within. Korea, Japan, and the Philippines especially enjoyed a time of economic growth and cooperation between the nations. Japan, seeing Korea's influence increase, would publicly apologize and compensate for their damage during the occupation in 1960. Additionally, Japan apologized for all the atrocities committed, easing some tensions that were present in the PTF. However, China would continue to look on Japan with distrust, and that is still present even to this day. Despite the tensions, the nations within the PTF would still work closely together and become a "third bloc of power" in a sense from the Warsaw Pact and NATO.
-Taiwan's rapid growth was mainly due to the PTF and China's acknowledgement of it's sovereignty in 1971.
And as the wealth and power of Korea grew, so did the democratic movements within the country. At first, President Rhee's power was unchallenged and became a dictator due to the victories in the First Sino-Soviet War and the economic growth. However, despite his policies, the Korean people saw that many nations were becoming democracies and giving freedoms to the people. Because of this, the youths of Korea led a movement in Korea to bring greater freedoms and elections to the Korean people. As a result, President Rhee allowed an election to carry out and a new constitution be written. The constitution was a major democratic reform, allowing the people to vote for a president every 5 years, with 2 term limits. The constitution also guaranteed basic rights and the rights would broaden and increase as the years went on. Additionally, the National Assembly was formed for the legislature branch, increasing the power of the people slowly. In 1967, Rhee would declare the Second Republic of Korea under a new constitution and laws.
In the first elections of 1968, Rhee would step down from his presidency and allow the elections to fall through. Korea voted for Chun Doo-hwan, a man filled with democratic ideas and plans for the nation. Meanwhile, Rhee would forever be immortalized by his successes in the Korean and Sino-Soviet War. Additionally, he would be seen as the "father" of the nation by leading economic revolutions and establishing a democratic government. Korea today remembers fondly of Rhee and even makes a variety of dramas and movies based off of his life and accomplishments including the newest drama "Immortal President Rhee" starring Lee Byung Hyun and Shin Mina. Additionally, the Korean people would erect a statue in front of the National Assembly building. The Rhee statue would show President Rhee guiding the people to democracy and success, and would be the most visited statue in all of Korea. Because of his accomplishments, Rhee stands with Lee Soon Shin and Sejong the Great as one of the greatest Korean leaders of all times.
-President Rhee showing Korea the way to democracy and success, erected in 1984.