Date

5-20-2026

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

Chad Shelley

Keywords

Japan, American occupation, Cold War, Truman, MacArthur, Yoshida, Stalin, communism, WWII, Korean War, Potsdam, SCAP

Disciplines

History

Abstract

It was all about the Cold War, when as soon as Germany and Japan surrendered in World War Two, Soviet Premier Stalin abandoned the alliance and became an enemy of the West. In Japan, he attempted to acquire Japanese territory as the spoils of war. However, President Harry S. Truman was determined that Japan would be reformed into a democratic, capitalist state firmly situated in the Western political and economic sphere. During the seven years of the American occupation of Japan, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) and the Japanese government extensively remodeled the Japanese government, economy, and social institutions, ending militarism and feudalism and creating a new constitution. At every juncture, they resisted Stalin’s communist infiltration and sabotage. The foremost goal was always to preserve Japan from communism, and there never was a “reverse course” from this objective. When Mao Zedong succeeded in a communist revolution in China, Stalin stepped in to support Kim Il-Sung in North Korea. Japan then served as a rear base for United Nations forces in the Korean War, cementing Japan as a cornerstone of American anti-communist policy in Asia.

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