Editing Western imperialism in Asia (section)

===Decolonization and the rise of nationalism in Asia===
{{Main|Decolonisation of Asia}}
In the aftermath of World War II, European colonies, controlling more than one billion people throughout the world, still ruled most of the Middle East, South East Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent. However, the image of European pre-eminence was shattered by the wartime Japanese occupations of large portions of British, French, and Dutch territories in the Pacific. The destabilisation of European rule led to the rapid growth of nationalist movements in Asia—especially in Indonesia, [[British Malaya|Malaya]], [[Myanmar|Burma]], and [[French Indochina]] ([[Vietnam]], [[Cambodia]], and [[Laos]]).
[[File:Aden7-1967.jpg|thumb|[[British Forces Aden|British Army]]'s counter-insurgency campaign in the British controlled territories of [[Federation of South Arabia|South Arabia]], 1967]]

The war, however, only accelerated forces already in existence undermining Western imperialism in Asia. Throughout the colonial world, the processes of urbanisation and capitalist investment created professional merchant classes that emerged as new Westernised elites. While imbued with Western political and economic ideas, these classes increasingly grew to resent their unequal status under European rule.

====British in India and the Middle East====
In India, the westward movement of Japanese forces towards Bengal during World War II had led to major concessions on the part of British authorities to Indian nationalist leaders. In 1947, the United Kingdom, devastated by war and embroiled in an economic crisis at home, granted [[British India]] its independence as two nations: [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. Myanmar ([[British rule in Burma|Burma]]) and [[Sri Lanka]] ([[British Ceylon|Ceylon]]), which is also part of British India, also gained their independence from the United Kingdom the following year, in 1948. In the Middle East, the United Kingdom granted independence to [[Jordan]] in 1946 and two years later, in 1948, ended its mandate of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] becoming the independent nation of [[Israel]].[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Nederlandse militairen controleren de papieren van Javaanse vrouwen bij het transitkamp van de Zeven December Divisie bij Tandjong Priok of het hierna door de divisie betrokken Kamp Doeri Batavia TMnr 10029000.jpg|thumb|Dutch soldiers control the papers of [[Java]]nese women, 1946]]
Following the end of the war, nationalists in Indonesia demanded complete independence from the Netherlands. A brutal conflict ensued, and finally, in 1949, through [[United Nations]] mediation, the Dutch East Indies achieved independence, becoming the new nation of Indonesia. Dutch imperialism moulded this new multi-ethnic state comprising roughly 3,000 islands of the Indonesian archipelago with a population at the time of over 100 million.

The end of Dutch rule opened up latent tensions between the roughly 300 distinct ethnic groups of the islands, with the major ethnic fault line being between the [[Javanese people|Javanese]] and the non-Javanese.

[[Dutch New Guinea]] was under the Dutch administration until 1962 (see also [[West New Guinea dispute]]).

====United States in Asia====
In the Philippines, the U.S. remained committed to its previous pledges to grant the islands their independence, and the Philippines became the first of the Western-controlled Asian colonies to be granted independence post-World War II. However, the Philippines remained under pressure to adopt a political and economic system similar to the U.S.

This aim was greatly complicated by the rise of new political forces. During the war, the ''[[Hukbalahap]]'' (People's Army), which had strong ties to the [[Communist Party of the Philippines]] (PKP), fought against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and won strong popularity among many sectors of the Filipino working class and peasantry. In 1946, the PKP participated in elections as part of the Democratic Alliance. However, with the onset of the [[Cold War]], its growing political strength drew a reaction from the ruling government and the United States, resulting in the repression of the PKP and its associated organizations. In 1948, the PKP began organizing an armed struggle against the government and continued U.S. military presence. In 1950, the PKP created the People's Liberation Army (''Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan''), which mobilized thousands of troops throughout the islands. The insurgency lasted until 1956 when the PKP gave up armed struggle.

In 1968, the PKP underwent a split, and in 1969 the [[Maoist]] faction of the PKP created the [[New People's Army]]. Maoist rebels re-launched an armed struggle against the government and the U.S. military presence in the Philippines, which continues to this day.

====France in Indochina====

=====Post-war resistance to French rule=====
[[File:1stIndochinaWar001.jpg|thumb|French Marine commandos wade ashore off the [[Annam (French protectorate)|Annam]] coast in July 1950]]

France remained determined to retain its control of [[Indochina]]. However, in [[Hanoi]], in 1945, a broad front of nationalists and communists led by [[Ho Chi Minh]] declared an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, commonly referred to as the [[Viet Minh]] regime by Western outsiders. France, seeking to regain control of Vietnam, countered with a vague offer of self-government under French rule. France's offers were unacceptable to Vietnamese nationalists; and in December 1946 the Việt Minh launched a rebellion against the French authority governing the colonies of French Indochina. The first few years of the war involved a low-level rural insurgency against French authority. However, after the Chinese communists reached the Northern border of Vietnam in 1949, the conflict turned into a conventional war between two armies equipped with modern weapons supplied by the United States and the Soviet Union.<ref>Fall, ''Street Without Joy'', p. 17.</ref> Meanwhile, the France granted the [[State of Vietnam]] based in [[Saigon]] independence in 1949 while [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]] received independence in 1953. The US recognized the regime in Saigon, and provided the French military effort with military aid.

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the French war against the Viet Minh continued for nearly eight years. The French were gradually worn down by guerrilla and jungle fighting. The turning point for France occurred at [[Dien Bien Phu]] in 1954, which resulted in the surrender of ten thousand French troops. [[Paris]] was forced to accept a political settlement that year at the [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva Conference]], which led to a precarious set of agreements regarding the future political status of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.