Book contents
- World War II and Southeast Asia
- World War II and Southeast Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology of World War II in the Pacific
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Southeast Asia in the Pacific War
- 2 Administration and Social Control in Southeast Asia
- 3 Finance for Japan’s Occupation
- 4 National Product and Trade
- 5 Transport, Public Utilities and Industrialization
- 6 Shortages, Substitutes and Rationing
- 7 Food and Famine in Southeast Asia
- 8 Food and Living Standards in Urban Southeast Asia
- 9 Labour and the Japanese
- 10 Costs of War and Lessons of Occupation
- Epilogue and Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2020
- World War II and Southeast Asia
- World War II and Southeast Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology of World War II in the Pacific
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Southeast Asia in the Pacific War
- 2 Administration and Social Control in Southeast Asia
- 3 Finance for Japan’s Occupation
- 4 National Product and Trade
- 5 Transport, Public Utilities and Industrialization
- 6 Shortages, Substitutes and Rationing
- 7 Food and Famine in Southeast Asia
- 8 Food and Living Standards in Urban Southeast Asia
- 9 Labour and the Japanese
- 10 Costs of War and Lessons of Occupation
- Epilogue and Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The 7 December 1941 attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor by Japan was a gamble. Japan was already entangled in a long-standing, probably unwinnable war in China, which since its outbreak in mid-1937 had cost 185,000 Japanese dead and billions of yen. Pearl Harbor opened a second military front and dangerously committed Japan, with a relatively small population and limited economic capacity, to a full-scale Pacific War. For Southeast Asia, the war brought three and a half years of Japanese occupation from the end of 1941 until Japan surrendered unconditionally on 15 August 1945. During this period, GDP in most Southeast Asian countries fell by half; 4.4 million civilians died prematurely; severe shortages of food and goods affected almost all Southeast Asians; and many lived in fear of draconian military rule. The present book explores why and how this happened.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- World War II and Southeast AsiaEconomy and Society under Japanese Occupation, pp. 1 - 21Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020