Medium Post 5

Propaganda has always been an interesting subject to study when analyzing any conflict. Propaganda tends to paint the home side as a flawless, perfect hero and paints the antagonist as the worst thing known to humankind. This was not an exception during WW2, especially the cartoons depicting Japanese Soldiers from an American point of view. Japanese are depicted as “lice” with the only “solution” being destroying Tokyo, a very bloody and violent resolution. On the other hand, Japan portrayed the west as an abusive, fat, greedy power that abused through colonialism and imperialism and depicted itself as a savior for the east, justifying its own imperialism. After these violent and hateful depiction, how exactly did the US and Japan quickly ally themselves despite all the bad blood? I believe the answer may be the cold war.

The cold war was an ideological conflict that led to many great technological innovations thanks to the competition between the clashing ideologies of Capitalism and Communism. This new ideological war led to both powerhouses to try and influence as many countries into their side as possible. Having influence in east asia was critical to the United States, as China was well on its way to becoming the People’s Republic of China. General McArthur knew this, and he also knew the cultural significance the Emperor had for the Japanese people. This led him to negotiate a deal where the emperor was never tried for war crimes, effectively putting the US and Japan in a better position as allies.

The transition was quick for people, but it also resulted in a benefit for those who took advantage of the situation. Many new business ventures opened, such as those mentioned in lecture including a book for conversational English. The transition was indeed fast, but many people saw opportunity in these new developments involving the united states.