A Preliminary Study On The British’s Southeast Asia Policies In The Early Postwar Period (1945-1950)

In the early postwar period,the situation in the Southeast Asia was raging like a storm.The United Kingdom was striked by the nationalism wave and communism influence.In order to adapt to the changing international environment,the United Kingdom implemented the diplomatic policies based on the principal part of the Decolonization in the Southeast Asia.Meanwhile,the United Kingdom seek to maintain maximum the colonial interests and the interests of the Cold War.Based on the full use of the British government internal files,the meeting records and the other Chinese and foreign literature,by the Southeast Asia region standards,this paper attempt to focus on the regional perspective of the Southeast Asia,clear the background and substance of the British policy for Southeast Asia in 1945-1950,in combination of British’s colonial interests and the interests of the Cold War in the Southeast Asia.Meanwhile,this paper will select the two cases including the British’s Malaya policies and the British’s policies on the Colombo Plan,to further clarify the core theme about the British’ Southeast Asia policies in the early postwar period. In addition to the introduction and the conclusion,this paper is divided into four chapters.The introduction summarize the research status in the academic circles at home and abroad on the issue of the Southeast Asia policies in the early postwar period,point out the black mark in the previous studies and the innovation in this paper.The chapter one analyzes the difficult challenges of the United Kingdom faced in the Southeast Asia in the early postwar period.This difficult challenges is the strike of the nationalism wave and communism influence in the Southeast Asia. The chapter two focused on the core theme of the British’s policies in the Southeast Asia region.The policies is the British’ double considerations of the colonial interests as well as the consciousness of the cold war.The chapter three and chapter four respectively study the British’s policies in Malaya and the relationship between the Britain and the Colombo Plan,further illustrate the basic characteristics of the British’s policies in the Southeast Asia through the two cases,From the perspective of history,the conclusion studies the consequence of the British’ policies in the Southeast Asia in the early postwar period,the gains and losses of the British’policies in the Southeast Asia,and the historical continuity of the British’policies.The conclusion also appraises it simply.