The Second World War Japanese Occupation of Singapore

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 243-270
Author(s):  
Gregg Huff ◽  
Gillian Huff
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Black Markets ◽  
World War ◽  
Japanese Occupation ◽  
Social Breakdown ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
Reign Of Terror ◽  
Second World ◽  
Basic Consumer

Japan's Second World War occupation of Singapore was marked by acute shortages of food and basic consumer goods, malnutrition, rampant black markets and social breakdown. We argue that the exploitation of Singapore was extreme and fully accorded with pre-war Japanese policy. Japan used Singapore mainly as a communications centre and port to ship Indonesian oil. Mid-1943 attempts to add manufacturing to the city's role had limited success. Acquiescence of Singaporeans to Japanese rule was a notable aspect of occupation. While part of the explanation is that the occupation was a reign of terror, the economics of shortage conferred on the Japanese considerable leverage in maintaining social control.

Eurasians in British Asia during the Second World War

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
FELICIA YAP
Keyword(s):  
Racial Politics ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Internment Camps ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Japanese Occupation ◽  
Colonial Empire ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
Second World

One of the most important minorities in the British colonial empire in Asia consisted of those of mixed European and Asian parentage and/or ancestry, or Eurasians, as they were widely known. It is perhaps surprising that despite the voluminous literature written about British colonial communities in the East, relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to Eurasians and their histories. A closer examination of the members of this marginalised colonial category is nevertheless crucial as they stood at the problematic boundaries of racial politics and identity, and are therefore vital to our understanding of the tensions of empire. The few existing studies of Eurasians in British Asia have tended to focus on the experiences of Eurasians either before or after the Second World War, neglecting the period of Japanese occupation as a significant epoch in the evolution of these communities. In reality, if we intend to unravel the multi-layered history of Eurasians in this region, we must examine the critical position of these colonial communities during this tumultuous period. The nuances of their intriguing wartime relationships with both the British and the Japanese also merit serious attention. With these aims in mind, this article will investigate the compelling experiences of Eurasian communities in Japanese-occupied British Asia, with an especial focus on those who were incarcerated by the Japanese in civilian internment camps in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Taoist Tradition in Taiwan

1970 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 83-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Saso
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Folk Religion ◽  
World War ◽  
Japanese Occupation ◽  
Fertile Island ◽  
Black Head ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Second World

Taiwan>, a fertile island lying approximately 120 miles off the coast of Fukien Province in South China, cut in half by the Tropic of Cancer, has recently come to the notice of western sinologists as a rich source for the study of traditional Chinese life and customs. Prior to the Second World War, during the Japanese occupation, the scholars of that learned nation devoted much effort and printed space to the study of the folk religion, customs and folklore of the Taiwanese, works which can still be purchased in the second-hand bookshops of Taipei. These works were perhaps the first to take notice of the existence of Taoism and Taoist priests in Taiwan, alongside Buddhism and “Confucianism.” But the reports were scanty, only a few pages being devoted to the two kinds of Taoists, “Red-head” and “Black-head,” and the rituals they performed. By far the greater part of the Japanese research was devoted to the “popular religion,” that nameless entity which the masses of China's peasants traditionally believed in, sometimes described as the “Three Religions in One,” an irenic mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

scholarly journals Indonesia 1939–1942: Prelude to the Japanese Occupation

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeru Sato
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Sudden Change ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The State ◽  
World War ◽  
Japanese Occupation ◽  
Second World

In the conventional historiography of Indonesia, the Second World War is equated with the Japanese occupation, and 1942 is a year of sudden change. This article argues that there was a prelude to these conditions. Changes in the global economic structure due to the Second World War, and countermeasures by the state authorities, began well before the Japanese invasion. The fundamental problem was the gradually deepening economic isolation that necessitated state intervention.

Religion and Social Control in the Soviet Union 1945–1964

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 473-480
Author(s):  
Gavin White
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The West ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Second World ◽  
Do So

Why have churches in the U.S.S.R. been harassed in recent years? It has been supposed by many that if Stalin stopped most persecution during the Second World War, then things under Khrushchev could only improve. Instead they deteriorated, and all liberties of Soviet citizens received more respect except the religious.A common answer has been that the Soviet authorities were horrified by the continued hold of religion which they considered to be a threat to Marxism. Such a view is quite popular in the west where a clash of ideologies, with Christianity triumphing over Marxism, consoles churchmen who cannot find such a triumph in their own society. But this assumes that the Soviet rulers consider Christianity to be a religion based on certain tenets, and as Marxists they cannot be expected to do so. For them religion is primarily an instrument of social control.

Farm Diversification and the Restructuring of Agriculture

1988 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian W. Ilbery
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
World War ◽  
Farm Diversification ◽  
Intensive Farming ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
Second World

The intensive farming that has been a feature of western agriculture since the Second World War has led to increased productivity but also to overproduction and a consequent fall in prices. Government-imposed constraints to regulate production have had only limited success and farm incomes, in real terms, have fallen. To retrieve the situation, increasing numbers of farmers have diversified their interests into activities periperhal to the main stream of agriculture.

Settler dominance, agricultural production and the Second World War in Kenya

1980 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Direct Production ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
European Maize ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Second World

The article examines the ways in which European settler farmers successfully used wartime conditions to secure their economic recovery and lay a basis for future economic dominance in Kenya. In 1939–40 farmers attempted with only limited success to persuade the Imperial government to purchase high-priced agricultural products. London's acquiescence was given reluctantly to avoid the possibility of political difficulties. In Kenya, largely due to a shortage of manpower and wartime feelings of solidarity, settlers were drawn extensively into the government positions. After the call for increased production for the Middle East in November 1941 the Agricultural Production and Settlement Board was set up with a network of settler-controlled district committees to direct production and administer the distribution of a range of new subsidies. Various forms of indirect assistance and disguised aid were devised further to assist European producers. Minimum prices were fixed at differential levels for European and African maize growers. Both the War Office and the Colonial Office believed European maize to be overpriced whereas African payments were fixed at a level which depressed production and contributed to the famine of 1943. Cattle prices were also set at levels favouring European settlers. Forcible methods were extensively used in the reserves to collect cattle, some of which were sold to settlers at advantageous prices. Overall, the benefits enjoyed by the settlers during the war years can be sharply contrasted with the economic difficulties experienced by the African farmers. The benefits of increased African cash incomes were more than offset by rapid price rises in all imported goods and meat, forcible cattle purchases and severe food shortages in 1943 and 1944.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document