General+MacArthur's+Legacy

** General Douglas MacArthur’s Legacy **  > -Appointed by Truman as Supreme Allied Powers Commander for the occupation of Japan in 1945. > > -The British Commonwealth troops were under the orders of MacArthur >  > -The Far Eastern Commission and the Allied Council for Japan could not achieve anything without the approval of MacArthur. >  > -The Japanese government remained in office but their policy was determined by SCAP, in effect, MacArthur. >  > -Emperor Hirohito was allowed to remain to the throne, however was not ‘Divine’. MacArthur was the “real emperor”. >  > -He and the Americans believed that the Japanese way of thinking had to be changed. That is, from “reactionary militarists into freedom loving democrats”. >  > //-“The militarists have muddled the Japanese mind…telling them over and over again they were destined to rule the world”. >  //Role during the Allied occupation of Japan (1945-51)
 * __Role during the occupation of Japan__

-He had a seven point plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Japan: 1. Disarm soldiers 2. Give women suffrage 3. Send the soldiers home 4. Dismantle the war industry 5. Hold free elections 6. Form labour unions 7. Provide open instruction in schools

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-MacArthur established army kitchens and ordered three and a half million tonnes of food from the United States. MacArthur and his advisers established a new constitution for Japan: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Women voted for the first time <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Connection between the military and the emperor was abolished <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Japan became a liberal parliamentary democracy where the basic human rights of western <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">nations such as freedom of speech and equality were enforced <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Japan had relinquished the right to wage war and to maintain armed forces that could threaten <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">other nations or be used for expansionist purposes. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> -Position of the emperor was retained however he was no longer divine. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-By 1952, Japan was a sovereign nation under the democratic constitution MacArthur aimed for. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-MacArthur was credited with restoring Japan’s devastated economy, liberalising the government, and setting Japan on the road to democracy and post war recovery <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Some believed that he may have made his greatest contribution to history <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Helped chart Japan’s course of recovery to see it become one of the world’s leading industrial powers <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Helped break apart large Japanese companies (zaibatsu) and foster the first Japanese labor unions <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- “The East is about to be opened to an enlightened age wherein its peoples progressively may attain that higher degree f human dignity which the war has been fought to preserve” <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- //"Douglas MacArthur, one of the most enigmatic personalities of World War II, has had a profound and lasting influence upon Japan and Japanese people"// - Hagen ‘ <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- //"////The Japanese believed what their Emperor Hirohito told them; a curtain had been lifted, a curtain which had kept their every thought, word and action for centuries"// - Kelly (that is, the emperor no longer being a God) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Introduced a range of important reforms: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Education <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Women <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Land <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Economy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Trade Unions <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Police || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Some criticise his decision to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and all members f the imperial family implicated in the war from criminal persecutions à //“The Emperor should abdicate quickly”// - Well known poet Tatsuji Miyoshi à //“With the full support of MacArthur’s headquarters, the prosecution functioned, in effect, as a defence team for the emperor” -// John Dower <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Sometimes criticised for delaying the rebuilding of Japan’s industrial economy until ordered by Truman in 1948 ||
 * **<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Positive Impacts ** ||    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**Negative Impacts** ||