The restiveness of India, the bitter rebellion of Indo-China and Indonesia, the conflict within China had an immense and common impulse: the surge of a billion people toward a new place in the world.
Under the twin impact of nationalism and resentment of Western exploitation, colonial, subservient Asia had begun to disintegrate decades ago. World War II had greatly accelerated the process. The war had enfeebled, physically and psychologically, the claims of Western power over the Eastern treasure house. The French and Dutch, hungry and shivering at home, seemed particularly awkward in...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
