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Malaya and Singapore had been British colonies before World War II. The Malays and Chinese (mostly in Singapore) were shocked at the ease with which the Japanese defeated the British who had seemed so overwhelming powerful before the War. The Japanese brutalized the Chinese, but behaved in a more restrained fashion toward the Malays. The British drove the Japanese out of Burma, but Japan surrendered before operations were launched against the Japanese in Malaya and Singapore. The Japanese occupation with its propaganda of Asia for Asians promoted the growth of anti-British nationalist and Communist sentiment. Thus the British when they returned encountered growing nationalist sentiment, especially among the Malays. The British because of the World War II damage to their economy and austerity at home and partly because of the Labour Government's socialist policies, was forced to withdraw
from many Cold War conflicts such as aiding the Greek Government. The British decided, however, to make a stand in Malaya. Britain committed itself to an expensive and protracted struggle against the developing Communist insurgency in Malaya. The British pursued this effort without American support because it was a colonialist effort. Primeminister Attlee framed what came to be called the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) as part of a Soviet attempts to use the local Communist party to support its world-wide expansion efforts. During the Cold War era when the Western democracies were indeed threatened by Soviet expansionism, the British claims were largely accepted. Scholars now see the Emergency as a largely localized effort conducted by a variety of not very well coordinated disparate groups, of which the Communists were a major part. Geography limited the ability if the Soviets or the Chinese to support and supply the insurgent forces. Unlike Vietnam, there were no gue
rrilla operations before and during World War II nor did Malaya have a border with China. Another factor was the largely Muslim religion of the Malays which affected Communist recruitment.
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