IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA MF 516-522
Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London
Title: Microform: OSS/State Department Intelligence and Research Reports: Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Far East Generally: 1950-1961 Supplement
Date(s): 1950-1961, 1979
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 7 reels
Name of creator(s): US State Department
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the approximate US counterpart of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and Special Operations Executive (SOE), with which it co-operated throughout World War Two and its immediate aftermath. The OSS was created by Presidential Military Order on 13 Jun 1942 and it functioned as the principal US intelligence organisation in all operational theatres during the war. Its primary function was to obtain information about enemy nations and to sabotage their war potential and morale. The OSS was terminated by Executive Order 9620 on 20 Sep 1945, its functions later assumed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and, more principally, the US State Department. One of the US State Department's primary functions immediately following World War Two was to provide the US President and the US Joint Chiefs of Staff with intelligence relating to the civil structure of foreign states and the impact of communism on post-colonial countries. In the Far East, the State Department provided the US Executive Branch with key intelligence concerning the economic and civil stability of nations weakened by Japanese occupation during World War Two and subsequently engaged in civil economic, political, and social crises. This enabled US policy planners to formulate long-term strategic goals in the Far East. During the war, the US State Department relied on OSS intelligence to prepare summary research reports concerning the social structure, strategic interests, resources, government, and economic stability of countries in the Far East. After the war, US embassies, State Department field offices, and US foreign service personnel provided the White House with the majority of strategic intelligence relating to the civil structure of nations in the Far East.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
OSS/State Department Intelligence and Research Reports: Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Far East Generally: 1950-1961 Supplement is a themed microfilm collection relating to US State Department evaluations of the Far East, 1950-1961. The documents in the collection are copies of official State Department reports sent to the Executive Branch of the US government concerning the social, economic, and political stability of nations in the Far East, including Burma, Cambodia, Indo-China, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaya, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Far East region generally. Regional reports include estimate of the political, economic, and military position of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program in the Far East, 1950; the economic importance of trade with the Soviet Bloc and the non-communist Far East, 1952; developments in the Asian Socialist Movement, 1952; economic conditions and short-term prospects for Japan and the Far East generally, 1952; Sino- Soviet economic efforts to penetrate non-communist Asia, 1955; prospects for US and British bases in the Far East, 1955; attitudes of Asian and Australasian countries towards the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO); the Asian People's Anti-Communist League, 1957. Nation reports include psychological factors involved in US informational activities in Burma, 1951; the Burma Communist Party efforts to form an insurgent united front, 1952; Burma's rice marketing dilemma, 1953; Burmese economic relations with the Soviet bloc, 1956; the Cambodian political crisis, 1953; Cambodia's recognition of the People's Republic of China, 1958; prospects for a negotiated settlement of the Indo- China War, 1953; US oil interests in Indonesia, 1950; analysis of Communist propaganda in Indonesia, 1952; the Indonesian Army revolt in Sumatra, 1957; summaries of trade agreements with Indonesia and the Soviet bloc, 1957; Indonesian territorial claims, 1958; the rebellion in Indonesia, 1958; Japanese public attitude towards its Peace Treaty obligations, 1950; Japanese public attitudes towards the rearmament of Japan, 1950; increased vulnerability of Japan to Soviet overtures, 1953; trends in Japan's Self Defence Program, 1955; domestic political developments in Japan, 1956- 1960; the North Korean political system, 1950; the effect of the bacteriological warfare campaign in North Korea, 1952; the North Korean economy, 1952-1960; North Korea and its 'Great Leap Forward', its self- proclaimed political, social, and economic revolution, 1958; international recognition of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 1961; political trends in South Korea, 1950- 1960; land reform in South Korea, 1953; the political leadership in South Korea after Syngman Rhee, 1960; communist prospects in Malaya and British Borneo, 1955; estimate of Hukbalahap rebel strengths in the Philippines, 1950; the resurgence of anti-American sentiments in the Philippines, 1955; the attempted coup d-état in Thailand, 1951; rumours of forthcoming political crises in Thailand, 1956-1960; political and economic prospects for North Vietnam under the leadership of Nguyen Van Tam, 1952; the status of the South Vietnamese economy, 1951-1960; probable political and social developments in South Vietnam 1955-1956; increased communist strength in South Vietnam, 1961.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided for research use only. Enquiries concerning the copyright of the original material should be addressed to University Publications of America, Inc, 4520 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Summary guide available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room, Paul Kesaris (ed.), OSS/State Department Intelligence and Research Reports: Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Far East Generally: 1950-1961 Supplement (University Publications of America, Inc, Bethesda, MD, 1979).
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
University Publications of America, Bethesda, MD, USA
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Further microfilmed papers created by the OSS may be found at LHCMA MF 204-211.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: Date of compilation: Sep 1999