Developing Cooperation, 1950s–80s

Abstract

By 1945 Japan was a defeated and exhausted country.¹ Many of the nations of Western Europe faced similar hardships as they too dealt with the consequences of a lengthy war.² Although they faced common problems in trying to rebuild shattered economies and societies, Japan and Europe did not share the same solutions. The foundations for Japan’s recovery began with the Allied Occupation from 1945 to 1952, a period which ensured US involvement in Japanese policy-making for the decades to follow. Europeans were also assisted by American capital and support as they grappled with ways to unite former enemies and prevent the recurrence of war on their continent. While developments such as the establishment of the United Nations drew both victors and vanquished from Europe and Asia into new forums for discussion, they nevertheless gave little impetus to the establishment of a trans-continental dialogue. Mutual disregard and internal preoccupations made Japan and Europe anything but ‘natural’ partners during the early postwar years. How, then, were the seeds of a relationship sown and how could they begin to grow?³