UCLA Asia Institute
Today in Asian History
February 4
1885 The Chinese government borrowed £505,000 from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank to continue its fight with France over control of northern Vietnam. The French prevailed on the seas, suggesting that China's focus on developing modern weaponry was not enough to defeat a better organized and led military force.
1899 The Filipino uprising against American sovereignty in the Philippines formally began. The guerilla war lasted a decade and cost the lives of more than 20,000 Filipino and American soldiers and perhaps 200,000 civilians perished due to famine and disease. Hostilities broke out after two American soldiers on patrol killed three Filipino soldiers outside Manila.
1945 Yalta Conference between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Click here to see a photo of the "big three." The conference ended on February 12. The trio agreed on the creation of the United Nations, the division of Germany into occupation zones, and that the Soviet Union would enter World War II against Japan. The Soviets were to regain Sakhalin and nearby islands and to take possession of the Kurile Islands. Continuing Russian control over the Kuriles is a significant sticking point in Russian-Japanese relations. CNN's website linked to its Cold War series includes the Yalta protocol. Click here to see a U.N. photo from the concluding day of the conference.
The AI "Today in Asian History" page was compiled by Clayton Dube. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send them to <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>.
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