The dormant political atmosphere, so long characteristic of the colonial society of the Indies, was undergoing an almost imperceptible change at the dawn of the twentieth century. Apart from the official adoption of the “Ethical Policy”—the moral assumption by the Netherlands of a concern for “native” welfare—ripples indicative of a new consciousness were occurring within the indigenous society. A movement for female education and emancipation was instigated by Raden Adjeng Kartini, daughter of the Regent of Djapara. A socio-cultural organization of Javanese intellectuals named Boedi Oetomo (Splendid Endeavor) was founded in May 1908. The Sarekat Islam (United Islam), initially concerned with economic matters, had by 1912 begun to stress religious principles and was soon to gain a mass following under Hadji O. S. Tjokroaminoto. The Eurasian E. F. E. Douwes Dekker, through agitation and the establishment of a real independence party, the Indische Partij (Party of the Indies), was the first to make a major contribution in the field of political nationalism.

Since the Second World War transitions from colonial to sovereign status have become so frequent as to be almost commonplace. The royal family in England has had an extra chore added to its duties in inaugurating new constitutions. Britain, which was thought by many before the war to be regulating the speed of inevitable gradualness by that of the tortoise, or even the glacier rather than the hare, has in recent years been sometimes accused of headlong haste and even Gadarene precipitation. Some of this proper speed or improper haste has been the result of lessons hardly learnt. Since there is much ground to be covered before the last colonial regime passes into independence, or some newly enfranchised states achieve stability, it is worth examining more closely the experience of one colonial region, for which purpose I propose to consider India.

In the six-year period from 1950 to 1956 a considerable number of books articles, and pamphlets on Korea were published in the Soviet Union. Although some of these items were noted in the Library of Congress bibliography of Russian language works in August 1950, and although a few have been mentioned in subsequent surveys of Soviet publications on the Far East, there has been no recent attempt to describe and assess in general terms the total Soviet output on the subject of Korea since the North Korean Communist invasion brought war and world attention to the peninsula. Such a general survey is the main objective of the present study. A secondary aim is to present a tentative report on the present state of Korean studies in the Soviet Union. The present survey is by no means all inclusive; Soviet newspapers are not discussed; some items known to exist have not been available for inspection; others unknown undoubtedly lie buried in the voluminous pages of Soviet periodical literature. Nevertheless it is believed that the scrutinized sample of Soviet writings on Korea has been adequate for the presentation of an accurate general picture.

Everyone with interests in Chinese studies who has had occasion to become aware of it will agree that within the past two or three years there has been a marked upswing in the quantity and in the quality of publication in Taiwan. The present writer observed some of this new development on the scene in 1954–55, and others both better informed and better qualified to judge report that the trend continues. Although the Journal has on several occasions during the last five or six years reported briefly on publication there, now there is perhaps some value in reporting more comprehensively on recent developments, both because the phenomenon itself is of interest, and because many recently published items will be desired by scholars and by research libraries.