The Cold War

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The Cold War Korean War
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Korean War Background

• Japan occupied Korean until the end of WWII
• After the war, the U.S. would occupy the south,
  while the Soviets would occupy the north
• It was to be temporarily divided at the 38th
  parallel, but would eventually have its own
  government and independence

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Korean War Background

• At the Cold War developed, the U.S. and USSR
  became less willing to cooperate
• The Americans persuaded the UN to establish a
  commission to supervise Korean elections, but
  they were refused entry into the North
• Therefore, two separate governments were set up

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Causes of the Korean War (June 1950)

• Kim Il Sung, the leader of South Korea, didnt
  expect the U.S. to support the South, as
  Secretary of State Dean Acheson made a speech
  about the U.S.s defense perimeter in the Western
  Pacific, which did not include Korea
• Il Sung persuaded Stalin that he should back an
  attack on the South
• In June 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea

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Why Did the U.S. Intervene?

• It became an ideological dispute containment of
  communism
• The fears of communism (McCarthyism) leads to the
  U.S. to intervene
• Sino-Soviet Pact signed in 1950 increased fears
  of USSRs dominance in Asia
• Republicans blamed the Democrats and the Truman
  administration for losing China to communism in
  1949
• The administration believed that firm action was
  believed to prevent the spread of communism

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Why Did the Soviets and China Support the North
Koreans?

• Soviets
• Strengthen communism in Asia
• Kim might have turned to Mao if the Soviets
  didnt help
• Communists had won the Chinese Civil War
• Soviets had the atomic bomb
• Were concerned about Japan being anti-communist
• China
• It was a way of paying Kim back for support in
  the Chinese Civil War
• Mao wanted to be the international communist
  leader

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Korean War

• Douglas MacArthur was called upon to lead UN
  troops in Korea. He was in charge of the
  occupation of South Korea and Japan
• Before UN troops arrived, the North Koreans,
  supplied with Soviet tanks and air power, had
  swept through South Korea in just weeks. Only a
  small part of the country, near the port city of
  Pusan, remained

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Korean War

• United Nations Reaction To Korea
• The Soviets temporarily left the UN Security
  Council
• In June 1950, they unanimously condemned North
  Korea as the aggressor. The Soviets werent
  there to veto the vote (Taiwan)
• The Council called upon all UN members to help
  restore peace. Two days later, without
  consulting Congress, Truman ordered American air
  and naval units to support South Korea

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Korean War

• He also ordered General Douglas MacArthurs
  Japanese based occupation troops into action
  against the North Koreans
• Officially, the U.S. was participating in a UN
  police action. But in fact, the U.S. made up
  the overwhelming bulk of the UN contingents, and
  General MacArthur, appointed UN commander of the
  entire operation, took his orders from
  Washington, not from the Security Council

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Korean War (September 1950)

• MacArthur suspected that the North Koreans
  supply line was stretched thin. Therefore, he
  decided to land troops at Inchon, near the 38th
  parallel and attack enemy supply lines from
  behind
• The strategy worked, causing the North Koreans to
  withdraw to near the Yalu River
• MacArthur didnt want the North Koreans
  regrouping and coming again

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Korean War (November 1950)

• At this point, the Chinese, who were Communist,
  told the UN to not advance any farther. However,
  MacArthur didnt listen
• He didnt believe that Chinese intervention would
  be effective
• Thousands of Chinese volunteers fell upon his
  overextended lines and pushed the U.N. forces
  southward

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Korean War

• Humiliated, MacArthur wanted
• The old Chinese government, which had taken
  refuge in Taiwan, go back to China and create a
  second front
• He also wanted to use nuclear bombs on China if
  they got involved
• A blockade of the Chinese coast
• Bombardment of Chinese bases in Manchuria

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Korean War

• Washingtons Reaction
• Didnt want to enlarge the war. Europe and USSR
  are priority 1
• MacArthur wrote Congress, criticizing the
  President
• Truman fired him. He feared that the war would
  escalate and possibly draw in the Soviets
• MacArthur was deemed a hero by many, while Truman
  was considered an idiot
• Ridgeway replaced MacArthur

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Korean War

• After two more years, a truce was signed in 1953
• It left Korea in about the same state it was in
  before the war
• Deaths/Wounded
• Americans 55,000 113,000
• South Korea 415,004 428,568
• North Korea/Communist China 2,000,000 casualties

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Effects of the Korean War on Korea

• No hope for unification
• Koreans were forcibly conscripted
• Couldnt tell who the enemy was, so many innocent
  civilians were killed
• Crimes against POWs were committed
• Korean borders were left in about the same state
  as it was in before the war, although both sides
  were devastated by the war
• South Korean deaths 415,000
• North Korean deaths 520,000

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Effects of the Korean War on China

• The war strengthened alliances in the West, but
  alienated the Chinese and Soviets
• China held their own against UN/US forces, so
  they gained prestige
• As a result of the Korean War, Truman recognized
  only Taiwan as the real China and protected it
  with the 7th Fleet
• China obtained loans and technical assistance
  from the Soviets (engaged in the first 5-Year
  Plan)
• China became disillusioned with the Soviets
  because they sold them military equipment at high
  prices

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Effects of the Korean War on the U.S.

• First instance of fighting in the Cold War
• Nuclear war nearly occurred
• American deaths 55,000

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Effects of the Korean War on the U.S.

• Showed the need to intervene in the Far East
  (increased aid to French in Indochina)
• Created three pacts with nations in the region
• U.S.-Philippines
• U.S.-Japan
• ANZUS Australia, New Zealand, U.S.
• Strengthening of NATO and creation of military
  bases in Turkey
• Rearmed West Germany

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Effects of the Korean War on the U.S.

• NSC-68 was passed
• At first a buried document, Truman recommended in
  NSC-68 that the U.S. should increase its defense
  spending 4x
• The results were
• 3.5 million people in the military and 50
  billion a year on defense
• Aid would be given to any country perceived to be
  resisting Communism
• A sense of almost limitless money for arms

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Effects of the Korean War on the USSR

• Not only did China become upset at the lack of
  assistance from the USSR, but it deepened the
  divisions in the Cold War
• The USSR now was embroiled in an even more
  intense and broader Cold War standoff than prior
  to 1950

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