chapter 8 - korean war Flashcards
pre-war and post-war korea
they were controlled by neighbouring countries like China and Japan due to their strategic position. after japan annexed korea in 1910, korea was ruled with an iron fist with very few rights. resistance to their rule only intensified the outbreak of WWII. a resistance group that was particularly important was one led by Kim Il Sung, a deeply committed communist who had been trained in political and military thinking in USSR. he fought a guerilla war against the japanese, helping him to gain the support of the north koreans after the war. nearing the end of the war, japan was facing defeat, and the leaders of the allies met at the potsdam conference, agreeing that korea should have full independance. however, korea was still temporarily occupied until furthur arrangements. US would govern the southern part, while soviet troops would govern the north.
division into the north and the south
while both US and USSR agreed that they should be unified under a new goverment, both differed how they would do it. thus, in 1947, united nations called for free elections to be held in korea to establish a goverment for a unified korea. in the north, the soviets were happy to allow Kim Il Sung to establish control as he had been trained in the USSR. the USSR did not allow free elections to take place, and with their help, the north established the democratic people’s republic of korea, with Kim as their leader. he tapped on propaganda to develop of cult of personality, isolating the country from the rest of the world to limit opposition and external influence. convinced that korea should be reunited, he was willing to resort to force to achieve that. in the south, the US backed syngman rhee for the position as he had campaigned for korean independance during the japanese occupation. furthurmore, he was a fluent english speaker, and a strong anti-communist. over the years, syngman rhee become more authoritarian and US started to disagree on his policies, they continued to support him due to his anti-communist stance.
tensions between the north and the south
both kim and rhee disliked each other as they felt that they should be the one to rule a unified korea. kim tried to persuade stalin to help him reunify korea, but USSR’s resources had been diminshed since WWII, and his main priority was to create a buffer zone of communist states in EE to protect USSR. therefore, he was not keen to stir up more conflict with the US and use more resources. on the other side, while rhee had the support of the US, they were unwilling to provide a large supply of weapons as they feared that it would be used to attack the north. in july 1949, south korean warships attacked north korea’s military installations, resulting in fierce fighting along the 38th parallel.
us and soviet disinterest in korea
in a security policy announed by US secretary of stae, dean acheson, he mentioned that US would be applying a defensive perimeter, and that both Japan and Phillipines was very important to the US, and made a clear committment that US forces would protect these areas, but he had made no mention about korea, showing that the US would not be playing an active role in protecting korea.
communist china
after CCP fought against GMD, CCP was victorious and china became a communist state,, increasing the US’s concerns. the US pumped $2 billion in aid to support the GMD. the US were fearful that communism might start spreading throughout asia, and refused to supoort the CCP. on the other hamd, the soviets were extremely happy as they now have a new ally against the US. the two communist powers signed the sino-soviet treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance, setting out various agreements about land and transport in east asia, and a cummulative loan from USSR to help china recover after the war.
US response to communism
after USSR successfully detonated their first atomic bomb, it meant that US no longer held the upper hand. US became increasingly concerned, as they feared that communist countries were acting together to spread communism and that stalin was orchestrating a communist expansion. the state department drew up a report known as the national security council paper no. 68, setting out a more aggressive US foriegn policy against communism. with the policy, truman would be more inclined to intervene in the war if it broke up as he could not risk a victory by north korea.
war
north korea invaded south korea on 25 june 1950, after finally convincing USSR and china to stand on his side. truman immediately sent supplies and warships to the south, and started to pressurize the united nations security council to condemn the north korean’s actions. after two long years of fighting, the two sides signed an armistice.
stalin’s motive to getting involved in korean war
initially, stalin did not want to risk direct military confrontation with the US, and hence, was not interested in korea. however, after china was established as a communist state, and signing the sino-soviet alliance, stalin’s was sure that china would provide additional support. after the detonation of the atomic bomb, it boosted stalin’s confidence as he saw that USSR was now on par with the US in terms of power. knowing that korea was not involved in US defense perimeter of japan and philippines, he knew that US intervention was unlikely.
truman’s motive to enter korean war
after detonation of atomic bomb and the signing of sino-soviet alliance, there was a greater tip of balance of power in favour of the communists. NSC-68 further demonstrated that US had to step up and assert a greater and more aggressive, foreign policy if he did not want to risk communist victory in NK. this would ensure that korea was protected and not fall to communism to crate the domino effect that US feared would happen
impact of korean war on US foreign policy
korean war was the first proxy war in the cold war, where the superpowers clashed but did not. fight each other directly. the korean war greatly affected US policies and attitudes, becoming more determined to pursue its policy of containment in asia. it extended its network of alliances beyond NATO, setting up networks of anti-communist alliances, giving money, advice and arms to these allies. USSR saw these alliances as aggressive, accusing the US of trying to encircle the communist world. US further intensified its military power to enforce its policy of containment by military means. european military power also grew dramatically, with many NATO countries spending 12 billion or more of their GDP on defense.
