Communism within Asia + Korean War Flashcards
Who were the two leading figures during the Chinese civil war? What parties did they lead?
Chiang Kai-Shek (Chinese Nationalists)
Mao Zedong (Chinese Communist Party)
How did the USA support Kai-Shek? Was this successful?
They funded the Nationalist party with $2 billion aid
Failure - by late 1949, Mao’s communist forces had defeated Kai-Shek’s forces as they fled to Taiwan
What was China reformed to in 1949?
‘The People’s Republic of China’ by Mao Zedong, their new communist leader
What implications did the loss of China to communism have on Truman? (2 examples)
Truman’s doctrine had backfired on him
Republicans and the American public blamed Truman’s Democrat party for the ‘loss’ of China
Why was the fall of China worrying in terms of Soviet relations? What had also happened the same year with the USSR?
A renewal of the Sino-Soviet alliance was in the talks which threatened the US
The Soviet Union had also developed their own atomic bomb - ‘First Lightning’ - which was identical to the Nagasaki Bomb (‘Fat Man’) - this broke the USA’s atomic monopoly and increased fear
What did the Chinese Representative at the UN (Chiang Kai-Shek’s Taiwan) say after the loss of mainland China?
Tsiang Tingfu - warned that the loss of China will cause a ripple event through Asia of more communist uprisings taking place - proven right by 1950 with Korea/Indochina
What was the situation in French Indochina after WW2? Why was this the case?
The Indo-Chinese Communist Party (which had used guerrilla warfare against Japan in WW2) pushed for liberation from the French Empire
Who was the leader of the Indo-Chinese Communist Party? And which country did he expect help from?
Ho Chi Minh
He expected help from Truman and the US due to their belief in ‘self-determination’ (The idea of letting people of a nation decide on their own government)
Did the US support the Indo-Chinese Communist Party? What did they do and why?
No - they instead covered for 78% of the costs for French involvement in reinstating their command in Indochina
The loss of China was still fresh in Truman’s mind - saw Ho Chi Minh as a puppet of Stalin
What was the situation in Korea prior to 1950? Who were the leaders of their respective areas?
Korea was divided between the two occupying powers (Soviets - North / US - South) - split by the 38th Parallel
Syngman Rhee was elected leader of South Korea
Kim Il Sung was instated as leader of North Korea
When did North Korea invade South Korea? And how many troops did they have?
25th June 1950
A force of 100,000 North Korea troops launched a surprise invasion into South Korea with little opposition
Why was Truman compelled to act to the invasion of South Korea? How did he do this?
He had to contain communism but also offset criticism that he was ‘losing’ Asia to communism
He accomplished this by launching a UN intervention to support S. Korea in July, 1950
The UN intervention was labelled as what? And who contributed and who led these forces?
It was labelled as a UN ‘police action’ led by US General Douglas MacArthur
The forces primarily consisted of US troops, but also Canadian and British troops
What was the casualty rate as the N. Korean forces made great advances into S. Korea?
As S. Korean forces would retreat - the casualty rate hit 30%
What amphibious assault led by MacArthur turned the tide for S. Korea? And when was it?
September, 1950
A naval assault on Inchon which forced a N. Korean retreat back behind the 38th Parallel
