How Significant Was The Korean War?

Question 1

Militarisation and globalisation of containment

Answer 1

It was a tp:
- the first proxy war- ‘boots on the ground’ set the trend for more future proxy wars like Vietnam. First hot conflict
- nsc-68 in practice
-accelerated the Asia focus of us policy whereas it had been focussed on Europe previously.
- seato
Less sig tp:
- it was not a total reshaping but an extension of the intensification [militarisation]
E.g military force had long been a presence in the cw[ nato , threat of arms at Berlin blockade], and Asia focus had already been developing in 1950[acheson line,nsc68 already been created before kw in response to Chinese threat and signing of the sino-soviet friendship in 1950.

Question 2

Militarisation in Europe

Answer 2

Militarisation of the cw in Asia also led to increased militarisation in Europe- militarisation of nato with west Germany allowed to rearm and join and improved its infrastructure and coordination
However, the ossifiction of blocs was traced back to the Berlin blockade where nato was created out of the North Atlantic treaty that pre dated the kw, and later the Warsaw pact so the Korean War only indirectly strengthened it and refined it and did not cause it. Militarisation in Europe had already begun following dropping of atomic bomb by ussr in 1949

Question 3

War weakened pro-Moscow communism in Europe

Answer 3

Economic pressure on ussr led to Stalin accelerating industrialisation- fewer consumer goods were produced in sovietised states which made them dissatisfied.
However, already unpopular when Stalin ordered the su to storm out of the Paris peace agreement so they couldn’t receive any aid, made them dissatisfied bc the possibility of sovietised states improving their economy was crushed by Stalin. By 1948, Yugoslavia , tito and Stalin had a massive fall out bc tito was not a staunch Stalinist and accepted some American aid, Hungary and Poland were not pro Moscow and gomulka was accused of national deviation which led to him being replaced, by boleslaw bierut in 1948

Question 4

Accelerated the red scare

Answer 4

Irrational fear and hysteria of communism infiltrating the USA, huac and hoover called teachers reducators
Ca= was in response to other factors e.g atomic bomb, espionage and china