Korea Flashcards
Who was Korea ruled by until 1945
Japan
After ww2 who was the north liberated by and who was the south liberated by
North liberated by sov UN
And south by USA
North after ww2 was
Com controlled, with comm leader trained by ussr and with a soviet style on party system
How was south after ww2
Anti comm
Not very democratic
But anti comm enough to be supported by the USA
North Korea comm leader was
Kim il sung
Who was president of South Korea
Syngman rhee
In what year did tensions between north and south spill over into open warfare
1950
By when was all except a small corner of south east Korea under comm control
By September 1951
What was Americas policy that caused them to take action
CONTAINMENT
What did Truman do to try and make it seem like it wasn’t just America getting involved
He put enormous pressure on the UN Security Council to condemn actions of North Koreans and to call on them to withdraw troops
Why did USA have influence on the UN
The USA was the single biggest contributor to the UN budget
America probably would’ve failed to get UN Security Council to act if it hadn’t been for what’s
In Cold War atmosphere of 1950 each superpower always denounced each over but Soviet Union wasn’t there to do this and veto the call for action BUT ussr was boycotting UN Bcos they of issue of whether communist china to could join UN
What resolution was it that passed the assistance to the republic of Korea to restore peace and security
RESOLUTION 84
How many states provided troops or support of some kind under resolution 84
18 states including Britain provided troops
Overwhelming part of UN force sent to Korea was American of course
Who was the commander in Korea ? What nationality
General MacArthur was an American and 70 years old when given command
Where and when did the UN storm ashore
And where else
Stormed at Inchon in September 1950
At same time UN forces and Korean troops advanced from Pusan
Was the initial storming in September 1950 successful
Yes North Koreans driving back beyond 38th parallel within weeks
In October 1950 original aim of UN completed. Who warned them not to go further ?
Did UN approve plan of advancement
UN did approve plan of further advancement, at this point Truman and MacArthur wanted something more than containment
China’s leader Mao Tse-tung said if they pressed on they’d join war against them
Late in October 1950 how many Chinese troops joined the North Koreans, what did they call themselves
The people’s volunteers’ were 200,000 men strong
Who supplied the Chinese and North Koreans modern tanks and planes
The Soviet Union
Americans didn’t like terrain unlike Chinese Bcos
Treacherous cold and. Midnight snowstorm of winter of 50-51.
Chinese more familiar with mountainous terrain and swamps
Why did Truman and MacArthur fall out
M wanted to carry on with war
T didn’t
What did MacArthur do in March 1951
Ignored UN instruction and openly threatened an attack i. China
In April Truman removed him from his position and brought him back
When did peace talks begin
Fighting reached stalemate around 38th parallel in mid 1951
Peace talks began June 1951
Fighting didn’t end for two more years
Casualties immense on both sides particularly among civilians
When was the armistice signed whose death played a part
Stalins death made china and NK more timid and armistice signed July 1953
How many South Korean soldiers and civilians killed
570,000
How many NK and Chinese soldiers and civilians killed
780,000
Was Korea a success for containment
Yes cos although costs and casualties high USA proved it had means to contain communism and South Korea remained uncomm
But it also showed containments limits
Some thought Truman showed weakness for not going further whilst some agreed it wasn’t worth the risk
USA anti comm alliances
SEATO in South east Asia
CENTO in Central Asia and Middle East
What did America give to SEATO and CENTO
Money advice and arms
USSR REaction to SEATO and CENTO
Warsaw Pact which included YSSR and all east European communist countries EXCEPT Yugoslavia
Which communist country wasn’t in the Warsaw Pact
Yugoslavia
Cold War spying
USSR used spies like rudolf Abel
USA used U2 plane
Us public alarmed cos they were told USSR had more missiles even tho this was a myth. Why did neither side correct the mistake
- Khrushchev would look like a fool if he admitted this
- American military commanders happy to go along with it cos it meant they got more funding from gov
- Eisenhower only found out they had more because of Soviet who’d defected to CIA but he couldn’t explain how he knew they had more without giving the spy who was still in USSR away
What was MAD
Mutually
Assured
Destruction
No one would attack first because it’d be suicidal
What happened in Norfolk
American B-47 bomber crashed in Norfolk in 1957
Who was Robert Oppenheimer ? What did he oppose ?
He led team that developed atom bomb and opposed h bomb Bcos it was wrong to develop weapons In peace time
