Korean War Flashcards
Outbreak of the Korean War
- Korea had been ruled by Japan until 1945
- end of WW2: North liberated by USSR, South by USA
- North remained communist, Soviet influenced
- South remained anticommunist
Relations between leaders of South and North Korea after WW2
Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee - bitter hostility
Reunification did not seem likely
Start of war
1950: hostility spilled over into open warfare, NK troops overwhelmed South forces
Map of Korea by September 1950
all except a small corner of southeast Korea was under communist control
US response to North Korean invasion in 1950
- Truman determined to contain communism: would do anything (short of all-out war)
- Truman immediately sent advisers, supplies and warships
- He was aware that military action would look better to the world if he had UN support
- ideally wanted UN intervention rather than US
United Nations Resolution 84
- Truman pressured UNSC to condemn actions of North Korea, and ask to withdraw troops
- USA powerful in UN as its biggest budget contributor
- USSR boycotting UN at the time so could not veto
- Resolution: UN committed to use its members armies to drive NK troops out of SK
- Largest part American as well as commander General MacArthur
Overview of development of war
Sept 1950: UN forces advance
Oct 1950: UN forces press on. They had already pushed back original borders but did not stop. Chinese warned them they would interfere if they pressed on. It was clear the US wasn’t just containing anymore: wanted to remove it from all Korea
Nov 1950: UN forces retreat. Late in OCT Chinese had interfered and attacked efficiently.
Winter of 1950-51: Conditions terrible for USA, cold and snowstorms, Chinese more familiar
April 1951: MacArthur sacked since MacArthur wanted to continue war, ready to invade China (USSR might interfere) and use nuclear weapons if necessary
March 1951: MacArthur had threatened attack on China, leading to him being sacked
June 1951: peace talks begin
July 1953: armistice, border pretty much the same
Consequence of Korean War
casualties enormous especially among civilians
Was the Korean War a success for containment?
YES: showed that the US had will and means to contain communism, SK not communist
NO:
high cost and casualties
showed the limits of containment policy
had to accept NK was communist
highlighted tensions among American leaders
with Chinese support NK eventually became nuclear power, threat to US allies Japan and SK
Methods of containment the USA focused on after the Korean War
- made US realize that they couldn’t start a war whenever there was a problem
- building alliances
- developing ever more powerful weapons
USA alliances after Korean War
created SEATO and CENTO, anticommunist
US provided arms, money and advice to their allies in return the leaders suppressed communist influence in their own countries
USA weapons after Korean War
clear to USA that atomic bombs were weapon of future - even threatening them was important
resulted in an arms race
