Korean War Flashcards
Course
Initial attack - NK
MacArthur attacked Inchon
MacArthur sacked 1951 after several public criticisms of Truman - replaced by Matthew ridgeway
Peace agreed between Khrushchev, Stalin, Eisenhower and Kim 1953
Causes
D - domino theory/ containment
U - undermine communism, fall of China, USSR atomic bomb
C - containment
K - Kim il sung - SK invasion June 1950 - US ambiguous position (Acheson speech, defensive perimeter strategy)
S - Syngman Rhee - April 1950 said he was going to invade
MacArthur’s Dismissal
Underestimated China Asia-Firster Wanted to use atomic weapons Wanted to unleash Jiang Ridgeway showed how it was done 2 final acts of insubordination JCS supported president Wanted more troops
Korean War consequences
Over 2 mil Koreans dead
80% of public and industrial facilities destroyed
Proxy war
US commitment - huge increase in military spending - arms race
First UN war
55,000 U.S. Dead
Permanent division 38th parallel
China a major world power
SEATO set up in response to communist aggression
Sowed seeds for sino-soviet split
China resented USSR for having to pay back loans used for spending on the war
McCarthyism - increased pressure for an aggressive foreign policy vs Korea
Rise of NAM
helps Japanese economic recovery helps British fight in Malaya
Makes US intervention in Vietnam more likely
Bandung conference 1955
Zhou Enlai (PRC) claimed that the U.S. was the key threat to world peace
Held in response of SEATO
29 African and Asian States - neutral
U.S. Thought China was a threat- not as much as thought
Opposed colonialism and neo-colonialism
Decline of NAM
1960/70
1962 - Sino-Indian border war - India moved closer to USSR during this conflict
1979 - key NAM leaders were gone - Nehru died in 1964 - Nasser in 1970
NAM regimes in Indonesia and some African countries were overthrown
Many African countries moved away from NAM to USSR who were promising aid
