outbreak of the korean war Flashcards
what happened on the 25th June 1950
Kim il sung’s forces crossed the 38 parallel into south Korea
(north Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the south)
why did Kim il sung chose to cross the 38th parallel
- decided his guerrilla warfare wasn’t enough to destabilise the government in the south
- by 1950 the north’s military was far stronger than the south’s ( 135 thousand soldiers) vs the south’s 95 thousand
- the quality of the north’s military was better too
( 1/2 soldiers had returned from fighting in Chinese civil war so were experienced in fighting in battle)
had tanks and planes from the soviet union
south korea’s military was used to spending it’s time dealing with small scale guerrilla activity - had support of the soviet union
what does the Truman doctrine state
it was America’s job to prevent the spread of communism
UN resolution 82 was signed on 27th June 1950
what did UN resolution allow the UN forces to do?
meant they were allowed to take military action to help south Korea
why could the soviet union not veto the decision of un resolution 82
that year they had been boycotting the UN as they were refusing to allow communist china to join the UN
so the soviet union wasn’t present at the meeting and couldn’t oppose the UN’s decision
what was the role of china in the Korean war
- Mao Zedong warned the UN against an invasion of north Korea
- October 1950= 200,00 Chinese soldiers cross the Yalu river
- January 1951= UN forces were driven out of Seoul
when did the war reach a stalemate and why
early 1951
fighting continued around the 38th parallel but no aside made a decisive breakthrough
When were the Inchon landings and what were they
15th September 1950
40,000 UN troops whereas there were only 6,500 North Korean soldiers
In 4 days UN forces had captured Inchon
