The Cold War- Korea and Hungary Flashcards
What were the impacts of the Korean war?
- after Korea was freed from Japanese control in1945, forces from the Soviet union entered the North and US entered the South
- division agreed between North and South know as the 38th parallel
- North Korea=the people’s democratic republic of Korea
- South Korea= republic of Korea
- Both countries received aid from either US or Soviet
- president Truman determined to not let South Korea become communist otherwise there would be a domino effect
What happened on the 25th of June 1950?
- North Korean forces invaded South Korea
- united nations met on request of the US to consider what action to take
- North Korea was told to withdraw from South but failed to do so; a UN force from 16 countries put together to help South Korea
Who was the commander of the UN force on North Korea?
-General Douglas MacArthur
What did the MacArthur and the UN force do?
-pushed the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel and continued the advance until they were close to the Chinese border
How did the Chinese react to the UN force on North Korea?
- entered the war and pushed the UN forces out of North Korea
- the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, was not prepared to see American led forces defeat his communist colleagues
What happened to MacArthur?
-disagreed with president Truman on how the war should be fought so he was dismissed by Truman
What was the impact on relations of the Korean war on superpower relations?
- US committed itself to supporting other countries in Asia that were trying to resist communism
- US strengthened its land forces in Europe and encouraged Greece and Turkey to join NATO= The defence budget in the US was tripled after the Korean war
- SEATO was created to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia
- Soviet union worried by the US strengthening its armed forces and increased their own
- suspicion and distrust between the US and the Soviet union increased and both sides increased their armed forces in case the cold war developed into direct military confrontation
- led to a nuclear arms race
Which 8 countries were involved in SEATO?
-US, Britain, France, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan
How much had the Soviet union increased their army by after the Korean war?
- in 1950, there were 2.8 million soldiers in the Red army. By 1955 it has risen to 5.6 million
When did the US and the Soviet union develop the atomic bomb?
- US=1945, felt secure knowing they were the only country with such a powerful weapon
- Soviet union=1949
When did the US and the Soviet union develop the hydrogen bomb?
- US=1952, 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb and restored American advantage
- Soviet union=1953
When did the US and the Soviet union develop the inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM)?
- US=1957, could fire a nuclear weapon 5,000km
- Soviet union= testing theirs a few months later
What was the impact of the arms race?
- both sides spent huge sums of money on developing large armies, navies, submarines and nuclear missiles
- it was possible that from the early 1950s, both the US and the Soviet Union could have destroyed the world
- since both sides understood the risks of using nuclear weapons, they acted as a deterrent
Who became leader of the USA in 1952 and what did he focus on?
- Eisenhower elected president and took office in 1953
- focused on defeating communism and block any attempt of communist expansion
- was prepared to listen to proposals from the Soviet union as he was aware of the danger of nuclear war
Who became leader of the Soviet union in 1956 and what did he say?
- Nikita Khrushchev
- he publicly criticised Stalin’s policies and suggested there should be peaceful co-existence with the West
