The Korean War Flashcards
Why was the security council able to pass a US initiated resolution asking for military intervention in Korea?
The security council was able to pass a US initiated resolution because when the conference was held to assist South Korea Chiang Kai Shek was still in the seat for China even though Mao had control over China and USSR’s representative was extremely pissed that a communist representative was not in place. Therefore if the USSR’s representative was in seating, they would have used their veto power, however they were not, therefore the plan moved forward and help was given to South Korea to drive out the surprise attack.
John Green does not state that the US military intervention was part of a UN multi-national force. Does this seem misleading?
Yes because the contribution of the UK and other major powers being excluded leads to a US-focused history and skips over the fact that military intervention wouldn’t have been approved if the USSR was there to veto it. It paints a misleading image of the war as being fought by only American troops but while the majority was American there were 15 other nations involved.
Explain the involvement of Australia in the Korean War and the extent of that involvement
Australia was one of the 21 UN members which agreed to send troops to defend the Korean peninsula. Around 18 000 men fought to stop the invasion, and around 340 were dead. The then Prime Minister Robert Menzies was actually not in favour of sending troops despite being anti-communist. However his Minister of External Affairs Sir Percy Spender pressured Menzies into sending troops to strengthen bonds with America. There were little to no complaints about sending troops to Korea, as Australia at the time was extremely anti-communist, so generally in favour. They had to some extent presented a great amount of forces to Korea in order to combat communism, as at the time the domino theory was widespread in many minds. Their involvement, along with troops from many other countries aided America’s attack on the 38th parallel, keeping the war at an uneasy stalemate and keeping the south democratic.
