Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Cold War: Broadening (1949-1955) > The Korean War, 1950-1953 (S2.6) > Flashcards

The Korean War, 1950-1953 (S2.6) Flashcards

1
Q

When did the Korean War start and end?

A

25 June 1950 - 27 July 1953

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What created the power vacuum in Korea which led to the split?

A

The Japanese Empire had occupied Korea since 1910​
> Sudden collapse of Japanese power at the end of WWII left a power vacuum​

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What two sides and two leaders filled the power vacuum?

A

South Korea
> Authoritarian, pro-capitalist Syngman Rhee

North Korea
> Communist, nationalist Kim Il-Sung

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What happened in the winter of 1951?

A

50,000 to 90,000 South Korean National Defense Corps soldiers starved to death while marching southward under the Chinese offensive when their commanding officers embezzled funds earmarked for their food.
> National Defense Corps Incident​

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How many civillians and soldiers died in the Korean War?

A

3.5-4 million Korean civilians ​
1.2 million combatants from all sides​ (could be as high as 1.75 million due to Mao deflating figures)
​

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

In mid-1951, what did one American report about the Korean War?

A

“almost the entire Korean Peninsula is just a terrible mess. Everything is destroyed.”​

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How many tons of bombs and napalm did the US drop on Korea?

A

U.S. dropped 635,000 tons of bombs—including 32,557 tons of napalm—on Korea
> More than they did on its Japanese enemy during the whole Pacific campaign of World War​

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What was the result of the Korean War?

A
  • A new boundary across the 38th parallel and a 2-mile wide ‘demilitarized zone’
    > Effectively changed nothing; border basically stayed the same
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How much did the US spend on the Korean War?

A

$18 billion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How much did the US spend on the Chinese Civil War?

A

$2.8 billion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the key traits of Kim Il Sung?

A
  • Skilled guerilla fighter; groomed for power in Moscow
  • Stalinist, communist; authoritarian
  • Korean self-determination; nationalist; land reform based on need
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What are the key traits of Syngman Rhee?

A
  • Anti-nationalist; against land reform; pro-USA, anti-communist
  • Not known in Korea; spent most of earlier life in USA
  • Lenient to those wealthy under the Japanese imperialists
  • Unpopular with US State Department; MacArthur loves him
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

How does Truman justify the Korean War?

A

Calls it a “police action”
> a US President cannot declare war without a majority of Congress
> Instead, went to war through the U.N. Security Council under the UN flag (as Stalin had been boycotting it)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What happens to MacArthur by April 1951?

A

Publicly seeks to expand the Korean War into a major conflict by calling to drop the atomic bomb on China, making the war nuclear
> Sacked by Truman; exposed divisions in the US elite

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How many times did Kim Il Sung ask to invade South Korea?

A

49 times.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What are the two arguments for what caused the Korean War?

A
  1. Cold War superpower politics caused the war.
  2. Conflicts rooted in Korean Society caused the war.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is the argument for the idea that Cold War superpower politics caused the war, in terms of the USSR’s policy?

A

USSR’s support of Kim Il Sung in the North that encouraged the North to invade the South, triggering the war​
> Due to the nuclear bomb test (August 1949), America not intervening in the victory in China (October 1949), Stalin calculated that the Americans would be even less willing to fight in Korea, which had seemingly much less significance than China​.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is the argument for the idea that Cold War superpower politics caused the war, in terms of US policy?

A

The Americans had not given Rhee in the South much indication that the USA would militarily support him in the case of a northern invasion.
> Stalin’s belief that USA wouldn’t support the South made the USSR try to establish a totalitarian dictatorship over the whole nation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the strengths of the interpretation that Cold War superpower politics caused the war?

A

It is true that the North’s perception that the USA wouldn’t help the South encouraged them to invade the South in 1950​

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What are the weaknesses of the interpretation that Cold War superpower politics caused the war?

A

It could be argued that the interpretation is exaggerating the influence of the superpowers, and ignoring what was happening within Korea itself at the time.

18
Q

What are the arguments for the idea that conflicts rooted in Korean society caused the war​, in terms of South Korean society?

A

Regime in the South was extremely unpopular, and only managed to cling on to power through direct American military support.
> The widespread hatred for the regime in the South meant that the North invaded to help their Southern compatriots overthrow the unpopular Syngman Rhee regime and reunite Korea, which everyone desired​
> Rhee recieved only 13.5% of the vote in the 1948 election

19
Q

What are the arguments for the idea that conflicts rooted in Korean society caused the war​, in terms of sentiments around the period of their invasion?

A

When the North Koreans invaded the South, the South was on the verge of civil war.
> When the North invaded, little resistance was offered to their advance and barely any people fled before it​ (the North installed governments, released political prisoners and enacted land reform as it invaded through)
> Rhee ordered the execution of between 100,000–200,000 Communists or individuals suspected of Communist sympathies throughout the South​.

​

20
Q

What happened in autumn 1946?

A

The Autumn Uprising

20
Q

What was the Autumn Uprising?

A

In the Autumn Uprising of 1946, an 8,000-strong railroad worker strike began in the southern city of Pusan​
> Sparked a peasant uprising across the south of Korea. The uprising was against the presence of the American military in Korea and the support it gave to the Rhee regime​
> The American military helped suppress the rebellion, sending in U.S. troops and tanks, and declaring martial law, and succeeded in putting down the uprising.
> The uprising resulted in killing of 38 policemen, 163 civil workers, and 73 civilians​

20
Q

What happened in April 1948?

A

The Jeju Uprising ​

21
Q

What was the Jeju Uprising?

A

April 1948
> Rebellion on Jeju island, off the south coast of Korea, and lasted until May 1949, following the brutal suppression of protests​
> Between 14,000 and 30,000 individuals were killed or were executed by Syngman Rhee’s government​
> Brutal suppression of this rebellion by the South Korean army resulted in many deaths and in the destruction of many villages on the island, and it influenced more rebellions on the Korean mainland​.

​

21
Q

What happened in October 1948?

A

​Yeosu–Suncheon Rebellion

22
Q

What was the Yeosu–Suncheon Rebellion?

A

Took place in Yeosu, Suncheon, and other towns
> Largely caused by that government’s suppression of the Jeju Uprising and refusal of Yeosu soldiers to help suppress the Uprising.
> Paraded, symbolising communist support
> American military forces played a role in suppressing the Rebellion

23
Q

What did these uprisings show?

A

These uprisings showed the widespread hostility and resistance to Rhee’s government.
> There was effectively a civil war within the South, between Rhee’s government and the American military and the mass movement against Rhee’s regime, led by local southern communists​

24
Q

When did North Korea invade South Korea, and how successful were they?

A

June 25th 1950 - North Korea Invades
> Captures Seoul in one day
> South Korean and American forces retreat to Pusan by August

25
Q

What happens in August 1950, which changes the war?

A

MacArthur and the Inchon Landing
> Caught North Koreans by surprise; by the end of September, MacArthur believes he is a few weeks from winning the war

26
Q

What happens by October-November 1950?

A

October 1950 - US captures Pyongyang
November 1950 - US pushes up to the Yalu River (border between Korea and China)

27
Q

What does the US push to the Yalu river in November 1950 mean for the war?

A

Mao Zedong believes, with MacArthur in charge, that US forces may push past the Yalu and into China
> Chinese cross the Yalu and enter the Korean War in November 1950

28
Q

What happens in 1951 in the Korean War?

A

Korean War begins to settle into a stalemate, and peace talks begin in February 1951; an armistice is decided by July 1953 (and despite peace talks ongoing for two years, there is still fighting)

29
Q

How many Americans died in the Korean War?

A

33,600

30
Q

What percentage of Pyongyang was destroyed by bombing, and how many major cities in North Korea had been atleast ‘half obliterated’?

A

Pyongyang saw 75% of the city destroyed by the bombing
> 18/22 major cities in North Korea had been at least half obliterated

31
Q

Where had South Korea established itself by the end of the war?

A

South Korea established itself as a state firmly in the Western camp, with American troops stationed there.
> Became a successful capitalist economy and major trading partner with Japan and the USA.

32
Q

Where had North Korea established itself by the end of the war?

A

North Korea remained firmly in the Communist camp, and remains a Communist state to this day.

33
Q

What was the impact of the war on the Soviet Union?

A

Political disaster for the Soviet Union
> Unification of the Korean peninsula under the Kim Il-Sung regime, was not achieved.
> Authority of the Soviet state grew, which showed in its readiness to interfere in developing countries of the Third World, many of which after the Korean war went down the socialist path of development, after selecting the Soviet Union as their patron. ​

34
Q

What was the impact of the war on the Sino-Soviet relations?

A

Relations with the Soviet’s communist ally, China, were seriously strained.
> The foundations of the Sino-Soviet split that would occur in 1956-62 were laid. ​

35
Q

What was the impact of the war on the formation of a capitalist bloc?

A

Accelerated relations between the US and Japan/Germany, as well as new political alliances (ANZUS in 1951; SEATO in 1954)

36
Q

What was the impact of the war on Soviet policy towards Tito?

A

The United States’ strong resistance to the invasion may have prevented a Soviet intervention in Yugoslavia during the Tito-Stalin split. ​

36
Q

What were the consequences of the Korean War for Japan?

A

Major beneficiary of the Korean War.
> By 1954, the Japanese defence industry had earned 3 billion American dollars from sales to the USA​
> Massive stimulus to the post-WW2 economic recovery of Japan. It helped create a rich, friendly capitalist state that in many ways was the cornerstone of American interests in the region​.
> Japanese Prime Minster Yoshida claimed that the Korean War was ‘the grace of heaven”, due to how beneficial it was to Japan​

37
Q

What were the consequences of the Korean War for China, in terms of troops lost, economic cost, and foreign policy?

A
  • Over 150,000 troops were killed and many times this figure were wounded.
    > Economic burden was crushing burden on a poor, undeveloped nation.
    > It slowed down Mao’s drive to modernise and industrialise China​
  • War also prevented the complete defeat of the GMD.
    > Taiwan also went under even further US protection
38
Q

Why was the Korean War arguably successful for China?

A

Communist China really had stood up to the outside world, as Mao promised it would do when he proclaimed the People’s Republic in Beijing in October 1949​
> China had taken on the most powerful nation in the world and forced it back, gaining a friendly buffer state between China and the hostile West (North Korea)​

39
Q

What were the consequences of the Korean War for the USA?

A

USA spent $18 billion in fighting the Korean War
> Massively increased its defence spending to produce arms (weapons) for the war​

40
Q

How did the increased arms spending due to the Korean War boost the US economy?

A

The government uses defence spending to increase arms production.
> Creates industrial jobs and economic growth.
> People then spend the money earned in those jobs on consumer goods etc, feeding more money back into the economy.

People producing, earning and consuming, goods being produced, bought and sold – this is all economic activity that’s needed for an economy to grow​

41
Q

What is the military-industrial complex?

A

Military-industrial complex
> If the economy is dominated by arms production, the people who produce arms will become influential in government, and can lead the USA into unnecessary wars. ​

​

41
Q

What was the lasting legacy of the Korean War on US policy?

A
  • Commitment to active containment
  • Permanent military build-up
  • Focus on Asia
  • Preservation of a divided Korea

Cold War: Broadening (1949-1955) (5 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions