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

Question 1

When did the Korean War start and end?

Answer 1

25 June 1950 - 27 July 1953

Question 2

What created the power vacuum in Korea which led to the split in 1945?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What two sides and two leaders filled the power vacuum?

Answer 3

South Korea
> Authoritarian, pro-capitalist Syngman Rhee

North Korea
> Communist, nationalist Kim Il-Sung

Question 4

What happened in the winter of 1951?

Answer 4

National Defense Corps Incident​

50,000-90,000 South Korean NDC soldiers starved to death while marching southward under the Chinese offensive when their commanding officers embezzled funds earmarked for their food.

Question 4

How many civillians and soldiers died in the Korean War?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

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

Answer 5

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

Question 6

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

Answer 6

U.S. dropped 635,000 tons of bombs—including 32,500 tons of napalm—on Korea

Question 7

What was the result of the Korean War?

Answer 7

• A new boundary across the 38th parallel and a 2-mile wide ‘demilitarized zone’
  > Effectively changed nothing; border basically stayed the same

Question 8

How much did the US spend on the Korean War?

Answer 8

$18 billion

Question 8

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

Answer 8

$2.6 billion

Question 9

What are the key traits of Kim Il Sung?

Answer 9

• Skilled guerilla fighter; groomed for power in Moscow
• Stalinist, communist; authoritarian
• Korean self-determination; nationalist; land reform based on need

Question 10

What are the key traits of Syngman Rhee?

Answer 10

Against land reform; pro-USA, anti-communist
- Not known in Korea; spent most of earlier life in USA

Question 11

How does Truman justify the Korean War?

Answer 11

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)

Question 12

What happens to MacArthur by April 1951?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

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

Answer 13

49 times.

Question 14

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

Answer 14

1. Cold War superpower politics caused the war.
2. Conflicts rooted in Korean society caused the war.

Question 15

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

Answer 15

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​.

Question 16

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

Answer 16

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.

Question 16

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

Answer 16

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

Question 17

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

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

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

Answer 18

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

Question 19

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?

Answer 19

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)

​

Question 20

What happened in autumn 1946?

Answer 20

The Autumn Uprising

Question 20

What was the Autumn Uprising?

Answer 20

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 over 200 deaths

Question 20

What happened in April 1948?

Answer 20

The Jeju Uprising ​

Question 21

What was the Jeju Uprising?

Answer 21

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​. ​

Question 21

What happened in October 1948?

Answer 21

​Yeosu–Suncheon Rebellion

Question 22

What was the Yeosu–Suncheon Rebellion?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What did these uprisings show?

Answer 23

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​

Question 24

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

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What happens in September 1950, which changes the war?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

What happens by October-November 1950?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

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

Answer 27

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

Question 28

What happens in 1951 in the Korean War?

Answer 28

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)

Question 29

How many Americans died in the Korean War?

Answer 29

33,600

Question 30

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

Answer 30

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

Question 31

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

Answer 31

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.

Question 32

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

Answer 32

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

Question 33

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

Answer 33

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

Question 34

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

Answer 34

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. ​

Question 35

What was the impact of the war in terms of forming alliances?

Answer 35

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

Question 36

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

Answer 36

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

Question 36

What were the consequences of the Korean War for Japan?

Answer 36

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​

Question 37

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

Answer 37

- 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

Question 38

Why was the Korean War arguably successful for China?

Answer 38

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)​

Question 39

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

Answer 39

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

Question 40

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

Answer 40

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​

Question 41

What is the military-industrial complex?

Answer 41

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. ​ ​

Question 41

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

Answer 41

- End of containment - Permanent military build-up - Focus on Asia - Preservation of a divided Korea