Cold War Case Study: Korea

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Cold War Case Study Korea
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• the world of the 20th century, if it is to
  come to life in any nobility of health and vigor,
  must be to a significant degree an American
  Century.
• Henry Luce, The American Century

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Allies Become EnemiesThe Aftermath of WWII

• Perceived spread of communism in the late 1940s
• Governments in Eastern Europe go solidly
  communist
  
• 1946, Winston Churchill gives his famous Iron
  Curtain speech
  
• Fear of communism spreading to places such as
  Turkey, Greece, Iran, etc.
  

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Containing the threat

• In response, U.S. policy centered on the doctrine
  of containment (communism must be contained to
  not allowed to spread). Included
  
• Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe
• National Security Act of 1947 creates National
  Security Council, Department of Defense, CIA
  

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The Premise of Containment from George Kennans
American Diplomacy

• This means we are going to continue for a long
  time to find the Russians difficult to deal with.
  It does not mean that they should be considered
  as embarked upon a do-or-die program to overthrow
  our society by a given date.
• it (Soviet power) cannot be easily defeated or
  discouraged by a single victory on the part of
  its opponents.
  
• In these circumstances, it is clear that the
  main element of any United States policy toward
  the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term,
  patient but firm and vigilant containment of
  Russian expansive tendencies.

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Tensions escalate

• In 1948, Soviet Union places a blockade on West
  Berlin. Overcome via Berlin Airlift
  
• In 1949, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  (NATO) formed. Soviet-led Warsaw Pact
  developed.
  
• In 1949, Soviet Union explodes its first atomic
  bomb.
  
• In 1949, Communists defeat nationalists in
  Chinese civil war.
  
• In response, U.S. policy shifts from containing
  communism to a policy outlined in NSC-68
  communism must be resisted wherever possible.
  

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The nuclear threat
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U.S. Far Asia Policy

• The U.S. would come to the aid of countries
  within a defensive perimeter around Asia
  including Japan and the Philippines.
  
• Countries outside of that perimeter such as South
  Korea and Taiwan were on their own but could call
  on the United Nations to come to their aid.

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The Korean StoryThe Japanese Occupation
1910-1945
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After the war a divided peninsula
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North Korea attacks!

• At 400 a.m., June 25, 1950, North Korea launches
  surprise attack on South Korea by crossing the
  38th Parallel. This train was scheduled to make
  the regular crossing northbut never made it.

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Seoul falls

• The surprise attack catches South Korea unaware.
  Within days, Seoul falls. In the years that
  followed, it would be taken and retaken several
  times. Remnants, such as this wall and fence on
  Ansan Mt., recall this era.

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Near defeat

• By August 1950, the North Koreans were nearly
  successful, having pushed the South Koreans to
  the edge of the peninsula. Only a remnant held
  out around Pusan.

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Now what? Should the U.S. get involved?

• YES
• The U.S. has an obligation to back up a fellow
  democracy or risk looking weak in the face of
  advancing communism. Do we want to appease the
  communists the way we appeased Hitler?

• NO
• The Korean affair is an internal one among
  Koreans. Getting involved in this civil war
  might bring in China or the Soviet Union, raising
  the chances of turning this into a nuclear
  conflict

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The decision

• The United States went to the United Nations,
  which recognized The Republic of Korea (South
  Korea) as the legitimate government on the
  peninsula. The U.N. agreed to help South Korea.
  The Soviet Union boycotted the vote (because the
  Peoples Republic of China did not get a seat in
  the U.N.) otherwise its veto would have killed
  the measure.

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Inchon Landing

• In September, Douglas Macarthur lands at Inchon,
  near Seoul, cutting off the North Korean advance.
  

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U.N. success

• The landing at Inchon caught the North Koreans
  off guard. Additional forces entered into at
  Pusan.

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By November 1950, western forces were nearly to
Yalu River, the Chinese border.
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Enter the Chinese

• By late 1950, it was found that China had massed
  850,000 troops just on the other side of the
  border. In November 1950, Chinese forces move
  down, splitting U.N. forces into two groups.

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Now What?!!

• General Douglas MacArthur felt that that there
  should be an attack on China, itself, perhaps
  with the support of a Nationalist Chinese
  invasion from Taiwan.

• President Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  felt that full war with the Peoples Republic of
  China would be the wrong war, at the wrong
  place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong
  enemy.

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The decision

• Truman, with support of the cabinet, fired
  MacArthur and agreed to a conflict limited to
  Korea.

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The war bogs down

• U.N. forces halted the Chinese advance around the
  38th Parallel. Over the next two years, the war
  bogged down.

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A somewhat new kind of war

• Leaders, troops, and equipment had often seen
  action in the Second World War just five years
  earlier.
  
• However, the air war included helicopters and jet
  fighters.
  
• The danger of a nuclear conflict always loomed in
  the background.

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A Wichita connection

• Col. James Jabara was one of the first aces to be
  involved in an all-jet dogfight. He is shown
  here in this painting at the Yalu River in May
  1951.

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Stalemate

• By 1951, negotiations with China and the North
  Koreans began with the general idea of a
  ceasefire along the 38th Parallel. The Soviet
  Union agreed. However, some felt that the
  communists were very vulnerable and simply wanted
  to preserve control of at least half of the
  Korean peninsula. Meanwhile the South Koreans
  resented their future being a bargaining chip
  with the enemy and feared a continued Chinese
  presence in the north.

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The election of 1952

• Truman had always been challenged by conservative
  Republicans for not being tough enough on
  communism.
  
• In 1952, voters elected military hero Dwight
  Eisenhower as president.

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Peace sort of

• On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed at
  Panmunjeom on the border between northern and
  southern Korean forces. This bridge about 10
  miles away at the Imjin River was the site of
  prisoner of war exchanges after the end of
  hostilities.

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The Dividing Line The DMZ
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Social changes

• The Korean peninsula was devastated. As South
  Korea recovered, it relied on a now established
  U.S. military presence for protection. Army
  rations even supplemented the limited civilian
  food supplies. One result is a dish still eaten
  in Korea a concoction of hot dogs, macaroni,
  pepperoni, American cheese, and ramen noodles
  called Army Stew.

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The developing south
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Threats and ties

• North Koreas government remains a threat. In
  the 1970s, South Koreans discovered several
  tunnels under the DMZ for a possible invasion
  from the north. Bridges in Seoul still have
  dynamite attached to be blown up in case of
  attack. Yet, in general, both northern and
  southern Koreans see themselves as one people and
  look forward to the eventual reunification of the
  land.

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Hope for reunification