Title: The Korean War
1The Korean War
2Background
- 1895 Korea taken from China by Japan
- Cairo Conference 1943, Allies agree that when
liberated, it would become independent. - Aug. 12, 1945 Soviets enter Korea and push south
to the 38th. - American occupy the south.
- This was to only be temporary.
3Background
- The UN requested Elections be held.
- South Natl Assembly formed electing
anti-communist Syngman Rhee - North No elections, taken over by communist Kim
Il Sung
Syngman Rhee
4Background
- The de facto partition had become permanent.
However, both governments claimed authority over
the whole country, and each threatened to unify
Korea by force.
Kim Il Sung
5Background
- Soviets withdrew forces in Dec. 48. Americans
in June 49 - But, both powers armed their own client state
with weapons. - Two elements 1. Civil, 2. Proxy Cold War
6The Causes of the Korean War
- "Communism in Korea could get off to a better
start than practically anywhere else in the
world." - Edwin W. Pauley, Truman's ambassador
investigating reparations, traveling in the
Russian zone of Korea in June 1946
7Causes of the War
- 1. Btwn Oct. 49 and June 50, several thousand
soldiers killed in border incidents along 38th. - 2. US Sec. of State Dean Acheson outlined US
policy, it failed to mention S. Korea and Taiwan
as part of US Sphere of Influence (The Green
Light to NK) - 3. June 25, 1950, N. Kor. Invaded south of the
38th - 4. Sov. Boycott UN Security Council over Taiwan
issue, unable to veto UN action
8Two Views on Invasion
- Kim was acting on Stalins orders. Why?
- 1. To keep Kim dependent upon the USSR.
- 2. Create a diversion for the US away from Euro.
- There was no unusual invasion. The US said
there was. Why? To take advantage of USSRs
boycott of UN. US baited Kim into the attack.
9Khrushchevs Memoirs
- Stalin approved the invasion, although possibly
without considering fully the consequences. - However most likely, Kim acted independently in
pursuit of the goal of unification of Korea as a
communist state. - Stalin was aware of UN boycott and the
consequences and would not have agreed to the
invasion.
10The Course of the War
- "I will defend Korea as I would my own
countryjust as I would California." - Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Dr. Syngman Rhee,
President of the two-month-old South Korean
Republic, October 1948
"In my generation, this was not the first
occasion when the strong had attacked the
weak.Communism was acting in Korea just as
Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese had acted
ten, fifteen, and twenty years earlier. I felt
certain that if South Korea was allowed to fall,
Communist leaders would be emboldened to override
nations closer to our own shores." President
Harry Truman
11The Course of the War
- UN/US forces would be solely for the purpose of
restoring the Republic of Korea to its status
prior to the invasion from the North So a war
of containment-Truman Doctrine! 14 other
countries would send troops under the command of
Gen. Douglas MacArthur
12S. Kor army and 4 US divisions driven south and
only control the area around Pusan. Sept.,
MacArthur makes a surprise amphibious landing at
Inchon. N Kor army found itself trapped by two
armies and forced to retreat. By the end of
Sept. Seoul liberated and the South secured.
13The Course of the War
- China Reacts PM Zhou Enlai warned that if the
US went on to invade the North, China would go to
its aid! Truman called his bluff. He wished
to est. a US dominated Kor as a foothold on the
Asian landmass. Thus, he had changed the stated
purpose of the US involvement from containment to
Rollback.
14The Course of the War
- By the end of Oct. US forces captured Pyongyang,
and in some places reached as far N as the Yalu
R. - Chinese Reaction
- Feared US backed attack by Chinese Natl
- MacArthur expressed desire to invade China
- Wished to keep N. Kor as a buffer
15The Course of the War
- 300,000 Chinese volunteers from the Peoples
Liberation Army (PLA) crossed the border and
drove the US army back beyond the 38th.
Pyongyang and Seoul was captured by the Chinese.
- Truman changed plans and settles for containent.
- MacArthur criticized Trumans Limited War and
called for an all out attack upon Red China. He
demanded the authority to blockade China and bomb
Manchuria with atomic weapons! - MacArthur called limited war a form of
appeasement. - Truman dismisses MacArthur of his duties and
replaces him with Gen. Matthew Ridgway
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17The Course of the War
- In the South Rhee
- Imposed martial law
- Arrested opposition deputies in the National
Assembly - Imposed a Right Wing dictatorship
- A Chinese offensive failed in June 1951. They
sought an armistice in July 51. But dragged on
for months. - Both sides sought to improve its position. The
focus on The exact demarcation line and
repatriation of POWs
"Even now, I feel guilty that I pulled the
trigger." Lee Joon-Young, 83, who in 1950 was
one of the South Korean executioners ordered to
murder dissidents by the Syngman Rhee government
to keep them from possibly joining up with the
invading North Korean army
18- Newly elected D.D. Eisenhower after himself
threatened to use Nuclear attack, signed
armistice on July 27th, 1953 - Armies to separate by a DMZ
- Restore the status quo ante bellum- 38th
Parallel. - POWs would be exchanged
19The Consequences of the War
20The Consequences of the War
- Deaths _at_ 2.9 mil total
- 1.3 mil S. Kor
- 1 mil Chinese
- 500K N. Kor
- 54K US
- 4500 Allies
Destruction 5 mil Koreans homeless. S. Kor
industrial infrastructure damaged, N. Kor was
devastated due US bombing.
21The Consequences of the War
- The war failed to resolve the division of Korea.
Still a Hot Spot today. - Increases Sino-American hostilities.
- UN saved face for League of Nations failures in
Manchuria in 1931. - Est. a precedent for US intervention in Asia to
contain communist expansion - Increased US Paranoia of Communism at home-
McCarthyism. - No more limited wars under Ike. Massive
Retaliation policy - Both Koreas arm themselves using precious
resources needed to feed their people
22The Consequences of the War
- Scarce Chinese resources diverted to the war.
- Poisoned Sino-Soviet Relations.
- Stimulated US economy as well as Japans
- N. Kor turned in upon itself and became a
defensive totalitarian state, a corrupt right
wing dictatorship. - China gained prestige on world stage for going
toe to toe with the US. - SEATO formed South East Asia Treaty
Organization. To contain China and N Kor. A
failure
23The Significance of the War
- This was a Nasty War
- Both sides tortured POWs
- US used POWs as guinea pigs to test effects of
germ warfare. - Indiscriminate bombing of civilians.
- US used biological warfare by dropping anthrax,
the plague, and other diseases on N Kor and
China. - US prepared to use any means necessary to save
its sphere of influence.
- A Civil War- goal was to unify Korea.
- A Proxy War ideological opposition supported by
super powers. - Third World enters the Cold War. Pressure for
developing nations to pick sides.