The Korean War - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 23
About This Presentation
Title:

The Korean War

Description:

The Korean War The Forgotten War: Background: 1895 Korea taken from China by Japan Cairo Conference 1943, Allies agree that when liberated, it would become independent. – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:173
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 24
Provided by: TomTu4
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: The Korean War


1
The Korean War
  • The Forgotten War

2
Background
  • 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.

3
Background
  • 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
4
Background
  • 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
5
Background
  • 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

6
The 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

7
Causes 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

8
Two 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.

9
Khrushchevs 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.

10
The 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
11
The 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

12
S. 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.
13
The 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.

14
The 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

15
The 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

16
(No Transcript)
17
The 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

19
The Consequences of the War
20
The 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.
21
The 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

22
The 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

23
The 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.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com