...The Korean War The Korean war, to many americans known as “The forgotten war” because the United States made no significant territorial or political gains during the war. Despite the fact that tens of thousands of Americans died, the war both began and ended with the Korean Peninsula divided at the 38th parallel. Nevertheless, the Korean War helped define the Cold War, established a precedent for keeping peripheral wars limited, and boosted defense spending that contributed to the postwar economic boom in the United States. Despite the loss of life, the Korean War faded from national memory, perhaps because the three-year conflict ended without any territorial or political gains. Although General Douglas MacArthur captured nearly the entire Korean Peninsula after his brilliant Inchon landing, his tactical miscalculation at the Yalu River brought China into the war and forced United Nations troops back down to the 38th parallel, where they had started. Both sides became entrenched there, each preventing the other from making any headway. As a result, neither side could claim victory when cease-fire negotiations began in 1953. The 38th parallel remained one of the “hottest” Cold War borders in the world, almost as if the war had never really ended. The Korean War was an important conflict, however, because it set the tone for the entire Cold War. In expanding the draft and sending more than 3 million U.S. troops to Korea, Truman demonstrated to the USSR his...
Words: 517 - Pages: 3
... Korean Conflict (1950-1953) Stephanie Nash U.S. History Individual Project 2 Abstract The Korean War made many differences in the world. Korea wanted to be unified instead of being separated into North and South Korea. After doing research on the Korean War I believe that the war was more beneficial for the United States of America. The United States aided with South Korea by providing them soldiers to repel the invasion with North Korea. The Korean War did not have a winner, because there was a signing of the armistice in July of 1953. 3 There were many different consequences of the Korean War on the United States society. The defense budget was raised to fifty-billion dollars. The army and air groups doubled there size. United States deployed soldiers outside American territory in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere in Asia. After the Korean War was over the United States became aware of the “falling domino” effect of communism. The United States rearmed and they became a world power. The Korean War affected American sensibility in many ways. The war confirmed that the United States would do any and everything possible to prevent the expansion of communism. The war also created more contention between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The United States gained knowledge and awareness from the Korean War. Did the Korean War change America’s role in the world? Yes, the war did change America’s...
Words: 422 - Pages: 2
...Was the Korea War a civil war or an international conflict? Name University Course Tutor Date Was the Korea War a civil war or an international conflict? Background of the Korea War The Korean War which took place between 1950 and 1953 involved the most powerful countries in the world at the time who engaged in one of most important wars on the Korean Peninsula. In the Korean War almost led to eruption of a third world war. This is the only war that brought together the military forces of the United States, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and the Korean forces in a combat (Malkasian, 2009). The Korean War involved two major issues; that is, political control of Korea and power struggle between the East Asia versus the rest of the world. The war changed affected and consequently changed how the East and the west interacted with one another (Malkasian, 2009). After Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule following the end of the Second World War, it got divided and occupied by the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The two countries were the major superpowers at the time. They occupied the north and the south respectively (Jang, 2010). The two great nations had conspicuously differing ideologies and this factor led to formation of two different governments in Korea in the year 1948. The south formed the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK), with the support of the United States under the leadership of Syngman Rhee. The northern...
Words: 2162 - Pages: 9
...The Korean War The Korean War took place between the years of 1950 and 1953. The cause of the war was that Korea was under Japanese rule ever since the end of the Chinese-Japanese war in 1895. After World War II, in 1945, Korea was freed from Japan. The United States troops occupied the southern part of the country and Russian forces took the north. The very first and main reason we entered the war in Korea was because John Foster Dulles, the future Secretary of State under Dwight Eisenhower, said that it would be best if we entered the war. At the time Dulles was a special advisor to the Secretary of State Acheson. Dulles was in Tokyo when the Koreans staged war. Dulles sent a message to Acheson that if the South Koreans start losing and cannot hold back the North Koreans, they should send in United States forces. He said to do so, "even though this risks Russian counter moves. To sit by while Korea is overrun by unprovoked armed attack would start a disaster chain even leading most probably to World War III." When Dulles got back to Washington he specified that he meant sending in United States Air and Naval forces only, not troops. Almost immediately after getting word of the invasion, Acheson decided that the United States should put the matter before the United Nations. He then called President Truman and got his approval. Almost fourteen hours after Washington got word of the war there was a conference set up among certain members of the United Nations. The final decision...
Words: 972 - Pages: 4
...The Korean War Though America's Military had suffered from several years' of punishing fiscal constraints, the end of World War II just five years before the Korean War had left a vast potential for recovery. U.S. materiel reserves held large quantities of relatively modern ships, aircraft, military equipment and production capacity that could be reactivated in a fraction of the time necessary to build them anew. More importantly, the organized Reserve forces included tens of thousands of trained people, whose World War II experiences remained reasonably fresh and relevant. The Korean War lasted from 1950-1953. What happened in Korea pushed the boundaries of the Cold War towards 'Warm War'. Though America and Russia did not officially clash, client states did in that Communist China fought and was armed and encouraged by Russia. The peninsula was divided after World War Two into a Russian-backed north and the American-backed south .Each claimed the right to the other half in an effort to unify both. The division was the result of the occupation of Korea by the communists after the end of the war with the country eventually being divided at the 38th parallel. In June 1950, the North Koreans launched a surprise attack against the south and the capital Seoul fell in just three days. The United Nations Security Council) asked for UN states to send troops to the region under a UN flag. The huge bulk of the troops sent were American and command of them was given to Gen. Douglas...
Words: 722 - Pages: 3
...Korean War Korean War began in June 1950, when North Korean army invaded South Korea in an attempt to reunite the county. As the Cold war began to develop, the American and Russian zones of occupation began to practice as two separate states. The USSR wanted Kim Ill Sung, the North Korean leader, to unify Korea and withdrew troops in 1948. The US wanted unification under the South Korean Leader Syngman Rhee and withdrew in 1949. The US and USSR withdrawal caused both local regimes to be more aggressive. The US and USSR weren’t too concerned about the immediate fate of Korea. Stalin was confident because Kim Ill Sung was in charge of the North, which bordered Russia. In January 1950, Acheson made his “Defensive Perimeter” speech which included all the countries the US would defend against communist aggression. South Korea wasn’t included. Kim told Stalin and Mao about his intention to invade. Mao refused to make any guarantees of military support to Korea because he was focused on the threat posed by Jiang Jieshi’s. Stalin refused at first, but then after Acheson’s speech, the Soviet leader approved. Stalin made it clear to Kim that, if the US became involved, the USSR wouldn’t intervene directly to help him. Stalin thought that since the US hadn’t intervened to prevent Mao’s victory in China, it was unlikely to aid South Korea. Questions 1) Korea lost its independence in 1910 when it was taken over by Japan and remained as a Japanese colony until August 1945...
Words: 747 - Pages: 3
...Korean War •The departure of American and Soviet troops from Korea in 1949. In response to the proclamation of the Republic of Korea in the south, a Democratic People’s Republic was established in the south. In 1948 Soviet troops left North Korea and in 1949 American troops left the South. •North Korea attacks: June 24, 1950. On Sunday, June 24, 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea with little warning. At the time, the U.S. Army had fewer than 600,000 soldiers and half of those were based in the states. •Truman’s response to the Korean invasion: June 25-30, 1950. On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in Asia. •China joining the Korean War. Because General MacArthur, against the orders of President Truman, pushed the North Korean forces to the Yalu River, which separates China and North Korea. Communist China felt threatened by the act and sent the PLA across the Yalu and routed the UN forces, forcing them to retreat far south. •Truman’s refusal to allow direct conflict with China. Bombing China would likely have resulted in a full-scale war and Russia might have intervened on China's side. In short, it might have started a third...
Words: 390 - Pages: 2
...KOREAN WAR Before the Koran war Japan ruled until 1945. Then the country was divided into 2 different parts the top half was ruled by Soviet troops and the bottom half was ruled by Americans. The soviet side put a communist leader in which was trained by the USSR. The American side was very anti communist and was democratic and complete opposite to the top half. There was already a rivalry between the 2 halves of Korea, Kim Il Sung controlled the communists half and Syngman Rhee controlled the democratic state and they already hated each other and the joining of Korea was very doubtful because of this. In 1950 the tension got to high and North Korean troops attacked the Southern side. A few months later North Korea nearly controlled all of Korea accept for a small section in the southeast. This triggered the Americans to get involved in the action as they felt this was a threat from the communist rule. Truman the American president sent advisers, aid and ships to Korea as well as this he put lots of pressure on the UN Security Council to take action against this violent attack on the democratic side of Korea. This matter got taken to the council and normally nothing would happen due to the USSR would just veto the action and nothing could happen by the UN but at the time the USSR were ignoring the UN and was not at the meeting. China could not veto in the meeting because they were stopped entering the UN because American did not like them being communist. In the meeting...
Words: 583 - Pages: 3
...The Korean War will always be talked about for its mass destruction it caused not only to Korea but to the rest of the world as well. Being that it was one of the most destructive wars of its time, there were about 4 million Koreans that died because of this. It not only hurt their economy but the social damage to their country as well, one being three years of bombing in the North that left the country hurting for years to come. One positive to take away from the war is that it did boost the economy of both the US and Japan. A lot of the material used in the war was purchased from Japan. The Japanese loved this because after WWII, Japan’s economy seemed like a sunken ship. Because of the Korean War the US defense spending quadrupled in the last half of the year in 1950 which increased our economy tremendously. Because of this war there were new boundaries set in place to divide the North and South. The North remained a communist nation and the South became a free republic. The two major differences between the two countries remain an issue even still today. Because of the Korean War, the United Nations now had a legitimate reason to call for larger militaries for the world. This was behind the NSC-68 to create an anticommunist alliance of nations. But the Korean War brought the US and Russia further apart and with the fear of the communism, it led the US into the Vietnam War. Communism was looked upon negatively through the eyes of the US. The US soon realized the falling...
Words: 434 - Pages: 2
...THE KOREAN WAR * The Korean War lasted from 1950-1953. * The peninsula was divided after World War Two into a Russian-backed north (The People’s Democratic Republic) and the American-backed south (the Republic of Korea). Each claimed the right to the other half in an effort to unify both. The division was the result of the occupation of Korea by the communists after the end of the war with the country eventually being divided at the 38th parallel. * In June 1950, the North Koreans launched a surprise attack against the south and the capital Seoul fell in just three days. * The United Nations Security Council (which was being boycotted by Russia at this time) asked for UN states to send troops to the region under a UN flag. The huge bulk of the troops sent were American (15 nations sent troops) and command of them was given to Gen. Douglas MacArthur. * By the end of August 1950 only Pusan in the south-east corner of South Korea had not fallen to the North. * In September, MacArthur took the huge risk of launching an amphibious landing at Inchon 200 miles behind enemy lines and from here he launched an attack against the North Koreans at Pusan. * The North Koreans had no choice but to retreat as they faced being cut in two. * MacArthur chose to ignore his orders and advanced north towards the Chinese border at the Yalu River. This provoked the Chinese to launch a massive attack against the UN forces and South Korea. A Chinese army of 180,000 men supported...
Words: 1132 - Pages: 5
...In the year 1910 Korea was a united country, but today it's a divided peninsula. The two countries that it is separated is the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). This separation can be thanks to the Korean War, also known as The Korean Conflict or The Forgotten War. The Korean War started on June 25, 1950, and ended by a ceasefire on July 27, 1953. The war was fully ignited when then North Korean People’s army crossed the 38th Parallel, which is a boundary that separates North and South Korea, to invade South Korea. South Korea got pushed back all the way to Busan. That's when the United States of America came to the aid of the South Koreans and pushed back North Korea all the way back to the capital of Pyongyang (in North Korea). That's when the People’s Republic of China sept feeling that they were also going to try...
Words: 452 - Pages: 2
...The American Experience Since 1945 The Korean War Brandy Shaw HIS/135 2/7/2016 Mary Barcroft On June 30, 1950, American troops went to South Korea to help fight the communist of North Korea. General Douglas MacArthur, selected for commander of the American UN operations, wanted to create a unified and independent Korea. North Korea had already invaded much of South Korea and the capital of Seoul. At first, the American troops were able to push North Korea back beyond the 38th parallel and victory seemed evident. Victory was far from evident because in December of 1950, China forces intervened, and regained most of South Korea. The immediate and long-term effects that this war has had, and continues to have are plenty. The fact that a resolution was never agreed upon and that negotiations went on for two years can be nerve racking. This was definitely what they call “The Forgotten War”. There are both good and bad immediate effects that the war held. One of the good effects that it had immediately was the significant rise in the economy in America. One of the reasons why the economy was so good is that consumption was large for fear of what would happen in the future. WWII had just ended and the Korean War was not near as devastating as WWII had been on the economy. Price and wage controls were put in place at that time, which was helpful to the American consumers during the war. A negative effect that this war caused was the death of over 34000 American lives...
Words: 500 - Pages: 2
...The Korean War was over communism itself and that was what this war was about. “By July, American troops had entered the War on South Koreas behalf, as far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself”(history.comstaff). This relates because this quote was talking about the forces of international communism and how the war was mainly over communism. It was also talking about how the war entered on South Korea’s behalf and South Korea is a communist nation. 2 started and then that is when the Korean War came to an end and around 5 million people lost their lives and over 100,000 people were injured” (History.comstaff). My thesis was talking about the violence that this war caused and...
Words: 1140 - Pages: 5
...FILIPINOS AND THE KOREAN WAR June marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War--one chapter in Asian history that has left the two Koreas devastated...too devastated that they remain divided and are still technically at war against each other. A lot of people--young and old--died and perished. But more saddening than this is the fact that caught at present in between these two fighting nations are families and people physically separated. They seem not so distant apart, but they just can't be together as a consequence of that miserable war. These and more are what the Korean War has done to the Koreans. But, it's not only them that suffered...We did too and some still are haunted by this war. They are your lolos, the Korean War Filipino veterans who fought in a battle that was not actually theirs, yet valiantly did so along with other countries that heeded to the call of the United Nations for help from the international community. They lighten up when they talk about how they bravely fought in that war but also reflected in their eyes the very core of their tired souls. Sometimes, they stop in the middle of their stories, and in their eyes is sadness- the kind pulled out of a painful memory. I guess as they try to celebrate their significant contribution that shaped one nation's history, a part of them tries to keep within them the dark side of a war that wounded them...the kind of wound that not even time could heal. There are only few of them left and soon...
Words: 627 - Pages: 3
...World War, the global balance of power steered with the rise of communism and nations determined to fight against it. When these two sides gradually received spotlight of international politics until the end of Cold War, the United States, the key player of anti-communism, began to propel, its unofficial, the so-called ‘World Police’ obligation, as their main foreign policy makings. Even now, the U.S., as the leading super power of the global arena, influences to the whole with what it believes is right for the sake of humanity and the nation itself. Its belief eventually may have salvaged many from the tyranny of communism or unjust dictatorships. However, at times, it did only harm than good to keep the society on the right track. But these were lessons learned after several trials of failures of various spectrums of the United State’s policies. Now, history tells the future generations of young American politicians through the mirrors of past events such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War. These mirrors foretell what outcomes one would face if he finds himself stumbled onto the wrong course of intervention. One will also discover military supremacy is not all to influence a certain entity. Despite the evident proof of the past, there are politicians that are misled to believe what are not worth believing anymore. Mitt Romney, a Republican politician, is one of the many who may need to acknowledge this as examples can be pointed out just by referencing the past two wars of different...
Words: 1675 - Pages: 7
