Korea’s history already determined it was a weak country, having been a pawn for Far Eastern powers, so Cold War had left it nearly destroyed with epidemics, poverty, limited education, and authoritarian rulers (LaFeber, 2008). In this state, Korea was left vulnerable to communism. In 1945, the 38th parallel marked the ally agreement of disarming the occupying Japanese military, however by the end of the Korean War, it would be the indivisible line that divided the country between communism and democracy (LaFeber, 2008). In June 1950, when North Korean troops passed the 38th parallel, President Truman gave the order for American air and naval units to move into action to aid South Korea and to show the United States’ opponents that “the United States was no longer content with mere “containment” but now aimed for liberation (LaFeber, 2008, p. 114). LaFeber (2008) explains President Truman’s intent, “
Almost at the same time was founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) which under the control of the Communists. Political leaders of both countries wanted to take power over the whole Korean Peninsula. In 1949, Soviet and US troops leave the Peninsula, however, local begin to prepare for war. USSR and China secretly supported the decision of North Korean leader to unify and take power of the peninsula.
Massive Retaliation is the threat of using nuclear weapons against the Soviets if they tried to seize a country not occupied by them and/or tried to expand there country by force. While Brinkmanship was the threat of using nuclear weapons to get an opposing country to back down/consed, Eisenhower used these effectively in the Korean war but there were saw as too dangerous. He used these to easily dispose of the Korean threat by threatening the use of nukes, and all the while, kept communism from spreading into Korea.
‘Under the leadership of the U.S, the South Korean forces pushed the invaders past the originally established 38th parallel, to the Yalu River that bordered the People's Republic of China (P.R.C). After which, the P.R.C quickly counter attacked and, after 2 years of futile war at the 38th parallel, agreed to the original border.’ (Crash Course, 2013). These excerpts from this source represent the widely accepted reasoning behind the actions that transpired during the war and indicate further information about the events within it. Evidence from both Professor Lee and Crash Course reveal the causes of the Korean War and the reasons for its proxy of the Cold War status.
The Korean War began after the end of the Second World War in 1950. Initially, the Korean peninsula was part of the Japanese Empire. After the Empire’s defeat, it forced them to split into North and South Korea. Soviet forces settled in North Korea while American troops moved to the south of the Korean peninsula. The United States on the side of South Korea decided to establish a democratic republic commission that was meant to oversee the election scheduled in 1948.
The biggest challenges faced by America in the Korean War were, Korea not being able to defend itself, tactics Korean communist troops used against America and soldiers thinking the war as useless while questioning “What are we fighting for?” The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953, beginning when the North Korean communist army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded non-communist South Korea. As Kim II-sung's North Korean troops armed with soviet tanks, quickly overran South Korea and the United States came to South Korea's aid. If South Korea was not able to carry itself without the Unite States and the Soviet Union getting involved then that would cause another world war, because all of Korea would become communist because of North Korea
The result was the U.S withdrawal in 1975. Ho Chi Minh was admired by people and Americans were seen as imperalists Americans went back home against the war. Korean War The Soviets forced a communist government on North Korea. This led to the formation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948.
The Korean War was a struggle that was protracted, in terms of it not having a definite end with a definitive victor, but rather
Most Americans view the Korean War as an unwelcome interruption to the postwar prosperity. As the Depression concluded, the next five years from 1945 to 1950 were the most gratifying in American history (Goulden 16). Unfortunately in the distance pressure derived between Koreans. On June 25, 1950 North Korean troops invaded South Korea along the 38th parallel. Tensions with Russia and the fear of communism soon caused American forces to flood into South Korea to halt North Korean invasion.
The Korean War was halted temporarily under the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement, where the active hostilities ceased. Nevertheless, this armistice was left as it is and no peace treaties were agreed upon afterwards, leading to a long temporary measure in the division of the two Koreas. Many confuse with the fact that the Korean War has ended, but it has not technically ended. According to the international law of Laws and Customs of War on Land also known as The Hague II (1989), article 36 states that, “An armistice suspends military operations by mutual agreement between the belligerent parties. If its duration is not fixed, the belligerent parties can resume operations at any time, provided always the enemy is warned within the time
In retrospect, however, the United States should not have entered the war. Not being a part of the war would have saved American lives and money, potentially eliminated PTSD in a generation on soldiers, and would have prevented the animosity that exist between the United States and North Korea that dominates the headlines today. The Korean War was fought between two major wars, Word War II and the Vietnam War. Due to being fought between these major wars, the Korean War is known as “The Forgotten War.” The Korean War started on June 25, 1950 and ended July 23, 1953.
The war went to North Korea’s odds of winning being higher to South Korea’s of winning being higher (655). In the end, the war landed in a stalemate at the 38th Parallel Line and neither side would budge (655). Eisenhower ended the Korean War by using the threat of atomic weapon use to get a peace treaty signed in 1953 and Korea stayed divided (656). Eisenhower ended the war that would not admit that it was already
South Korea was modernized post-war with the help of the US. The North Korean economy was able to recover of being supported and dependent on Russia post-war, but when the Soviet Union collapsed, the country went into crisis. A ceasefire was signed, without the South Korean president, and consequently, both countries are still at war.
North Korea was subject to a massive bombing plan. But the first time in war jets were used. After all of this the war ended on July Twenty-Seventh, Nineteen Fifty-three. Which was when the armistice
After the war, in 1948, Korea was split in two. The Republic of Korea, controlled by the Allies, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, ruled by the Soviets. Both considering themselves the ruling government there was tension which led to North Korea’s invasion of the South on June 25th, 1950. This sparked the Korean war between the American and the Vietnamese. In 1953 the war was over and Korea was still split in two with a De militarized zone in between.
