Download Communism Spreads to East Asia

Communism Spreads
to East Asia
Lesson #3
USII.19
American Vision Ch. 26, Sect. 2 & 4
Student Objectives
• Students will be able to:
• Describe how China became a Communist nation
• Explain the causes and effects of the Korean War
China Becomes
Communist
• Once WWII ended, Mao Zedong resumed his
Communist revolution against the Nationalist
government led by Chiang Kai-shek
• US sent aid to the Nationalists
• Stopped in Aug. 1949
• Communists captured Beijing and established the
People’s Republic of China in Oct. 1949
• 1950: People’s Republic of China and the Soviet
Union signed a treaty of alliance
New Policy with
Japan
• After China’s fall to the Communists, the US saw
Japan as the key to defending Asia
• The US adopted policies to rapidly rebuild Japan’s
economy
• Japan has since become a major industrial and
technological power in the world
The Korean War
• After WWII, Korea was split along the 38th parallel,
with the Soviet Union controlling the North and the
U.S. controlling the South
• North Korea became the People’s Republic of Korea,
run by Communists
• South Korea became the Republic of Korea, run by
anti-communists
• Both sides wanted to unify the North and the South
The Korean War
• June 25, 1950: North Korea
invaded South Korea and
took the capital, Seoul, in 3
days
•
North Korea’s military was
built up by the Soviet Union
• Pres. Truman saw the
invasion as a test of his
containment policy and
convinced the UN to assist
the US in helping South
Korea
• General Douglas MacArthur
was in charge
The Korean War
• Proxy War – nations fight
indirectly through other
nations
• South Korea (US/UN) vs.
North Korea (USSR and
China)
• By Oct. 1950, Gen.
MacArthur’s forces pushed
North Korea back to the
Yalu River (border between
N.K. and China)
The Korean War
• Nov. 1950: China entered the war
and pushed MacArthur’s forces
back across the 38th parallel
• Gen. MacArthur wanted to expand
the war to China, blockading
Chinese ports and atomic bombing
Chinese cities
• Truman preferred fighting a limited
war (a war fought to achieve a
limited object, in this case
containing communism) and fired
MacArthur
• US/UN forces pushed the Chinese
back across the 38th parallel and a
stalemate began
The Korean War Ends
• 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes President
• Pres. Eisenhower used what critics called
brinksmanship (the willingness to go to the brink of
war to force the other side to back down), threatening
nuclear attacks, to end the war
• July 1953: an armistice is signed, establishing the 38th
parallel as the border between North and South Korea
Effects of the
Korean War
• US troops remain stationed in South Korea to help
defend the border
• Started a massive US military build-up
• US signed defense agreements with Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia
• Aid to French forces fighting Communists in Vietnam
began
Class Assignment
• Unforgettable: The Korean War PBS documentary
• Korean War Dialectical Journal