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The Korean War The Setting While the end of World War II brought prosperity to most Americans, it created tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The US believed that the goal of the Soviet Union was to spread communism to the world. America decided to “contain” this spread of communism both at home and abroad. The United States gave economic and military aid to stop the spread of communism in Europe and to help rebuild the area after World War II. Now, the policy of containment spread to Asia as well. Strategically, Korea was important. Its location was important because it adjoins China and the Soviet Union, and was close to Japan. And conditions were changing in the region. The Soviet Union exploded an atomic bomb in 1949. China had undergone a revolution that brought Mao Zedong and his communist party to power in 1949. President Truman and his administration received criticism for “losing” China to communism. The United States public, surprised by this event, viewed it as a failure of the containment policy. And then, China and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of alliance in 1950. No wonder people felt tense. Criticism of President Truman for his policy of containment. Criticism in the United States for anticommunist efforts there. The hunt for communists within the United States had begun. The pressure was on President Truman not to appear to be “soft” on communism. But, more on that later. Historical Background Korea was a Japanese colony from the early 1900s until the end of World War II when Japan had to surrender all of its possessions to the victorious Allies. After the war, both the United States and the Soviet Union began a military occupation of Korea, dividing it into two regions along the 38th parallel. The Soviets occupied North Korea, while the U.S. occupied South Korea. Occupying forces withdrew from the areas in 1948 and 1949. During the occupation period a communist government, supported by a large, well-equipped army was set up in the industrial north and a democratic government, with a weaker army, was set up in the agricultural south. The governments of both South Korea and North Korea each hoped to reunify the country under its own rule. The War North Korean troops invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. Americans were alarmed. Would the United States allow another country to fall to communism? President Truman feared that the invasion of Korea signaled an expansion of communism throughout Asia by the Soviet Union and China. To describe this threat, he said: “communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use armed invasion and war.” President Truman decided to take military action and did so without Congress declaring war. In fact, this became known as a “police action.” He ordered military support for South Korea and sent American troops to join the United Nations forces in South Korea. United Nations and South Korean forces were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur(now where did we last talk about him?). Despite the efforts of South Korean and United Nations troops, the North Korean army quickly moved south and captured Seoul, the capital. In a month, the North Koreans had forced UN and South Korean troops into the area near Pusan. ©2000 MCPS Social Studies 30 Korean troops reversed the war by an amphibious assault at Inchon behind the North Korean lines. UN forces then destroyed much of the North Korean army and advanced northward toward China. This angered China who warned that it would resist threats to its security. In November 1950, Chinese troops crossed the border into Korea and defeated UN troops and drove them out of North Korea. Eventually, the fighting centered near the 38th parallel. As the war became a stalemate, peace talks began in 1951. This police action continued until an armistice was signed in 1953 during the first year of Eisenhower’s presidency. The Consequences From the perspective of the Cold War, the police action contained communism in Korea and prevented further expansion in the region. In this way, Truman’s containment policy worked in Korea. It stopped communist aggression without developing into a world war with the use of atomic weapons. Because of this conflict, the United States expanded its military and sent more US troops to overseas bases. On the other hand, Korea was still two nations rather than one. North Korea and China continue to be ruled by communist governments. The United Nations continues to have troops stationed on the border of North and South Korea. The war affected Americans in other ways. The war was judged by many as the first “unpopular war” in the United States. Unlike the support for mobilization during World War II, many Americans resented the cost of 33,665 lives and between $69.3* billion for a police action in East Asia. (In World War II 291,557 were killed in action and cost $816.3 billion* Politically, Americans rejected Truman’s Democratic Party to elect a Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Remember him?) To learn more visit: http://www.whistlestop.org/study_collection s/korea/large/ *Military spending in constant 1967 dollars. The conversion in $2000 dollars is $355.3 billion for Korean and $4149 for World War II. 31 ©2000 MCPS Social Studies