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Korean War
Prior to WWII, the nation of Korea was controlled by
Imperial Japan. Following WWII, Korea was split north and
south at the 38 degrees latitude line. This became known as
the 38th parallel. South Korea was occupied by the United
States and North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union.
Both would eventually leave, but not before setting up
governments that were just like their own (capitalism and
communism).
In June of 1950, North Korean forces swept down into
South Korea. They started a war to unite Korea under a
communist government. The United States viewed this as
communism threatening the freedom of another country and joined in. Eventually 19 other nations
entered the war under the United Nations. Although they began the war alone, North Korea eventually
had the economic support of the Soviet Union and the military support of over 300,000 Chinese soldiers.
North Korea’s leader Kim Il Sung believed many South Koreans would support him in his attempt to
overthrow South Korea’s corrupt president, Syngman Rhee. Although support for South Korea came as a
United Nations effort, it was the United States that took on most of the fighting.
The North Koreans experienced initial success and pushed American and South Korean
forces almost off of the peninsula. However, American and South Korean forces, led by
General Douglas MacArthur, turned the tide against the North Koreans, pushing them
back into North Korea. President Truman wanted to push the communists out of North
Korea, and ordered American forces across the 38th parallel. China responded to the
invasion of North Korea by sending hundreds of thousands of troops to support their
communist ally. Although Gen. MacArthur wanted to attack China directly, President
Truman stopped him because he did not want to risk war with the Soviet Union(China’s
ally).
Gen. MacArthur
The argument over MacArthur’s belief that the US should directly attack
China on its home territory and Truman’s denial of that plan ultimately led
to MacArthur’s dismissal as General of United Nations (UN) forces.
After a few see-saw battles, both sides agreed to leave the border between
North and South Korea where it was prior to the first invasion of South
Korea in 1950. The fighting ended in 1953 under then President Dwight
Eisenhower, a promise he made while running for that office. As proof of
overwhelming American forces in comparison to other UN forces, the
Americans suffered 140,000 casualties. All other UN forces suffered a total of 16,000 casualties.
The Korean War played an important role in the Cold War as it was an example of America’s attempt to
stop the spread of communism by enforcing the Containment Policy. America would continue to try to
contain communism in areas like Vietnam, Cuba, and Germany. It also showed that the United States was
not ready to risk an all-out war with the Soviets or Chinese.