“It is clear that the main element of any United States

policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term,

patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies”

- George Kennan “The Sources of Soviet Conduct”

“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way”

- President Harry S. Truman – “1947 Truman Doctrine Speech”

Civil War in China

Japanese occupied China in 1937, Chinese Communists and Nationalists took a break from their civil war and joined in the common cause against Japan.

Mao Zedong (Communist) led the struggle in the north, and Chiang Kai-Shek (Nationalist) fought in the south

During the war the United States sent the Nationalists approximately $3 billion in aid

Fighting Breaks Out

• Japanese left China at the end of World War II, cooperation between Nationalists and Communists ceased and civil war broke out

• American policy favored Nationalism despite of the problems Americans saw with the regime because they opposed Communism

• United States played peace maker while still supporting the Nationalists, and repeatedly failed to negotiate peace

• Nationalist weak military leadership drove peasants to Communist side and Chiang fled to Taiwan

America Reacts to Communist Takeover

• American public was stunned that containment failed

• If containing communism was important in Europe, why was it not equally important in Asia??– State Department answered that what happened in

China was a result of internal forces– Most Americans accepted the State Department’s

arguments, but conservatives rejected them as lame excuses, and claimed that the United States “lost” China.

– They also claimed that the American government was riddled with Communist agents• The fear of communism spread like wildfire

Koreans Go To War

38th Parallel Japanese troops to the north of

38th parallel surrendered to Soviet

Japanese troops to the south of 38th parallel surrendered to the Americans

Republic of Korea (South Korea) established in the zone occupied by United States – Syngman Rhee

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) - Kim II Sung

United States and Soviet troops withdrew their troops in 1949

North Korea Attacks South Korea

• June 25, 1950, Korean War started: North Korea invaded South Korea

• Truman ordered naval and air support for South Korea– Republican senator Robert Taft (Ohio) objected that

the president, by acting on his own, had wrongfully taken over Congress’s power to declare war

• June 27, 1950 – UN security council called on member nations to help South Korea– Soviet Union boycotted the UN because UN refused to

recognize Communist China and wasn’t present to veto the resolution

The United States Fights in Korea

16 nations sent 520,000 troops to assist South Korea

90% of troops were American Combined UN and South Korean

forces were placed under command of General Douglas MacArthur

North Koreans seemed unstoppable, driving steadily south. They captured Seoul

After a month of combat, the North Koreans forced UN and South Korean troops into a small defensive zone around Pusan

MacArthur’s Miracle Counterattack

MacArthur launched a counterattack with tanks, heavy artillery, and fresh troops from the United States

Sept 1950 – troops made landing behind enemy lines at Inchon while other troops moved north from Pusan

Experts called this plan one of the most brilliant military strategies in history

Military triumph posed a political problem

Crossing the 38th parallel

Oct 1950 – UN General Assembly suggested that MacArthur cross the 38th parallel and reunite Korea

The Chinese Fight Back

• Advance into North Korea went on, pressing closer to the Yalu River

• November 1950 – Chinese soldiers cross Korean border, forcing UN and South Korean soldiers towards the river to retreat

• By Christmas, Seoul was lost for a second time

MacArthur Recommends Attacking China

Halt the stalemate, MacArthur asked for an extension of the war into China

MacArthur wanted to blockade the Chinese coast and use atomic bombs on China as well as invade southern China

Truman rejected MacArthur’s requests

Conflict with China would be “the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy”

MacArthur Versus Truman

MacArthur was not satisfied with the recapture of South Korea

President told MacArthur he was only expected to fight a limited war, not a full-scale war

MacArthur went over the president’s head and privately to newspapers, publishers, and Republican leaders

“Mr. Prima Donna, Brass Hat, Five Star MacArthur” is fired

Settling for Stalemate

Soviet Union unexpectedly suggested a cease-fire on June 1951 Truce talks in July 1951, and by spring both sides opposing

sides agreed on two points: The location of the ceasefire line at the existing battle line Establishment of the demilitarized zone between the

opposing sides Finally, in July 1953, the two sides signed an armistice ending

the war North Korean invaders were pushed back, and communism

was contained without a world war or use of atomic weapons Korea was still two nations rather than one