Postwar America (1945-1960)Lesson 2 The Korean War

Learning Objectives

• Explain how Mao Zedong and the communists gained power in China.• Describe the causes and the reasons for U.S. involvement in the Korean War.• Identify the long-term effects and outcomes of the Korean War.

Postwar America (1945-1960)Lesson 2 The Korean War

• Jiang Jieshi• Mao Zedong• 38th parallel• Douglas MacArthur• limited war• Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

Key Terms

China Turns Communist

• Communism Spreads in Asia

– Russian Revolution – 1917 helps spread communism

• China’s Civil War

– Jiang Jieshi (Nationalists) vs. Moa Zedong (Communists)

• USA supported Nationalists – sent billions $– Jiang Regime – Corrupt officials pocketed US money

• Soviets Support Moa/Communists

• China Falls to Communism – 1948

• Moa created the People’s Republic of China

Communists Revolution in China

Korea After World War II• Korean History

• Japan controlled 1905• 1945 Yalta Conference

• Japan ordered to give up Korea

• Allies divide Korea• North/South 38th parallel

• North – Soviet UnionKim IL Sung –Communism

• South – America• Syngman Rae- Unite

Korea

• N. Korea Invades South Korea -1950• Soviets supplied N. Korean Troops

U.S. Involvement in Korea

• Containment

– Truman wants to prevent communism from spreading• Remembers failure of appeasement

– Truman to help S. Korea – sent troops – never formally declared war

• UN – Supports Truman – Votes to enter the fight against N. Korea

– USSR did not vote – absent from the meeting.

– US Attacks • Douglas McArthur – leader of the coalition forces against N.

Korea– Launches a counter attack behind enemy lines

• June 1950 – N. Invades S. Korea

• Sept. 1950 – McArthur attacks Inchon

• Oct 1950 – N. Korea forces retreated

• Nov. 1950 – China helps N. Korea – allied forces retreated » China supported by USSR

Domino Theory

The United States Fights in Korea• MacArthur Recommends Attacking China

– Should the U.S. use Nuclear Weapons? • Soviet Alliance

• Truman – Limited War –• Fight to achieve specific goals

• MacArthur Versus Truman

– McArthur sends letter to House Leaders• Truman fires MacArthur

• Settling for Stalemate – Re-establishing old boundaries.

– 38th Parallel

General MacArthur

• MacArthur said that the UN faced a choice between defeat by the Chinese or a major war with them.

• He wanted to expand the war by bombing the Chinese mainland, perhaps even with atomic weapons.

Outcomes of the Korean War

• The Forgotten War– Spring 1951 – 1953 Stalemate at the 38th Parallel.

– Short Term • Eisenhower Elected President – 1952

– Promised to end the War

– Threatened to use Atomic Weapons + Death of Joseph Stalin

– Communists negotiate peace

– Long Term• No clear Victory – 38th Parallel

• N. Korea remained communists

• S. Korea allied with USA

• Increased Military Spending

• Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)– Defensive alliance to prevent spread of communism

– Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, France, Britain, USA

Outcomes of the Korean War

Analyze Data After the Korean War how much more did the U.S spend on defense than before the war?