The Korean War: 1950-1953

Mr. OrnsteinIB: History of the AmericasWillow Canyon High School

Bell Work

•What was the Purpose of NSC-68?

•How do Revisionists view NSC-68?

Answer

•Why is Korea called the “Forgotten War?”

Korean War Facts

• Starts June 25, 1950• Armistice July 27, 1953• Officially a United Nations Action• UN Forces Led by the United States vs.

North Korea and China• 34,000 Americans Die• 2.5 Million Koreans Die• 500,000 Chinese Die• War Never Officially Ended

Origins of the War

•Korea Had Been Brutal Occupied by the Japanese Until the End of WWII.

•Divided at the 38th Parallel.

The Two Koreas

•South Korea• Non-Communist• Fertile• Temperate• Rapidly

Industrialized• Seoul is the

Capital

•North Korea• Communist• Mountainous• Cold• Little Industry

or Farmland

Answer???

•How was Korea Divided?•Where was Korea Divided?

Kim Il-Sung

• Communist Leader of North Korea

• Protégé of Stalin• Close

Relationships with USSR and Stalin

• Wants to Conquer South Korea

Back in America

• Strong Containment Success in Europe

• McCarthyism and Strong Anti-Communist Movement

• “Loss of China”-Truman Administration Blamed

• NSC-68 Debate

Truman’s Asia Policy after the Fall of China

• Strong Pressure to Assist Taiwan and Chiang Kai-shek

• Truman Administration Contemplates Not Helping Chiang Kai-shek and allowing China to Conquer Taiwan

Dean Acheson’s Speech to the National Press Club

• Truman’s Secretary of State

• January 12, 1950 Speech on US Policy in Asia

• Does not Mention South Korea in Outlining US Defensive Perimeter in Asia

Questions about Speech???

•How will Kim Il-Sung react to South Korea not being in US Protected Zone in Asia?

•How might revisionists see omission in terms of NSC-68?

Question

•Why did North Korea want South Korea?

Situation in China

• Want to Invade Taiwan and Tibet• Tired from Japanese Invasion in

WWII and Chinese Civil War• Army is weak with new soldiers

from poorly trained captured Nationalists

• Lack of Equipment

Korean War Begins

•Korean War Begins on June 25, 1950

•North Korea Crosses the 38th Parallel

•North Korea Quickly Takes Over Almost 90% of South Korea

Who Started the Korean War?

North Korea

•North Korea Wants South Korea•Wants South Korean Resources•Wants a Unified and Communist

Korea•Goes to Stalin and Mao for

Support for Invasion

USSR

• Stalin is Close to Kim Il Sung• USSR Controls Outer Mongolia and

Manchuria (North of China), Control of the Korean Peninsula Would Box in China

• Wear Down US and Chinese Soldiers/Losses

• Field Test New Equipment• Gather Intelligence on American Military• Test Containment• Make North Korea and China Dependent

on Russian Arms• Opportunities in Europe???

Mao and China

• Felt if US Enters War, China Must Enter

• Mao Believed Either Fight US in Korea or China

• Gain Arms from Soviet Union/Needs Soviet Arms for Wider Ambitions

• Purge Nationalists in its Army• Protect Newly Declared People’s

Republic of China• Keep US Away from Border/Yalu River

United States

• Containment• Protect Japan• “Loss” of China• Worried About Spread of

Communism in Asia• Lessons from Munich during

WWII• Monolithic Communism-China

and USSR working together

Answer???

•Who had most to gain?•Who had most to lose?

The United Nations

•Truman Goes to United Nations To Create Force to Help South Korea Stop the North Korean Invasion

•Technically a United Nations Force vs. North Korea.

The Security Council

•Truman Needs Approval of United Nations Security Council

•USSR Has Veto Power.•Why didn’t Russians Veto?

Douglas MacArthur

•WWII Hero•Military General in Charge of

American Occupation and Rebuilding of Japan

•Placed in Charge of UN Forces in Korea

The War

•After Initial North Korean Advances to Pusan American Forces Push North Korean Forces to the 38th Parallel.

Mission Changes

• Truman Changes from Containing Communism to Having US Forces Cross the 38th Parallel and Unify Korea and Defeat North Korean Regime.

• MacArthur Tells Truman China Will not Get Involved

• China Sends Word Through India to US not to Push North

China Enters the War

• October and November Communist China Enters the Korean War As American Forces Approach Yalu River.

• Mao Had Planned All Along to Enter• Mao Thought USSR Would Provide

Air Cover/Stalin Does Not• Surprises US Forces/US Forces

Retreat Below 38th Parallel

Truman and MacArthur

• Truman Wants to Keep War Limited to Korea

• MacArthur Wants to use Nationalist Forces from Taiwan to Attack China

• Wants to Expand War to China

• Ignores Truman’s Orders to Stop Talking About Expanding War to China

• Truman Fires MacArthur

The Rest of the War

•War Eventually Reaches a Standstill at the 38th Parallel.

•Armistice Signed July 27, 1953

•War Ends How it Began: Divided Korea

Results of the Korean War

• Korea still Divided at 38th Parallel• US Contains Communism and Shows

Willing to Fight in Other Countries to Do So.

• 35,000 Americans, 2.5 Koreans, 500,000 Koreans Killed

• US Strengthens Ties to Taiwan• China Drops Plans to Invade Taiwan• US Increases Aid to the French in Vietnam• Truman’s Popularity Decreases and Does

Not Run for Re-Election• Dwight Eisenhower Elected to Presidency

Results of the Korean War

• US Places Strong Trade Embargo on Communist China

• Economic Strain on China• Communist China was Isolated from the

West.• China Fights US to a Stalemate• Increased Patriotism in China/Mao Has

Stronger Hold of the People• Rift in USSR/China Relationship

Results of the Korean War

• Findings of NSC-68 Accepted• Massive US Military Mobilization

Worldwide• NATO in Europe is Strengthened• Forces Stalin and Successors to Re-

think Soviet Policy Towards the US