The Korean War
01 November 2004 (Lecture
#28)
The
Chinese Civil War
- Chinese nationalist had
control over part of the country
- Communists had to fight
guerilla warfare and hide in the mountains
- Chinese nationalists
withdraw to Hong Kong area during WWII
- Chinese communists
fight the Japanese and gain support of many Chinese
- After WWII, Allies
occupy China and negotiate peace; only lasts until Allied troops withdrawn
in 1948
- Chinese beaten back to
Taiwan
- Situation still exists
today; Chinese nationalists still hold Taiwan and claim China (vice versa
exists too)
Korean War
- Korea had been occupied
by China or the Japanese for the past 100 years
- US, USSR split Korea
and build governments in their images
- Proxy – empower someone
to act on your behalf
- US and USSR had bred
Korea into aggressive proxies
- USSR does not allow war
before 1950 because
o
1)
Occupation forces left then
o
2)
Soviets got the bomb (no need for buffer states)
- North Koreans advance
quickly through South Korea
- US forces in Japan
deploy but not a lot of heavy equipment
- Withdraw to Pusan
Perimeter where they stop the war
- US forces invade
(amphibiously) at Inchon, cutting off North Korean forces
- US drives back and goes
to the Chinese border
- China wants the buffer
state so they attack back
- Standstill at original
38th parallel
- Stalin refuses to let
North Korea surrender(says it will withdraw otherwise) allowing the US to
easily win
o
Peace
comes when Stalin dies
- 33,000 US casualties to
500,000 North Korea and 1M Chinese
- Consequences of the
Korean War
o
Shows
communism is aggressive
o
Resulted
in militarization of the Cold War
o
NATO
grows and becomes stronger
Conclusions
- Help show that
communism is dangerous and had to be contained
- US reacted to Stalin
more than China and Korea