The Korean War: One of the F lare-Ups of the Cold War

1. Alan Nie AP USH Period 1 The Korean War: One of the Flare-Ups of the Cold War

2. Background of the Korean War • WWII had ended, leaving two superpowers in the US and USSR, each with their own government and ideology • Both wanted the world, and to promote “peace” they divided it • Their would be a communist half, and a democratic half • Some places were split this way, like Germany, Vietnam, Europe, and in particular, Korea • When the communists left North Korea prepared for anything, and the US left South Korea weak and undefended, North Korea decided to seize the opportunity

3. What was the Korean War? • The Korean War was an extension of the Cold War, that actually turned into large-scale military conflict • It was a battle for control of Korea, the communist forces of the North Koreans, Chinese and Soviets against the democratic forces of the US and UN • North Korea had invaded South Korea, starting the war, when the Us and its allies thought to come into the conflict, and with the Chinese entering, the war turned into a stalemate

4. Why did the Korean War happen? • The tensions of the Cold War finally boiled over • The US and Soviet Union may have not been directly involved, but both contributed to the start, leaving both countries alone when conflict seemed to be very likely • The chance of unifying Korea seemed to easy to North Korea and they were willing to chance a world war to get it • North Korea was left strong and powerful by the Russians, while the South was left with a weak and unstable government by the US • It was too good to be true, the US declaring South Korea to be outside its defensive perimeter, for the North, it was the start of the war

5. Major Power Players in the Korean War • General Douglas McArthur- supreme commander of the UN forces, that is, until Truman fired him • President Harry S. Truman- president of the US during the Korean War • Kim Il Sung- dictator of North Korea, who reigned over it until his dying day • Mao Zedong- leader of China, who sent reinforcements to North Korea to keep it alive during the war

6. Setting of the Korean War • On June 25, 1950, the North Koran army (known as KPA) first attacks the South • On September 15, 1950, the UN and US forces attack and take back South Korea, then launching into the North itself • Ten days later, the Chinese enter the war with their own offensive, pushing the UN back behind the 38th Parallel • But by January 25, 1951, the Chinese forces had lost their drive and was defeated by a US force, which pushed back ahead of the parallel • The war is a stalemate from that point on • An armistice is signed July 27, 1953, officially ending the war • The entire war was fought in North and South Korea, the battle line switching between both countries • Before the war the 38th parallel was the dividing line between the two countries • Once the war started, the line became more fluid and dependent on who had the upper hand • The US-UN counterattack came very close to invading China • The North Koreans reached as far as the area around Pusan • It was a seesaw between the two forces, going north and south until the war settled onto the stalemate after 1951 • After the war ended, the final battle line, became the boundary between the two countries

7. Outcome • The armistice on July 1953 ended large military conflict for both countries, but the tensions still go on • South Korea became a rich, prosperous country, while the North suffered natural disasters and retained their huge standing army, offset by being poor and almost entirely supported by China • the US suffered 400,000 deaths or missing men, while both Koreas lost around a million deaths • A small change in boundary, millions of deaths, and a page in the history books was what was accomplished from the Korean War, a war that was fought just over the idea of government.