The Korean War
Hamzah Shehzad
The Cold War was a state of political and military tension between the powers of the Western and Eastern blocs. The Korean War was a significant part of the Cold War as it was the first military action of the war which began on June 25, 1950. In addition, it also signalled the start of the expansion of communism known as the Domino theory which included several other countries such as China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
The Korean War was fought between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the American-backed South Korea. This all started after the end of World War II, as Korea from the Japanese Empire fell to the control of the Americans and Soviets. America and the Soviet Union decided to split their war earnings and Korea was divided into North (Soviet-backed) and South (American-backed) in half along the 38th parallel. |
Towards the end of the 1940s, Korea had been established into two different countries: The Republic of Korea (South Korea) led by the anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) led by the communist dictator Kim Il Sung. Both countries were not content with their half of the land. There were several occurrences of skirmishes from the two sides, which number of casualties from both sides totalled up to almost 10,000.
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There was a lot of tension building up between both countries at their shared border and in 1950, North Korea finally carried an invasion into the South. This invasion was viewed by many to be far more serious than any other border dispute, and was believed to be the start of a communist campaign which would conquer the world. As a result, peace and non-intervention was not an option. The United States had an extremely gruelling hatred towards communism and in fact, a report from the national security council, in 1950, actually recommended the U.S. to prevent the spread and expansion of communism through military force no matter the strategic or economic value of the targeted land.
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In a speech, President of the United States, Harry Truman, said “If we let Korea down, the Soviets will keep right on going and swallow up one after another”. This quote coming from the American president shows the significance and importance of stopping the Soviets in Korea before they spread to conquer more lands.
At the start, the military strategy of South Korea and America was to play defence and to just drive out the North Koreans back across the border. However, it was not that simple. The North Korean army was much stronger: having better trained soldiers, and being more well-equipped. In comparison, the South Korean army were the exact opposite: they were not as well trained, were frightened and would take their heels from the battlefield when given the chance. To make the situation worse for the South, it was one of the driest summers recorded in Korea and as water resources were not enough, thirsty American soldiers had no other choice but to drink contaminated water from rice paddies that contained traces of human waste used as fertilizers. This unhygienic practice lead to more problems such as intestinal and other types of diseases.
At the start, the military strategy of South Korea and America was to play defence and to just drive out the North Koreans back across the border. However, it was not that simple. The North Korean army was much stronger: having better trained soldiers, and being more well-equipped. In comparison, the South Korean army were the exact opposite: they were not as well trained, were frightened and would take their heels from the battlefield when given the chance. To make the situation worse for the South, it was one of the driest summers recorded in Korea and as water resources were not enough, thirsty American soldiers had no other choice but to drink contaminated water from rice paddies that contained traces of human waste used as fertilizers. This unhygienic practice lead to more problems such as intestinal and other types of diseases.
Although America and South Korea was the main source of manpower and equipment in the war on the South side, several other countries were involved too such as: The United Kingdom, Ethiopia, France, Canada, Australia and Turkey. Two months into the fighting and at the end of the summer, President Truman and General Douglas MacArthur (the head commander of the Asian theatre) decided to change their war strategy from defensive to offensive. Now their new aims were to drive the North Koreans back to their land, and in addition fight to liberate them from the Soviet communists.
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They started of their new plan with an amphibious water assault and managed to drive the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel into their country. After successfully fighting the invasion, American troops headed across the country boundary towards North Korea’s shared border with Communist China. The Chinese alerted by the presence of American troops at the boundary and worrying about their safety, threatened the United States to stay away unless they wished for a full-scale war.
Of course a full-fledged war would not be a wise option right after World War II. This was what President Truman and his advisors thought too. They were positive that a war like this would undeniably lead to the Soviet’s attack on Europe and result in the unleashment of the many atomic weapons amassed in the arms race. However, in General MacArthur’s ideology, pulling back to avoid war would show weakness and an unacceptable appeasement to the communists.
President Truman believed that it would be better to avoid war and searched for methods to prevent war. On the other side, general MacArthur did everything he could to push ahead the war. In March 1951, MacArthur disobeyed President Truman by sending a letter to Joseph Martin, a republican congressman who too sided with MacArthur to declare war on China. The two schemed together to leak the letter to the public. In the letter, MacArthur wrote that “There is, no substitute for victory” meaning to say that peace wouldn’t bring any results and that war was crucial in order to fight against and stop communism. President Truman tired of MacArthur’s insubordination and deviances of his orders fired the general on April 11.
Of course a full-fledged war would not be a wise option right after World War II. This was what President Truman and his advisors thought too. They were positive that a war like this would undeniably lead to the Soviet’s attack on Europe and result in the unleashment of the many atomic weapons amassed in the arms race. However, in General MacArthur’s ideology, pulling back to avoid war would show weakness and an unacceptable appeasement to the communists.
President Truman believed that it would be better to avoid war and searched for methods to prevent war. On the other side, general MacArthur did everything he could to push ahead the war. In March 1951, MacArthur disobeyed President Truman by sending a letter to Joseph Martin, a republican congressman who too sided with MacArthur to declare war on China. The two schemed together to leak the letter to the public. In the letter, MacArthur wrote that “There is, no substitute for victory” meaning to say that peace wouldn’t bring any results and that war was crucial in order to fight against and stop communism. President Truman tired of MacArthur’s insubordination and deviances of his orders fired the general on April 11.
Three months later, in July 1951, President Truman started peace conferences in Panmunjom, a village at the border between North and South Korea. Both parties agreed on a ceasefire to maintain the 38th parallel line as a boundary, however could not agree with what to do with the tens of thousands communist prisoners of war who were held captive in POW camps on Geoje Island. The communists (North Koreans and Chinese) said that prisoners of war should be repatriated. However, it was not as simple as that as thousands of prisoners were against being repatriated. It was not only after several mutinies in Geoje camps that the prisoners were given a decision either to go home to their country or for others who were unwilling to stay in asylum. Finally on July 27, 1953 an armistice was signed: a new boundary near the 38th parallel and a 2 mile wide demilitarised zone was established.
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The casualty results of the Korean War was incredibly bloody in comparison to the short time it lasted for. A total of around 3.5 million people died of which consisted of around 37,000 American soldiers, 1,200,000 South Koreans (217,000 soldiers and 1,000,000 civilians), 1,000,000 North Koreans (406,000 from the military and 600,000 civilians) and 600,000 Chinese soldiers.
Since the ceasefire in 1953, The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has slowly built its way back up to transform into a modern state. On the other hand, the communist-run Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has made little to no progress and is only now beginning to make some changes.
Since the ceasefire in 1953, The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has slowly built its way back up to transform into a modern state. On the other hand, the communist-run Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has made little to no progress and is only now beginning to make some changes.
Works Cited
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History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Hickey, Michael. "The Korean War: An Overview." BBC - History - World Wars: The Korean War: An Overview. BBC, 21 Mar. 2001. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
"Korean War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
"Cold War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
"Domino Theory." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Phases of the Korean War. Digital image. Ah27_koreanwarm.jpg. Classzone, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Korean War Veterans. Digital image. Korean-war-veterans-memorial-P.jpg. History.com, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Dominoes. Digital image. 09640524_Domino_Theory-Herblock.jpg. Authentichistory.com, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
North Korea City. Digital image. North-Korea-First-Day-plus-Beijing-160.jpg. Cyruskirkpatrick.com, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
South Korea City. Digital image. South-korea-seoul-the-capital-city-night-skyscrapers.jpg. Revelwallpapers.net, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.