Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Korean War 01 4/23/08

Called "The Forgotten War"

1945 Japan leaves occupation of Korea

In South Korea, 1947, S. Korea holds elections and American troops from WWII leave, leaving them vulnerable

June, 1950, North Koreans attack

Attack is fast and effective, S. Koreans are pushed back to nearly to the sea

MacArthur leads U.S. troops into Korea, facing little resistance by means of a brilliant naval landing

Push N. Koreans back up, past the the 38th Parallel

Oct, 1950: Chinese volunteer army pushes U.N. troops back, past the 38th Parallel

1951: Stalemate

MacArthur wants full control of the military to push in China, and eliminate communism

Advocates atomic bomb strikes

Scares Truman, who removes MacArthur

Warhawks in U.S. were upset, claiming MacArthur could have destroyed communism

Truman brings in Bradley

Fighting continues to 1952

In 1952 elections, Eisenhower is elected

Eisenhower is elected on the strength of his military knowledge

1953: Stalin dies

Not fully leader of USSR anymore, but has great influence

His death thaws the Cold War situation

July 1953: Armistice is signed

War never officially ended

"Mig Alley" over Korea is the first arena in which U.S. aircraft fights USSR made aircraft

USSR planes prove superior

The Key Players

Truman

Syngman Rhee (SK)

President of South Korea

UN

Foreign soldiers are involved, but far fewer than American soldiers

MacArthur

Bradley

MacArthur's replacement

Kim Il Sung (NK)

President of North Korea

Mao Zedong

Stalin

Each side thought they won the war

S. Korea remained free

Containment of communism worked

Infrastructure of N. Korea is destroyed

Still seperate today

Still U.S. troops in Korea

Human cost

Casualties

780,000 total N. Korean and Chinese

500,000 South Korean Civilians

70,000 South Korean Soldiers

30,000 Americans

4,500 U.N. Troops

1950: Has Containment worked?

Most Americans agreed with containing communism

Some wanted a more aggressive policy, like MacArthur's

More alliances were setup that were anti-Communist

NATO


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