Korean War
Make sure that you know the situation of
Korea after WWII
You will need to know the story of the
Korean War and its
results.
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After the war, the Americans
and Russians divided Korea (which had been ruled by Japan)
into a Communist north and a capitalist south.
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It was divided along the 38th parallel
because the only map available was a small-scale map of the
world.
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The ruler in North Korea was the
hard-line communist Kim Il Sung.
The President of South Korea was Syngman Rhee.
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North and South Korea hated each other
- there were constant border clashes, and fear of invasion.
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Background |
The Americans
developed the 'domino theory' to explain Communist expansion.
In April 1950, the American
National Security Council issued a report (NSC 68)
recommending abandoning 'containment' to start 'rolling back'
Communism.
In 1949, Kim
Il Sung visited Stalin
and persuaded him to let him invade South Korea.
Stalin saw a chance to continue the cold war and discomfort
America, but at arms length
Kim II Sung also went to see Mao Zedong, the leader of China,
who promised his full support.
In 1950, Syngman Rhee boasted that he was going to attack North Korea.
It gave Kim
Il
Sung an excuse to invade South
Korea (on 25 June 1950).
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|
Meat |
The
North Korean People's
Army (NKPA) easily drove back the
Republic of Korea's army (the ROKs)
to Pusan
The
Americans persuaded
the United Nations to pass a resolution supporting South
Korea, and sent troops to Korea.
15 Sept 1950: Gen. MacArthur with
300,000 UN troops
led an amphibious assault
at Inchon;
the NKPA were driven back to the Chinese border.
25 Nov 1950: the Chinese 'People's
Volunteers' attacked to help the North Koreans.
They drove back the Americans, and the war reached a stalemate
at the 38th parallel. |
|
End |
In
1953, Eisenhower became American president. He threatened to use the
atomic bomb if China did not stop fighting.
The Chinese agree to a truce, which was
signed on 27 July 1953. |
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Human cost
- perhaps a million Chinese and half a million North Korean soldiers
died in the war.
Many civilians - perhaps 8 million - died.-
Korea stayed split and still is;
North Korea is STILL regarded as a 'problem' state.
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Cold War/ Vietnam -
the Americans believed that Korea proved the
domino theory, and this made them try to stop Communist expansion
elsewhere - especially in Vietnam. They also used some of the
tactics (e.g. napalm) they developed in Korea.
-
Atomic War. Many Americans had wanted to use the atomic
bomb in Korea, and the world came close to nuclear war. This
led to fear of 'Armageddon' in the west, CND and Ban-the-Bomb campaigns.
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Revision Focus
This is a Paper 1
topic, so concentrate on learning:
1. WHAT
happened
2. EFFECTS/
Importance
Links
e-book on
Korean War,
Online revision sheet
Essay on
the events of the Korean War
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Revision Diary