The Korean War 1950-1953

Presentation by Mr. HatawayCreated January 29, 2003Revised February 23, 2005

Revised March 3, 2011

The Korean War

Today, I will learn …– About communist expansion in Asia

I will learn it by …– Listening carefully and taking good

Cornell Notes I have learned it when I can …

– Explain why America was involved in the Korean Conflict.

Essential Question

Who fought in Korean War and what were the effects of the war?

CHINESE CIVIL WAR1944-1947

After Japan left China at the end of the War, Chinese Nationalists and Communists fought a bloody civil war

Despite the U.S. sending $ billions to the Nationalists, the Communists under Mao won the war and ruled China

Chiang and the Nationalists fled China to neighboring Taiwan (Formosa)

Mao established the People’s Republic of China

MAO

Kai-Shek

AMERICA STUNNED

The American public was shocked that China had fallen to the Communists

Many believed containment had failed and communism was expanding

American fear of communism and communist expansion was increasing

Domino Theory

Belief that if one country fell to communism, many others would follow; therefore, it was crucial for the U.S. to contain Communism.

While disarming Japanese troops in Korea after WWII, the USSR stayed in North Korea, while the US stayed in South KoreaAs in Germany, two nations developed, one communist (North Korea) and one democratic (South Korea)

Soviet controlled

U.S. controlled

Korean War

North Korea

Kim Il Sung

South Korea

Syngman Rhee

Korean War

North Korea’s Cult of Personality

Kim il Sung 1948-1994

Kim Jung il 1994-2011

Kim Jong-un 2011-present

Kim Il-Sung (centre) with his son Kim Jong Il (left) and Kim Jong-Un Photo: REUTERS/REX

Korean War

In June 1950, following the withdrawal of the Soviet and U.S. troops, communist North Korea, supported by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with aid from the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea, supported by the United Nations.

Korean War

Public sentiment on American involvement differed greatly; some felt the United States should not be

involved in the war and others felt that the United States should

intervene in a decisive way to bring an end to the conflict and to contain the expansion of communism.

At first, North Korea seemed unstoppable

However, General MacArthur launched a counterattack with tanks, heavy artillery, and troops

Many North Koreans surrendered; others retreated across the 38th parallel

MacArthur’s Counterattack

Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Events

N. Korea invades S. Korea

UN pushes N.K. troops to China

China and N.K. push UN back to S.K.

UN pushes China and N.K. to 38th parallel

General MacArthur criticizes Truman for not using more force and is then fired

Truman committed to limited war (war fought to obtain a limited objective)

Major turning point in the Cold War: US began a major military buildup to fight communism.

Korean War

On April 11, 1951, MacArthur was fired after publicly criticizing the president.

From 1951 to 1953, war settled into a pattern of bloody trench warfare along the 38th parallel

On July 27, 1953, the UN, North Korea, and China signed an armistice agreement—South Korea refused to sign—and the fighting ended.

Stalemate: Korean War Ends

Stalemate: Korean War Ends

Stalemate:End of the Fighting

A 2.5 miles wide "demilitarized zone" was in fact heavily fortified.

As of 2011, more than 1 million soldiers confronted each other along the zone.

With no peace treaty signed, the two Koreas remain technically still at war.

For most of its length along the 38th parallel, the DMZ is about 4 km (2.5 mi) wide and heavily fortified with barbed-wire fences, concealed mines, and border troops. At Panmunjeom (P’anmunjŏm), the official diplomatic headquarters at the DMZ, North Korean guards, in brown, face their South Korean counterparts, in blue.

The demilitarized zone (DMZ) was created as a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea as part of a 1953 armistice agreement that brought an end to fighting in the Korean War.

South Korean soldier guards the demilitarized zone

North Korean soldiers keep watch over the Demilitarized Zone between North and South

Effects of the Korean War Four million Koreans died throughout the

peninsula, two-thirds of them civilians. China lost up to 1 million soldiers. The United States suffered 36,576 dead and

103,284 wounded. Other UN nations suffered 3322 dead and

11,949 wounded. The Korean War was responsible for

bringing about rearmament, hiking the U.S. military budget, and increasing fears of Communist aggression abroad and at home.

Korean War Memorial, Washington D.C.

Discussion Question

Why did Truman refuse MacArthur’s demands to expand the war into China?– Truman did not want to expand the war

into China or use the atomic bomb.– Truman remained committed to a

limited war to contain communism.

What is happening in North-South Korean relations today?– North Korea Nuclear Dispu

te

Recent History

A North Korean soldier scans the border checkpoint with South Korea.