the korean war 22.2. chinese revolution before wwii, communists struggled to overthrow nationalist...
TRANSCRIPT
The Korean War
22.2
Chinese Revolution
• Before WWII, Communists struggled to overthrow Nationalist government
• During WWII, they put aside their differences to resist Japanese invasion
• After WWII, civil war broke out
U.S. Intervenes
• U.S. gave Nationalists $2 billion in an effort to defeat the Communists
• By 1949, Nationalists squander the funds and fall to the Communists
• U.S. discontinued funding to Nationalists and they fled to Taiwan
• Communists created the People’s Republic of China in Oct. 1949
The World Falls Apart
• The Communists take China
• U.S.S.R. tests first atomic bomb (1949)
• 1950: China and the Soviets sign a treaty of friendship and alliance
Discussion Slide
• What would be a parallel of this happening to us today?
An Old Enemy Becomes a New Ally
• With the Communists’ takeover in China, the U.S. needed a new ally in Asia
• U.S. promoted democracy in Japan; it also helped recover its economy
Map of Korea
Occupation
• In 1945 Korea was occupied by Soviet forces in the north and American forces in the south.
• They were present to disarm the Japanese stationed there
• The line that was chosen to separate the two was the same one that Japan and Russia used in the early part of the 20th century.
• It was called the 38th parallel.
Korea After WWII
• When WWII ended, talks of reunification failed
• The North remained communist and had support from the U.S.S.R.
• The South had continued support from the U.S.
• Both sides wanted the Korean Peninsula • On July 25, 1950, the North Koreans
attacked– This ignites the conflict
At The U.S. Responds
• Truman sees the invasion as a test of containment
• Truman gets the U.N. on the U.S.’s side and sends in MacArthur
• At first, U.S. and S. Korean troops pushed all the way back to the Pusan Perimeter
• They were able to hold out until MacArthur arrived
U.S. Response (Continued)
• When MacArthur arrived at the port of Inchon he took Koreans by surprise
• He pushed them all the way back to the Yalu River
• This threatened China and they pushed the U.N. forces all the way back to the 38th parallel
• MacArthur wanted to expand the war against China but Truman did not allow it
Discussion Slide
• Do you support MacArthur’s offensive move?
Truman Fires MacArthur
• Truman did not want to commit to war with China and MacArthur saw this as a for of appeasement
• MacArthur publicly criticized Truman, leading the him to fire the general in 1951
• Limited War-a war fought to achieve a limited objective; this became the main policy during the Cold War
• Truman feared all-out war would lead to nuclear war
The War Winds Down
• By November 1951, the North and South were only fighting small, local battles
• An armistice was signed on July 27, 1953
• 33,600 American soldiers died in the conflict
The Significance of the War
• The conflict encouraged the U.S. to begin a major military buildup
• Began revealed the spread of the Cold War into non-European areas
• Caused the formation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (1954)
• Set the 38th parallel which still exists today
• Korea is still split up into North Korea (communist) and South Korea (non-communist)
• The border between the two countries has remained one of the most heavily-armed stretches of land on Earth