How Did The Korean War Impact On The 20th Century
The Korean War:
Impact on the 20th Century
(Korean War. Digital image. Amvets.org. Korean War Veterans Association, n.d. Web. 03 May 2013.)
Dillon Matthews
5/7/13
Period 3
Whats the point of a war when the winning country loses approximately 36,000 men for no territorial gain, compensation, and they weren’t doing this to defend their own territory? The United States, over a period of about three years, spent what is estimated to 678 billion dollars in todays money on the Korean war. These are the reasons why the argument against this controversial war is so easily made. When people look back on this war they see the large spending, massive casualties, and a war that was not supported by the public at the time. The Korean War was one of the most controversial wars in …show more content…
American history, but it was fought for a necessary and justifyable cause, and it should be seen as an American victory. The war was part of a series of conflicts between the US and Russia that started after World War II. Although the US and Russia never fight each other directly in battle, the conflict between the nations is refered to as the cold war, and the origins of this diplomatic rivalry date all the way back to the creation of the atomic bomb.
The date was July 24th, 1945. The United States had already won all of the islands surrounding Japan through island hopping, and the Soviet Union was preparing to invade Japan with them. Back in the United States however, the Manhattan Project had already been deemed a success by all of the scientists involved, meaning that the atomic bomb was created and ready for use. Before the bomb could be used though, most groups that were aware of the topic advised President Truman to tell the Soviet Union about the bomb and how lethal it could be. Instead of doing this though, Truman decided it would be better to only tell Stalin that the US had created “a new weapon of unusually destructive force”, because he did not want Stalin to ask him about how the bomb was created. Because he did not tell Stalin about the full-fledged affect that the bomb would have, Stalin took the news lightly, not realizing the significance of the news he just received. This shows how the series of conflicts between the US and Russia started, because Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union became suspicious about why Truman did not fill him in completely on the atomic bomb before it went off, and they also became very secretive about their own military advances. This lack of trust between these two powerful countries led to more conflict, this time a couple years later in a third party country, Korea.
The Korean War began in South Korea on June 25th, 1950, when the North Korean army crossed over the 38th parallel to invade the Southern half of the Korean peninsula. When the war first broke out the North had great successes, forcing their political enemies from the South to continuously retreat to the back end of the peninsula. As this was occurring, the United Nations adopted Resolution 82, which is an agreement between the coutries in the UN that demanded North Korea to immediately end its invasion of South Korea. When this did not happen, the coutries in the UN then voted on and agreed to Resolution 84, which stated that “Having determined that the attack upon the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea constitutes a breach of peace, members of the UN will furnish assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and restore international peace and secrurity to the area”. This finally set the stage for the battle for control of Korea that would follow.
The South Koreans had been getting pushed further and further back down the Korean peninsula, and even though the first American units were starting to fight directly, they were losing the war. On June 5th the first Americans that had arrived on the scene were rushed into action against the North Koreans. These troops quickly became battered especially because they were ill prepared to fight in the war. These troops were originally unable to slow the enemy advance, but the Americans and South Koreans fought desperately to delay the enemy operations. This mainly meant that the soldiers fighting in these early battles sacrificed their lives to buy the incoming troops more time to arrive in Pusan, a town on the very end of the peninsula. The North Korean army had continued its advance on South and on July 27th they reached Pusan, which was the last stand for the South Koreans and the UN forces. General MacArthur, an American who was in charge of all the UN troops, gave orders to the men at the Pusan Perimeter to “Stand or Die”. While the majority of the troops were busy defending the Pusan perimeter, MacArthur sent another group of men by sea to the port town called Inchon, which was hundreds of miles up the coast of Korea near the 38th parallel. He did this predicting that the North Koreans had overextended the reach of their army, leaving themselves vulnerable everywhere except by Pusan, which is where everybody in their army was concentrated. MacArthur turned out to be correct, and when the troops he sent to Inchon arrived, they quickly cut off the supply line to the North Korean army down by Pusan. Because of this the North Koreans had to flee back up into North Korea to regroup, and on October 1st MacArthur, with permission from Washington, chased the North Koreans up into North Korea across the 38th parallel. Even though the Chinese had warned that they would intervene if the US invaded North Korea, MacArtur launched a major offensive throughout November which he had hoped would end the war. Instead, he managed to get 300,000 Chinese troops to attack him on November 25th, which led to the UN forces being completely pushed out of North Korea. After this, there was then a two year stalemate between the two sides resulting in millions of casualties. Finally, on July 27th, 1953, a cease fire armistice was signed.
All in all, the war lasted 3 years and it ended in a stalemate at the original border. But this war was much more important than the border between North and South Korea for the US. This war was about communism vs. capitalism, and showing Russia and China that the US would not let them be the aggressors by taking over the countries surrounding them and making them communist. This was the first battle of many that are now known as the cold war, and this war set the tone for the rest by sending the Soviet Union the clear message that the US would not give in to their aggressive style. “This war can be seen as a victory for the US because it stoped the spread of communism and we completely held our own ground at the 38th parallel after the initial invasion.”, said John T. Bender Sr., who is a North Korean War Veteran after serving as a cryptographer during the years immediately following the war. By showing the Russians and Chinese that we would not let them take over Korea, we also protected other vulnerable nations in Asia like Japan, that easily coulve been annexed into communism during this time period.
This war never gained the full support of the people back in the US because the general public did not understand the concept of a “hot” war, which is what this war was. A “hot” war is a war in which the object of the war is not to completely defeat the enemy, but instead to limit your goal to something else more achievable like protecting South Korea. This is the main reason why so many Americans did not perceive this war as an American victory when it first ended, but instead saw it as a failure to completely destroy the enemy and force them to surrender.
Today Korea is still split at the 38th parallel, right where it has been ever since July 1953, when the cease fire agreement was reached. South Korea, with help from the US, has developed into a major economic producer in global markets in many areas like shipbuilding, automobiles, and steel making. South Korea is now a Republic with elected president Park Geun-Lee serving a single 5-year term that just began this year. North Korea, on the other hand, is a communist country with a one man dictatorship that is currently run by Kim II Sung. Sung operates without any restrictions, laws, or oppositions because North Korea is also both a monarchy and a anarchy. He controls all of the media in North Korea and suppresses the poor shamelessly, because he has inherited the power to do so.
The Korean War has always been known as controversial due to the publics overall attitude towards the war. It spent billions of American dollars and thousands of American lives to defend the people of South Korea from communism and oppression from North Korea. It showed the Soviet Union and China that the US would not let them spread communism throughout Asia , but instead that it would use “police acton” with the UN to put an end to the communist threat. This war should be seen as an American victory because the US, led mainly by General MacArthur and President Truman, helped South Korea get their land back, fight off communism, and show the world the true power of the United Nations.
--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. "U.S. War Death Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 02 May 2013.
< http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-war-death-statistics/>
[ 2 ]. "Korean War Educator: Topics - Cost of the Korean War." Korean War Educator: Topics - Cost of the Korean War. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2013. < http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/p_cost_war.htm>
[ 3 ]. Dannen, Gene. "Truman Tells Stalin, July 24, 1945." Atomic Bomb: Decision. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2013.
[ 4 ]. Winston Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1953) pp 669-70.
[ 5 ]. James F. Byrnes, Speaking Frankly (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1947) p. 263.
[ 6 ].
"Resolution 82." Security Council Resolutions 1950. UN, n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.
< http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1950/scres50.htm>
[ 7 ]. "Resolution 84." Security Council Resolutions 1950. UN, n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.
< http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1950/scres50.htm>
[ 8 ]. Zabecki, David T. "Stand or Die - 1950 Defense of Korea's Pusan Perimeter." HISTORYnet.com. Weider History Group, n.d. Web. 5 May 2013. < http://www.historynet.com/stand-or-die-1950-defense-of-koreas-pusan-perimeter.htm>
[ 9 ]. "The Korean War." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.
< http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/maps/koreatxt.html>
[ 10 ]. Bender Sr., John T. "Korean War Questions." Telephone interview. 27 Apr. 2013.
[ 11 ]. "Korean War Begins." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. < http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/korean-war-begins >
[ 12 ]. "Facts about Korea." Facts about Korea. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.
< http://www.korea.net/AboutKorea/Korea-at-a-Glance/Facts-about-Korea >
[ 13 ]. "North Korea Government Type." - Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.
< http://www.indexmundi.com/north_korea/government_type.html >
[ 14 ]. “Korean War Begins”
1
Impact on the 20th Century
(Korean War. Digital image. Amvets.org. Korean War Veterans Association, n.d. Web. 03 May 2013.)
Dillon Matthews
5/7/13
Period 3
Whats the point of a war when the winning country loses approximately 36,000 men for no territorial gain, compensation, and they weren’t doing this to defend their own territory? The United States, over a period of about three years, spent what is estimated to 678 billion dollars in todays money on the Korean war. These are the reasons why the argument against this controversial war is so easily made. When people look back on this war they see the large spending, massive casualties, and a war that was not supported by the public at the time. The Korean War was one of the most controversial wars in …show more content…
American history, but it was fought for a necessary and justifyable cause, and it should be seen as an American victory. The war was part of a series of conflicts between the US and Russia that started after World War II. Although the US and Russia never fight each other directly in battle, the conflict between the nations is refered to as the cold war, and the origins of this diplomatic rivalry date all the way back to the creation of the atomic bomb.
The date was July 24th, 1945. The United States had already won all of the islands surrounding Japan through island hopping, and the Soviet Union was preparing to invade Japan with them. Back in the United States however, the Manhattan Project had already been deemed a success by all of the scientists involved, meaning that the atomic bomb was created and ready for use. Before the bomb could be used though, most groups that were aware of the topic advised President Truman to tell the Soviet Union about the bomb and how lethal it could be. Instead of doing this though, Truman decided it would be better to only tell Stalin that the US had created “a new weapon of unusually destructive force”, because he did not want Stalin to ask him about how the bomb was created. Because he did not tell Stalin about the full-fledged affect that the bomb would have, Stalin took the news lightly, not realizing the significance of the news he just received. This shows how the series of conflicts between the US and Russia started, because Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union became suspicious about why Truman did not fill him in completely on the atomic bomb before it went off, and they also became very secretive about their own military advances. This lack of trust between these two powerful countries led to more conflict, this time a couple years later in a third party country, Korea.
The Korean War began in South Korea on June 25th, 1950, when the North Korean army crossed over the 38th parallel to invade the Southern half of the Korean peninsula. When the war first broke out the North had great successes, forcing their political enemies from the South to continuously retreat to the back end of the peninsula. As this was occurring, the United Nations adopted Resolution 82, which is an agreement between the coutries in the UN that demanded North Korea to immediately end its invasion of South Korea. When this did not happen, the coutries in the UN then voted on and agreed to Resolution 84, which stated that “Having determined that the attack upon the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea constitutes a breach of peace, members of the UN will furnish assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and restore international peace and secrurity to the area”. This finally set the stage for the battle for control of Korea that would follow.
The South Koreans had been getting pushed further and further back down the Korean peninsula, and even though the first American units were starting to fight directly, they were losing the war. On June 5th the first Americans that had arrived on the scene were rushed into action against the North Koreans. These troops quickly became battered especially because they were ill prepared to fight in the war. These troops were originally unable to slow the enemy advance, but the Americans and South Koreans fought desperately to delay the enemy operations. This mainly meant that the soldiers fighting in these early battles sacrificed their lives to buy the incoming troops more time to arrive in Pusan, a town on the very end of the peninsula. The North Korean army had continued its advance on South and on July 27th they reached Pusan, which was the last stand for the South Koreans and the UN forces. General MacArthur, an American who was in charge of all the UN troops, gave orders to the men at the Pusan Perimeter to “Stand or Die”. While the majority of the troops were busy defending the Pusan perimeter, MacArthur sent another group of men by sea to the port town called Inchon, which was hundreds of miles up the coast of Korea near the 38th parallel. He did this predicting that the North Koreans had overextended the reach of their army, leaving themselves vulnerable everywhere except by Pusan, which is where everybody in their army was concentrated. MacArthur turned out to be correct, and when the troops he sent to Inchon arrived, they quickly cut off the supply line to the North Korean army down by Pusan. Because of this the North Koreans had to flee back up into North Korea to regroup, and on October 1st MacArthur, with permission from Washington, chased the North Koreans up into North Korea across the 38th parallel. Even though the Chinese had warned that they would intervene if the US invaded North Korea, MacArtur launched a major offensive throughout November which he had hoped would end the war. Instead, he managed to get 300,000 Chinese troops to attack him on November 25th, which led to the UN forces being completely pushed out of North Korea. After this, there was then a two year stalemate between the two sides resulting in millions of casualties. Finally, on July 27th, 1953, a cease fire armistice was signed.
All in all, the war lasted 3 years and it ended in a stalemate at the original border. But this war was much more important than the border between North and South Korea for the US. This war was about communism vs. capitalism, and showing Russia and China that the US would not let them be the aggressors by taking over the countries surrounding them and making them communist. This was the first battle of many that are now known as the cold war, and this war set the tone for the rest by sending the Soviet Union the clear message that the US would not give in to their aggressive style. “This war can be seen as a victory for the US because it stoped the spread of communism and we completely held our own ground at the 38th parallel after the initial invasion.”, said John T. Bender Sr., who is a North Korean War Veteran after serving as a cryptographer during the years immediately following the war. By showing the Russians and Chinese that we would not let them take over Korea, we also protected other vulnerable nations in Asia like Japan, that easily coulve been annexed into communism during this time period.
This war never gained the full support of the people back in the US because the general public did not understand the concept of a “hot” war, which is what this war was. A “hot” war is a war in which the object of the war is not to completely defeat the enemy, but instead to limit your goal to something else more achievable like protecting South Korea. This is the main reason why so many Americans did not perceive this war as an American victory when it first ended, but instead saw it as a failure to completely destroy the enemy and force them to surrender.
Today Korea is still split at the 38th parallel, right where it has been ever since July 1953, when the cease fire agreement was reached. South Korea, with help from the US, has developed into a major economic producer in global markets in many areas like shipbuilding, automobiles, and steel making. South Korea is now a Republic with elected president Park Geun-Lee serving a single 5-year term that just began this year. North Korea, on the other hand, is a communist country with a one man dictatorship that is currently run by Kim II Sung. Sung operates without any restrictions, laws, or oppositions because North Korea is also both a monarchy and a anarchy. He controls all of the media in North Korea and suppresses the poor shamelessly, because he has inherited the power to do so.
The Korean War has always been known as controversial due to the publics overall attitude towards the war. It spent billions of American dollars and thousands of American lives to defend the people of South Korea from communism and oppression from North Korea. It showed the Soviet Union and China that the US would not let them spread communism throughout Asia , but instead that it would use “police acton” with the UN to put an end to the communist threat. This war should be seen as an American victory because the US, led mainly by General MacArthur and President Truman, helped South Korea get their land back, fight off communism, and show the world the true power of the United Nations.
--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. "U.S. War Death Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 02 May 2013.
< http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-war-death-statistics/>
[ 2 ]. "Korean War Educator: Topics - Cost of the Korean War." Korean War Educator: Topics - Cost of the Korean War. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2013. < http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/p_cost_war.htm>
[ 3 ]. Dannen, Gene. "Truman Tells Stalin, July 24, 1945." Atomic Bomb: Decision. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2013.
[ 4 ]. Winston Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1953) pp 669-70.
[ 5 ]. James F. Byrnes, Speaking Frankly (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1947) p. 263.
[ 6 ].
"Resolution 82." Security Council Resolutions 1950. UN, n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.
< http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1950/scres50.htm>
[ 7 ]. "Resolution 84." Security Council Resolutions 1950. UN, n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.
< http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1950/scres50.htm>
[ 8 ]. Zabecki, David T. "Stand or Die - 1950 Defense of Korea's Pusan Perimeter." HISTORYnet.com. Weider History Group, n.d. Web. 5 May 2013. < http://www.historynet.com/stand-or-die-1950-defense-of-koreas-pusan-perimeter.htm>
[ 9 ]. "The Korean War." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.
< http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/maps/koreatxt.html>
[ 10 ]. Bender Sr., John T. "Korean War Questions." Telephone interview. 27 Apr. 2013.
[ 11 ]. "Korean War Begins." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. < http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/korean-war-begins >
[ 12 ]. "Facts about Korea." Facts about Korea. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.
< http://www.korea.net/AboutKorea/Korea-at-a-Glance/Facts-about-Korea >
[ 13 ]. "North Korea Government Type." - Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.
< http://www.indexmundi.com/north_korea/government_type.html >
[ 14 ]. “Korean War Begins”
1