Preview

Korean War Causes

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
460 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Korean War Causes
The Korean War was the beginning of the Cold War, when a war began between North and South Korea. This took place between 1950 and 1953. Study.com states that this was also the first major Proxy War to occur. This was the first country to use a third party to fight on their behalf.
The cause of this war was from the different point of views from the United States and the Soviet Union. When World War II ended, Korea was no longer controlled by Japan. The 38th parallel separated Korea into two. The Soviet union occupied the Soviet Union Northern part To start off, it was decided that because of their Soviet Expansion, that North Korea should have a communist government so they could expand communism. The United States, which occupied the Southern area of Korea, kept it a capitalist country. North Korea did not like this. Reunion was their main priority at the time. To reunite with the south under the rule of communism. There was a major conflict between North and South Korea, and it was obvious that a war would start and that South Korea would not be able to resist communism. When the United States was informed with this, they sent troops over to South Korea as fast as they could. The United States figured that this was a better option, since attempting to make an armistice would result in having
…show more content…

Michael Hickey, the writer of an article, “The Korean War: An Overview” says that this move was a mistake. The article states that because we had to train Korean Troops as well, it limited our ability to fight in the war. We also lacked tanks and combat aircraft. We also had a small supply of field artillery. The United States was definitely not prepared. There were many casualties before the war even started. North korea also had the advantage of having an elevated land to fight in from the mountains, while we had the lower location, which did not help in the war as

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Berlin Wall Dbq Analysis

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages

    According to document 5, the description written by Sook Nyul Choi in Korea between the end of WWII and 1950, Korea was actually a “victim country” for the Cold War that existed between the US and the USSR. This could be proven by the fact that people were affected negatively by these communist soldiers and weapons such as tanks and guns. The communist troops from both China and Russia not only threatened people which led to the Northern refugees to escape to Seoul, people who are “labeled” as traitors were shot with machine guns and hanged in the town square for other people to see as a bad example to not follow. Then looking at document 6a, the map shows the result of the Korean War from 1950-1953. North Korea and South Korea were being divided along the 38th parallel due to their difference in supporters and political views. These evidences shows how the Cold War made Korea into battlefields and by the Russians supporting communist in the north, and the Americans spreading capitalism in the south, this led to the Korean War. The war not only led to the division of Korea, it also caused millions of soldiers and civilians to lost lives and which destroyed the economy in both North and South…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Berlin Airlift DBQ

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Document C, it comments on the map mentioning, “The war drags on for several years, finally ending in 1953 very close to the original 1950 borders.” This war was a battle between Soviet Union-supported, North Korea and US-supported, South Korea. North Korea was a communist region and South Korea believed in the rules of containment. After many years of fighting, there was barely any change to the placement of the border between them.The US worded very hard, constantly supplying South Korea with supplies, food, and weapons so they did not have to lose their land. The fact that the United States aided South Korea, so they did not have to lose any land, where North Korea could have spread communism, shows their policy of…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Generally summarizing the Korean War as in Blair’s Forgotten War – At the end of World War II the western half of the world (the Capitalist side) and the eastern half of the world (the Communist side) divided the Korean peninsula into two nations, the northern half communist and the southern half American occupied and capitalist. The two nations were divided at the 38th parallel. The Korean War itself began when the communist North Koreans invaded their South Korean neighbors by advancing over the 38th parallel boundary, on the 28th of June 1951 when the North Korean army, using Russian equipment and advisors, had conquered much of South Korea, a poorly equipped and poorly led U.S. Army came to the rescue of the South Koreans. President Truman had basically stripped the U.S. Army’s equipment and manpower down to nothing for budget reasons, believing that his military advisors spoiled, dumb, and “big spenders”, (sparing no expense to win a battle). Truman believed that he could do better than any military official. General Douglas MacArthur, on whom Blair spares no criticism, had been overseeing the occupation of Japan, and was a decorated general during WWII in the Pacific theater, he was the obvious choice to be appointed commander of the U.S. forces which were to hold back the North Korean army at Pusan – the tip of the Korean peninsula. MacArthur was in command of…

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The United States had just ended World War II, and the conflict in Korea had…

    • 5019 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    President Truman wanted to stop fighting Koreans. He wanted to restore peace with North Korea and South. President Truman assigned General Douglas MacArthur as the leader of the UN troops. Truman did not want the Chinese want to join the war in any way. MacArthur told to stay away from the border with China in all circumstances.…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Kim Il-Sung Biography

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Backed by the Soviet Union and China, Kim Il Sung started the Korean War that took place 1950-1953. He wanted to unite North and South Korea under Communism.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    President Truman To keep the UN troops away from the China border, so that there was not a chance that China would enter the war. General MacArthur didn’t listen to orders and China entered the war. President Truman fired General MacArthur for going against his initial. China The UN troops to stay away from the border between China and North Korea. MacArthur and his UN troops were extremely close to the Chinese border.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The UN Security Council called upon its members to help South Korea defeat these invading forces and Truman ordered US military forces into South Korea to create a defensive line. The goal was to drive the North Korean army out of South Korea but also to destroy communism in North Korea. Mid 1951 the UN forces finally pushed North Korean and the Chinese forces that join them back across the 38th parallel line and this is when peace talks…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Korean war never formally ended, as the two sides reached a stalemate following massive casualties, but the United States took solace in the fact that they had at least stopped the Soviet Union from spreading communism throughout the whole of the Korean Peninsula (Foner 716). Although it was implied by the Truman Doctrine, the Korean War was significant because it affirmed that the United States was committed to anti-communist efforts in a global sense; they were prepared to use force to…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    China therefore cautioned the United States not to broach the Chinese/North Korean border at the Yalu River; however, MacArthur ignored the threat and he pursued the North Koreans farther up the peninsula. After construing this move as a clear offensive declaration of war, the Chinese dispatched hundreds of thousands of soldiers across the Yalu to meet MacArthur’s men in North Korea. Overpowered and outnumbered, MacArthur and his assemblage retreated back to the safer bounds behind the Yalu River. At an impasse once again at the 38th parallel, MacArthur insisted to Truman that dropping nuclear bombs on mainland China was the next move. MacArthur’s presumption was that this would not only allow his soldiers to gain command of the entire Korean Peninsula but would also oust the Communist regime based in Beijing.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Battle Of Inchon Essay

    • 1580 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Korean War was the result of tensions between North and South Korea after World War II. North Korea launched a surprise attack against an unprepared South Korea, pushing South Korean and U.S. forces to the southernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. launched a counterattack that started with amphibious landings at Wolmi-do Island and Inchon. The battle of Inchon was a significant factor in the Korean War because it allowed U.S. and South Korean forces to push North Korea back past the 38th Parallel.…

    • 1580 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The war took place because North Vietnam threatened to take over South Vietnam which caused the United States to get involved. People disliked the idea of American troops fighting in Vietnam causing “anti-war protests [to] begin almost immediately”(Sheinkin.154). The United States was worried that South Vietnam would become communist because North Vietnam was. Ho Chi Minh felt “confident that a popular vote on the issue of reunification mandated by the armistice, scheduled for July of 1956, would bring a communist victory. The United States, in the meantime, worked with French and South Vietnamese authorities to create a stable government and build an effective South…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The invasion surprised the South Koreans. This advancement of the North Korean troops was considered the first military action in the Cold War. It was thought of a civil war at first. President Truman responded immediately by requesting the United Nations Security Council to intervene for the benefit of South Korea. The United States also responded by July with military troops to support South Korea in hopes that they could contain the threat and spreading of communism. The Truman Doctrine which was a policy that the United States put in place to support countries trying to free themselves of the communist threat became the rationale for the United States involvement. The United States feared that this invasion would provoke a wider war with Russia and China or possibly World War III. This idea was stated in the Domino effect theory because the theory stated if one area was influenced by communism then other areas would follow in a domino effect. Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War ended with more than 5 million soldiers and civilians losing their lives. Unfortunately, the Korean peninsula is still divided…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stalin wanted to test America’s commitment to their policies of containment so when they responded it showed that America was willing to continue stopping communism even 4 years after World War 2. When the United States waded into the muddy waters of battle they had one goal, contain communism and uphold the democratic state which was South Korea; and they did. The war shows again commitment to the cause and doing what is needed in order to fight off the USSR’s attempts to expand communist reign. Furthermore, the justifying quality of war was the end result. After the war ended, South Korea’s government system of democracy lived. For the U.S this was an embodiment of containment and the future seemingly boded in the side of the North Atlantic Treaty…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Space Race Essay

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Korean War was one of the biggest conflicts that was attributed to the Cold War. It was caused by North Korea invading South Korea. The U.N. and USA went in to assist South Korea while China and the Soviet Union went in to assist North Korea. In 1950, combat erupted as the North Korean army, the Russian army and Chinese army entered South Korea. Later, the U.N. tried to stop hostilities by calling a ceasefire, but it was denied and the U.S.A and U.N. had to go into South Korea to fight the North Koreans and their allies. Eventually, in 1953 both sides signed a peace treaty and the Korean War ended.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays