The Warsaw Pact: Similarities And Differences

The Warsaw Pact involved the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The mission of this pact was for the countries to defend each other if a member country is attacked. If the countries did not cooperate, it was possible for a more powerful country to invade them and take over their government system. In contrast to the NATO, The Warsaw Pact included nations that were controlled by The Soviet Union. This also means that they all had communist economic systems. This pact was also important because it separated the Western European Countries from the Eastern European countries because of their differences in the government and economic systems. Thus, The Warsaw Pact and the NATO were the two
main opposing sides in the Cold War.
5. There were numerous events that led to the war in Korea. In 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to split Korea into two parts.
In this agreement, the U.S. got the southern portion of Korea while the Soviet Union got the northern part. They were divided by the 38th Parallel which created the boundary line for the two powers. The Soviets temporarily controlled North Korea, and established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In South Korea, on the other hand, the U.S. allowed the Korean people to govern themselves. This was when the Republic of Korea was created in South Korea. In June of 1950, the northern region of Korea invaded the South portion and crossed the 38th Parallel. and this incited the Korean War. The North Korean Army was able to go through most of South Korea easily because their military power was stronger since they had aid from China and The Soviet Union. They also tried to penetrate the Pusan Perimeter. This was a rectangular shaped boundary line that secured the southeast of Korea, and it was the only place that wasn’t occupied by North Korean forces at the time. The Korean People’s army, which were the North Korean soldiers,
eventually attacked this perimeter. Although their attacks were harsh, the South Korean army was able to keep them out with the assistance of the U.S. Military. The UN forces then pursued an amphibious attack called the Inchon Landing. They decided to attack at the port of Inchon which was close to Seoul which was the capital of South Korea. This invasion was important because it was an offensive for the South Koreans. However, the Chinese forces soon took over the Capital city and started to push down toward the south. The UNC, which was an army belonging to The United Nations, had a counterattack which did not allow the opposing forces to pass the 38th parallel. For a few years, the UNC fought the Chinese and North Korean military forces until they agreed to an armistice in 1953.
The Korean War resulted in a strict division between North and South Korea because both sides agreed to stay on their side of the 38th parallel, but they never agreed to a peace treaty.
This separation still has a monumental impact on the current events in Korea. To this day, the U.S. provides military support to South Korea, and agrees to defend them in case of another invasion. One example of how the result of the Korean War affects events today would be when North Korea fired artillery at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in 2010. As a part of their military training, the South Korean Army was shooting artillery into the water. Although the artillery did not land on North Korean soil, the North Korean military responded with an artillery fire on Yeonpyeong which was South Korean territory. This attack was significant because it was very unexpected for the South Koreans on the island, and it resulted in most of the civilians on the island to move to the mainland. In fact, 1,350 people fled the island, and since the population was small to begin with, the island was left almost deserted (Fackler). This was also an important event because it was the first major physical attack that North Korea made on South Korea after the Korean War. The artillery fire also portrays the relationship between North and South Korea, and it makes it evident that to this day, they are still in a state of
war. Truman’s way of running the war was the most reasonable because he knew when to stop fighting the opposing side. This was smart because it saved many American troops from fighting in unnecessary battles. When the UN troops were able to secure the 38th parallel, Truman made the decision to not attack the Chinese forces. He chose to accept that South Korea would be limited to the 38th parallel, and that North Korea would be on the other side. He made this decision because it was too risky to attack the Chinese forces on the other side, and he did not want to have more casualties. However, General MacArthur disagreed with Truman’s approach and instead wanted to attack the North Korean territory. He wanted to move their troops to the coastal areas of North Korea to make the Chinese troops surrender. MacArthur also was in favor of dropping an atomic bomb on the Chinese troops in North Korea. This would not have been effective because it would result in an increased number of casualties. Truman’s decision made more sense at the time because it resulted in an armistice and it put an end to the attacks.