The image on the right shows us just how bad the Korean War got. It also shows one of the results of a fued between Nation's, or the Western Superpowers. Whom of which is the United States and the Soviet Union.
The Korean War erupted on June 25, 1950 and was one of five major tensions during the Cold War. Before the Korean War even started, we believed that something was going to happen but never knew when. So when the Soviet Union, who did not want to get directly involved in the fighting, was trying to start something and spread the communist way of life throughout the world, we couldn't just stand there and watch. The Soviet's would start out and supply weapons and supplies to North Korea. When the North Korean's finally realized that communism was the way to go they joined forces with the Soviets. More plans were being developed to try and achieve their goal of a nation under communism which involved invading and converting the lower, anti-communism half of Korea(South) to communism. Before the Cold War even began and during the second world war, Korea was split in half by an imaginary line which is called the the 38th parallel. They did this to represent the communist half, which is the North and the anti-communist half of Korea, which is the South. On June 25, in order to convert South Korea to communism, North Korea (under the rule of Kim Il Sung at this time) decided to go through with their plan and took over South Korea which is known as the beginnings of the Korean War. The United States only got involved because they did not want to seem soft on communism, not because Korea was vital to the United States interests. To the United States all of the things that were happening were somewhat surprising, because just a few years after letting China turn communist and go under the Soviet Union's wing without getting too involved that we start getting tangled within an Asian land war over the fate of strategically challenged Korea. So due to all these issues adding up, this war went about being an important shift to the U.S. Cold War foreign policy.
An important event within the Korean War is whenever the US, UN and South Korean(ROK) forces were pinned against the sea at Pusan and General MacArthur thought to orchastrate a sneaky amphibious or water attack on Inchon, which is a port on the Western Coast of Korea. By making this landing, the United States came out very successful-they hypothetically crushed the North Korean troops and took back the capital of South Korea, Seoul. People would think that this victory would satisfy MacArthur, but not exactly. Him and his troops crossed the 38th parallel and pursued the North Korean army all the way to the northmost parts of North Korea. When China heard this they reacted very cleverly and decided to plan a "sneak attack" on the U.S. troops. Only after the appointment of Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway as commander of ground forces did the Americans improve and the initiative began to swing against the Chinese Communists. When this all started to settle down and Truman ultimately wanted to end the war, MacArthur being the brilliant strategist that he was decided to ignore the presidents request/orders and went about formulating ideas/plans to hopefully reunite Korea. When Truman caught wind of this and after he consulted and got permission from the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) he was ultimately pushed to the point to where he had to relieve General MacArthur of his duties. This is when Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway took his place to lead the U.S. troops. American citizens who agreed with and liked MacArthur did not agree that this decision was not the greatest choice, but once they knew of what he had done and thought it was truly the wiser decision did they finally see eye-to-eye.
There were many results of the Korean War, one of them being a truly significant result which was that it gave the United States a reason to increase its military expenditure. The Korean War also strengthened the United States' relationship with Britain, which sent troops for the UN "peace-keeping" force. Another important result of the Korean War was that the Chinese had appeared less and less. And also, the Korean War proved the tenacity and skill of the Communist Asian military. We also revisited this topic during the Vietnam War(1962), which is another tension of the Cold War. The Korean War also showed the impact a single individual can have on history. General MacArthur's brilliant strategies, willfulness, and refusal to obey orders dramatically influenced the outcome of the war, in both positive and negative ways. And lastly, the Korean War demonstrated the new terms of the new post-WWII era, and showed how difficult it would be to fight a limited war under those terms. Although the United States attempted to keep the war on a very small scale, it quickly snowballed out of proportion, involving China, at times seeming as if it might become a World War III. Looked at another way, though, the Korean War can be considered a success: although the war did at times get out of hand, the US and the USSR were able to avoid direct confrontation, especially since the USSR fought mainly by proxy. And lastly, the Korean War showed us and made us realize how difficult it would have been to fight in a limited war under the terms of the post-war era. The only real bad outcome of the Korean War was that it "snowballed" out of proportion and almost became World War 3 because we mistakeingly got involved with China. But if we look at this war in a different way, the Korean War was actually a success, because even though it got out of hand, at times, the United States and the Soviet Union managed to keep it under raps and suprisingly managed to not fight directly to avoid military confrontation. But most important of all is that the Korean War was not an atomic battle, thankfully! Well, that's about if for the Korean War! See you soon,(:
An important event within the Korean War is whenever the US, UN and South Korean(ROK) forces were pinned against the sea at Pusan and General MacArthur thought to orchastrate a sneaky amphibious or water attack on Inchon, which is a port on the Western Coast of Korea. By making this landing, the United States came out very successful-they hypothetically crushed the North Korean troops and took back the capital of South Korea, Seoul. People would think that this victory would satisfy MacArthur, but not exactly. Him and his troops crossed the 38th parallel and pursued the North Korean army all the way to the northmost parts of North Korea. When China heard this they reacted very cleverly and decided to plan a "sneak attack" on the U.S. troops. Only after the appointment of Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway as commander of ground forces did the Americans improve and the initiative began to swing against the Chinese Communists. When this all started to settle down and Truman ultimately wanted to end the war, MacArthur being the brilliant strategist that he was decided to ignore the presidents request/orders and went about formulating ideas/plans to hopefully reunite Korea. When Truman caught wind of this and after he consulted and got permission from the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) he was ultimately pushed to the point to where he had to relieve General MacArthur of his duties. This is when Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway took his place to lead the U.S. troops. American citizens who agreed with and liked MacArthur did not agree that this decision was not the greatest choice, but once they knew of what he had done and thought it was truly the wiser decision did they finally see eye-to-eye.
There were many results of the Korean War, one of them being a truly significant result which was that it gave the United States a reason to increase its military expenditure. The Korean War also strengthened the United States' relationship with Britain, which sent troops for the UN "peace-keeping" force. Another important result of the Korean War was that the Chinese had appeared less and less. And also, the Korean War proved the tenacity and skill of the Communist Asian military. We also revisited this topic during the Vietnam War(1962), which is another tension of the Cold War. The Korean War also showed the impact a single individual can have on history. General MacArthur's brilliant strategies, willfulness, and refusal to obey orders dramatically influenced the outcome of the war, in both positive and negative ways. And lastly, the Korean War demonstrated the new terms of the new post-WWII era, and showed how difficult it would be to fight a limited war under those terms. Although the United States attempted to keep the war on a very small scale, it quickly snowballed out of proportion, involving China, at times seeming as if it might become a World War III. Looked at another way, though, the Korean War can be considered a success: although the war did at times get out of hand, the US and the USSR were able to avoid direct confrontation, especially since the USSR fought mainly by proxy. And lastly, the Korean War showed us and made us realize how difficult it would have been to fight in a limited war under the terms of the post-war era. The only real bad outcome of the Korean War was that it "snowballed" out of proportion and almost became World War 3 because we mistakeingly got involved with China. But if we look at this war in a different way, the Korean War was actually a success, because even though it got out of hand, at times, the United States and the Soviet Union managed to keep it under raps and suprisingly managed to not fight directly to avoid military confrontation. But most important of all is that the Korean War was not an atomic battle, thankfully! Well, that's about if for the Korean War! See you soon,(:
Emily!! Amazing job on this!! I learned things a didnt know before :)
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