A. Plan of Investigation
The investigation assesses the scope of how United States anti-communism affected the outcome of the Korean War. To evaluate this affect, the investigation concentrates on the immediate causes of the war, United States involvement during the course of the war and MacArthur’s leadership regarding the army’s attacks and movements. Details of how United States interacted with South Korea and how they defended them are assayed; as well as how Josef Stalin and Koreas sought for independence contributed to the war.
Three sources are examined extensively, “The Korean War: The Forgotten War” by Michael J., Philippe, and Andrew, “The Korean War” by Frank E. Smitha and “Flashpoints: The Korean War” by Richard Edwards for their clarity, distinctions, authentication, values, and limitations.
B. Summary of Evidence
Korea was overtaken by the Japanese in 1904, the same as many other countries did; this was continued until the end of the Second World War. There were wars in both the east, under Adolf Hitler, and Japan. (Causes of Korean War n.d. “In 1910 the country was annexed by Japan, and was heavily exploited for its agricultural and mineral wealth. When Japan decided to invade China, the Japanese forced Koreans to work in labor camps to supply the Japanese with war goods,” (The Korean War: The Forgotten War n.d.). “The Soviet Union (led by Joseph Stalin) and the United States made a deal with each other to force the Japanese out of Korea,” (Causes of Korean War n.d.). The Korean built up over time and therefore, according to Frank Smitha (2011) “The Allies had declared in December, 1943, that Korea was to become "free and independent," and it was agreed that the Soviet Union was to occupy northern Korea, to the ...
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...olvement contributed to the end result of the war in signing an armistice agreement instead of the alternative; South Korea losing because of their size and military equipment. As a result of their lost, the North Koreans could have succeeded under Josef Stalin and evolved communism as a widespread government.
F. List of Sources
(2007). Causes of the Korean War. Retrieved from
http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/causes-of-the-korean-war.html
Andrew, & J. Michael, & Philippe. The Korean War: The Forgotten War. Retrieved from
http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/korea.htm
Edward, Richard (1988). Flashpoints: The Korean War. Vero Beach, Florida. Rourke
Enterprises Inc.
Guisepi, R.A. Korean War. Retrieved from http://history-world.org/korean_war.htm
Smith, Frank E. (2011). The Korean War. Retrieved from
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24kor.html
The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority.
The Korean War , although successful in preventing the spread of communism, was one of the first tests of communism in Asia. North Korea was strictly communist while South Korea was democratic. As usual, the United States supported democratic South Korea and the Truman Doctrine was applied to the Korean situation. The North Korean forces crossed the dividing line (38th parallel) and invaded South Korea. Thus, they provoked a war over communism. With the possibility of democratic South Korea falling to the communistic North, the U.S. stepped in and supplied aid mostly through troops. The U.S. then urged the United Nations to support South Korea and fight against the communist North. Once the North Korean forces were defeated at Inchon, they eventually got pushed back to the 38th parallel. However, against President Truman’s word, American General MacArthur decided to keep pushing back the North Korean forces by crossing the dividing line. This caused more trouble because the People’s Republic of China (Communist China) now sent troops to aid the communists against the pro...
Pearson, Lester B. "Documents on the Korean Crisis." University of Manitoba. January 24, 1951. http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/canada_war/tribune/website/clippings/korea/Documents_on_the_Korean_Crisis1.shtml (accessed December 18, 2011).
No one could have realized that what seemed as an insignificant gesture to partake in training South Vietnamese armies and America’s involvement in Southeast Asia would one day have the impact it did on America. Although at the time when Eisenhower was trying to stop of the spread of communism it seemed the right thing to do, the repercussions of that decision and the war it eventually led to was devastating to America politically, socially, and culturally.
English, Jane A. and Tomas D. Jones. “World War 1, World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War.” Encyclopedia of the U.S. at War 1998.
Throughout the early 1950’s the Korean Peninsula was a location with much civil unrest and violence. For this reason, it is a miracle that the Korean Armistice Agreement was actually mutually agreed upon by North and South Korea. Even with the constant complications, and early opposition surrounding the Korean Armistice Agreement, the aid of Dwight D Eisenhower made this unrealistic attempt of peace a reality.
LeCain, Timothy J. "Lecture 4: Cold War Through Korea", Montana State University, Bozeman, 19 and 21 September 2006.
U.S. participation was centered on America’s foreign policy at the time. Although the War did not break out until June of 1950, several conflicts brewed over the attempt to take over the entire nation under one rule for several years after World War II. The majority of these conflicts took place at the 38th parallel where Korea was split. Decisions influenced by President Harry S. Truman and his doctrine, which was essentially the policy to contain the spread of communism, gave the United Nations an opportunity to prevent global domination through communism (“Teaching with Documents”). The fear of international communism from the powers of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China was the main reason that caused the United States to intervene.
Koreans were under Japanese rule for a long time. It was officially signed as a colony on August 22, 1910, but Japanese had been planning this annexation from 1876 the Japanese-Korea treaty of amity. Japanese plan of annexation started with this treaty. This treaty allowed Japanese to come to Korean harbors freely and this marked the end of Korea’s status as a protectorate of China. Also later on October 8th, 1895, Japanese minister Miura Goro plotted the assassination of Empress Myeongseong. With the assassination, Japanese were able to control the economy and military power and made the Koreans sig...
Japan was imperializing late nineteenth century to early twentieth century. Korea was a Japanese colony. After World War II, the Japanese had to get rid of the colony. North Korea became a Communist. South Korea wants to be democratic.
The Korean war was a short but hard fought war that created a permanent line between two countries. Now we have communist North Korea and the Republic of South Korea. Overshadowed by the Vietnam War and World War II, the Korean War also became known as “The Forgotten War” or “The Unknown War” but it still has important lasting effects on the world.
Korea had been united as one country for many years. Japan took control of Korea and made it part of its empire. After World War II, Japan was defeated and its empire fell. Korea was left without a leader or a system of government. This provoked the United States troops to occupy the southern half and Soviet troops to occupy the northern half. The United States and its allies favored democratic government, while the Soviet Union and China favored a communist system of government.
Throughout history the United States has fought in many wars. Whether the fighting took place in Europe such as WWI or in our own land like the civil war. The one war many people seem to forget is the Korean War. The Korean War also known as the “forgotten war” was a war between North Korea, South Korea and the US together with the South Koreans to help. The Korean War was fought on sea, land, and in the air over and near the Korean peninsula (Brown, p.2). On June 25, 1950, the North Koreans rumbled across the thirty-eighth parallel. The invasion was successful because the south was not expecting or even prepare for a war. The invasion was so successful that they pushed the south to a tiny defensive area around Pusan. That’s when President Truman steps in real quick to halt the invasion of the North Koreans. Truman ordered American armed forces under General Douglas MacArthur to support South Korea. The Korean War was a clash between Communist forces and Free World (Brown, p.2).
Steinberg, David I., and Donald N. Clark. "Review of The Kwangju Uprising: Shadows over the Regime in South Korea." The Journal of Asian Studies 47.3 (1988): 662-63. Print.
The Korean War explicitly portrayed the atrocious battle between both the North and South side which gave the United Nations its military role for the first time, thus expanding the war from a domestic to an international scale. Sometimes called “The Forgotten War”, the Korean War was mainly overshadowed in historical terms by the conflicts that occurred before and after it, World War II and the Vietnam War. The Korean War had raged for years without a true resolution and after years of battles, even the compromise that was made was not a complete one. The current situation in North and South Korea is quite volatile. In order to apprehend the Korean War, one has to look at events that took place before the war, how the war was conducted and the aftermath of the War.