Why Did the United States Went to War in Korea Research Paper

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Korean War, just like most other wars in history did not occur in a vacuum. It started because of the North Korean attack on the South Koreans with the belief that they would be able to win the war and communize the whole Korean peninsula (Chang, 2010). The confidence of North Koreans in their ability to win the fight against the South was not based on hope, but on the intense confidence that it will be an easy victory for the North Korean forces in the war (Chang, 2010). As a matter of fact, the North Korean forces were far more superior to the forces of the South in every category of the fighting abilities and capabilities (Chang, 2010). They were well armed with very heavy weapons and equipment the Soviet Union supplied, adequately trained by the cautious guidance of Soviet military education and training personnel, vastly reinforced with the Korean forces and fight leadership, well-matured in the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) era, and armed with a harmonized fighting plan created by the Soviet military war planners and advisers (Chang, 2010). After judging from the facts, both North Korea and its sponsors, the Communist China and the Soviet Union, predicted an easy victory over South Korea, provided the United States would fail to rapidly intervene with its soldiers (Chang, 2010). With these anxieties and anticipation, South Korea was attacked by North Korea on June 25, 1950, which turned out to be the direct and immediate cause of the Korean War (Chang, 2010).

Background

The Korean War (1950- 1953 (UDSR, 1995) was a type of military conflict between the Korean Republic, with the support of the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the support of the People's Republic of China (PRC), with some military material supplies from the Soviet Union. The War was mainly caused by the physical division of Korea by the Victorious Allies agreement at the conclusion of the Pacific War towards the end of World War 11.

Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 until when World War 11 ended. Following Japan's surrender in 1945, the peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel by the American administrator, with the U.S. forces the Southern part and Soviet forces overseeing the northern part (Boose, 1995).

The 1948 failure to hold free and fair elections all through the Korean peninsula, deepened the rift between the two sides, which led to the formation of a Communist government by the North. The 38th parallel continuously became a political boundary that separates the two Korean nations from each other. Although reunification talks went on for months after the war, tension became more intensified. Cross-border raids and skirmishes at the 38th parallel continued. The situation, however, rose to a full blown warfare when the North Korean forces carried out an invasion of South Korea of 25 June 1950 (Devine et al., 2007). This was the first notable armed conflict of the Cold War (Hermes, 2002).

The United Nations, mostly the United States, helped South Korea in resisting the invasion. A fast UN counter-offensive forced back the North Koreans beyond the 38th Parallel and near the Yalu River, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) got involved in the war from the Northern side (Devine et al., 2007). The Chinese launched a serious counter-offensive that forced back the United Nations combined forces back across the 38th Parallel. The Soviet Union gave aid to North Korean as well as the Chinese forces. In 1953, the war ended with an armistice, which re-established the border amid the two Korean sides, as well as, built the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a four-kilometer-wide defense zone amid the two Korean sides. There are still some minor fight outbreaks even today.

With external forces sponsoring both North and South Korea, the Korean War could be best described as a proxy war. From the perspective of military science, it combines tactics and strategies of World War 1 and World War 11: it started with a mobile campaign of fast infantry attacks succeeded by airstrikes, but developed into a full scale war in 1951.

Factors in U.S. intervention

The hostile atmosphere that characterizes every Cold War politics was responsible for the United States decision to get involved in the Korean war. A day before the invasion by North Korea, a couple of events made Truman really anxious (Teaching with Documents, 2012).

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The Soviets, in 1949 released a nuclear bomb, which brought an end to U.S. monopoly on atomic bomb. In Europe, the intervention of the Soviets in Turkey and Greece introduced the Marshal Plan and the Truman Doctrine, which supplied aid to the war-ravaged Europe hoping to eliminate the possible political victories by the communists. In the beginning of 1950, the United States Security Council was directed by president Truman to analyze the abilities of the Soviet and American forces. In the report named the NSC 68, the Security Council made a recommendation for heavy improvements in military financing as a way of containing the Soviets

Happenings across Asia equally contributed to that higher sense of security. In 1949, a revolution took place in China, which brought in the Communist party's Mao Zedong to power. Chiang Kai Shek and his Nationalists had before this time moved back to Formosa Island (Taiwan) while their battle with China mainland was sustained

Mao made a fast move and got himself aligned with the Soviets, and in 1950, he entered into a truce with Soviets. The Republicans criticized the administration of Truman that he no longer had China's alliance. They blamed him for his failure to provide adequate aid to Chinese citizens. Dean Acheson, the Secretary of State recommended that the government should recognize the Chinese communist government, but his suggestion ended up giving them more missiles to carry out their attacks There were internal criticisms also with regards to the commitment of Truman's government to war against communism locally. Joseph McCarthy, the Republican Senator representing Wisconsin had newly begun his notorious search for communists inside the United States Government Though McCarthy was simply warming up, Alger Hiss recent trials and the trails of others for spying made the administration of Truman more apprehensive about the anticommunist credentials it paraded Both Truman and his advisers were faced with higher domestic pressure to appear stern on communism outside their borders. Consequently, when the South was invaded by the North Korean forces, the Truman government took advantage of the opportunity to stand with a noncommunist administration to save them from being invaded by communist forces. In their bid not let go of any other ally to the communist movement and to spice up their anticommunist qualifications, the Truman government saw itself providing security for a nation several worlds away from the United States soil Even at that, the response of Truman was much more than a mere reaction to domestic pressure. South Korea's invasion intensified Truman's longtime fear that China and the Soviets planned to spread out the reach of communism all over the Asian continent The June 27 statement by Truman shows his deep concern with the aggression of communists and their desire for expansion In the statement, Truman claims that, communism was way beyond the merely using subversion to win sovereign nations and will tend to use war and armed invasion. Going by Truman's statement, it is obvious he believed that the North Korean attack was an aspect of a broader scheme by China -- a Communist nation and, by expansion, the Soviets The president had the belief that the situation of Korea was comparable to the 1947 Greece scenario According to his information to his advisors, he believed that the attack was obviously orchestrated by the Soviets. This was what gave America the moral necessity to take action. If we fail to fight now, no one can accurately predict their action His obvious worry over the anticommunist government's future in Asia was evident in his public comment. Truman promised to provide security for Formosa (Taiwan) and protect it from possible attacks. He also promised to provide support for the French Troops in Indochina, a clash that would ultimately become the infamous Vietnam War. However, Truman never wished to fight against the Soviets in a full-blown war By putting the whole blames on communism in his statement, instead of blaming the Soviets, Dean Acheson shortly gave an explanation, the administration desired to provide an honorable exit for the Soviets and not start open conflict with Russia

Japan was one important facet of the new attitude towards Korea and whether to get involved or not. Especially after China fell to the Communists. Japan on its own seemed….....

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