Effects Of Containment In The Korean War

The Korean War was a defining part of the United States foreign policy in the Cold War Era and was a response to threats from the Soviet Union. The Korean War was a culmination of tensions between North and South Korea that had resulted from the influences the United States and the Soviet Union inculcated into the countries during their occupation. When the Korean War was initiated, by the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, the United States and their allies in the United Nations perceived the invasion as a bold communistic expansion effort that occurred without provocation. (Document A). Further validating this idea was the fact that the attack was endorsed by the USSR, and partially lead by Red China, both of which were communist countries

He also disagreed with some governors claiming to bomb North Korea. The US rejected the request of the Nationalist Chinese for the battle because they did not want to trigger communist Chinese aggressiveness. (Rees) However, the first important battle of the Korean War, The Battle of Osan, involved 540 soldier Task Force Smith. This was a small forward element of the 24th Infantry Division, but it was unsuccessful. (Stokesbury) North Korean Army continued the winning streak and pushed back the South Korean Army and the Eight United States Army to Busan where it was southeast of Korea. (Stokesbury) United States base in Japan kept detaching materiel and soldiers to defend Pusan. (Stokesbury) There were also tank battalions directly sent from San Francisco. South Korea could get about 500 medium tanks for the battle by August. (Stokesbury) South Korean Army and United Nation Command forces could exceed 180,000 to 100,000 soldiers by September 1950. They were all prepared by that time and could push up.

A Japanese invasion that same year caused his forces to leave that country. a year after that he made many successful offensive operations against the Japanese military in that region.in 1945 president Harry S. Truman appointed MacArthur supreme allied commander. For the next six years he stayed in japan to command the occupation forces. When North Korean army invaded South Korea in 1950, he started to command the newly united nation’s forces. On April 11, 1951, Truman removed MacArthur from his command for insubordination. This made people in America very mad, but Truman stayed focused on keeping the conflict with North Korea a limited war. Americans started to understand that MacArthur’s recommendations might have led to a massively expanded war in

During the pivotal 1950 battle, 15,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines, alongside another 15,000 UN soldiers, fought through a force of 120,000 Chinese soldiers to reach the sea some 78 miles away. During the campaign, U.S. forces successfully evacuated 98,000 refugees while inflicting heavy losses on the Chinese army. The Marine Corps led the push against a numerically superior Chinese force. Chosin also called Changjin, campaign early in the Korean War, part of the Chinese Second Offensive (November–December 1950) to drive the United Nations out of North Korea. The Chosin Reservoir campaign was directed mainly against the 1st Marine Division of the U.S. X Corps, which had disembarked in eastern North Korea and moved inland in severe winter weather to a mountainous area near the reservoir. The campaign succeeded in forcing the entire X Corps to evacuate to South Korea, but the Chinese did not achieve their particular objective of isolating and destroying the 1st Marine Division. Instead, in a deliberate retrograde movement that has become one of the most-storied exploits in Marine Corps lore, the Marines turned and fought their way down a narrow vulnerable road through several mountain passes and a bridged chasm until they reached transport ships waiting at the coast.Following the successful landing of the X Corps at Inch’ŏn in September 1950, the United Nations Command under the direction of U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman’s administration and the UN General Assembly, pursued the remnants of the communist Korean People’s Army into North Korea. On the orders of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of all allied forces in the UNC, the U.S. Eighth Army crossed the 38th parallel the prewar border on October 7 and advanced up the western side of the Korean peninsula toward P’yŏngyang, the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. At the same time, MacArthur redeployed the X Corps on amphibious ships around the peninsula to Korea’s east coast. The X Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond included the 1st Marine Division Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, the 7th Infantry Division Maj. Gen. David G. Barr, and the 3rd Infantry Division Maj. Gen. Robert H. Soule. The

In June 1950, 90,000 soldiers from the communist Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea. The most important reason for a military response from the US was the document NSC 68, which stated that they must meet communism wherever it arises. Due to this document, it was the US assumption that the invasion on South Korea was not a Civil War due to the events in Korea, and the permanent divide in 1948. However, there was also US domestic policies, and Truman’s fear of being accused of being ‘soft on communism,’ as well as the US based organisation, the UN, which was a new institution, which Truman had to support. Furthermore, containment in Europe and Asia and the

While World War II ended all worries and hardships Americans faced, events gradually initiated signs of the Cold War which created an increased state of tension that swept all of America and Korea. During the 1940s, the potential Communist invasion of nations worldwide began to create a frightening reality to the people of the United States. The Soviet Union’s exportation of Communism greatly worried America as they wanted to contain Communism from all nations, especially nations in Asia. The Korean peninsula divided into two territories: a north, Soviet supported government, and a south, American supported government, a separation as a result of World War II. The Soviet Union invaded Korea, which had been under Japanese control since 1900; fearing the Soviet’s intention to seize the entire peninsula, the United States responded by quickly sending in their troops to South Korea. Truman’s decision to become involved in conflicts in Korea grew out of the Soviet Union’s radical actions, events in Asia, and internal criticism in the Truman Administration in America, providing him with an opportunity to defend a nation from a communist invasion.

North Korea’s attack came without warning and President Harry Truman with the help of the United Nations, vowed to defend democratic South Korea(document C). American forces that occupied Japan after World War 2, were sent to defend South Korea(document C). the American commander, General Douglass MacArthur, made a risky, yet successful counterattack at the port of Inchon(document C). North Korea was pushed all the way back to the border of North Korea and Communist China. In November of m1950, China enters the war and pushes the U.N. and U.S. forces back into South Jorea. The war finally ended in 1953 very close to the original 1950 borders. The war caused more than two million deaths, including over 50,000 Americans(document C). I believe this is the weakest example of containment because the United States never thought about keeping a eye on Communist countries. I also believe this is a weak example because Communist China even got

As the Cold War continued on, communist North Korea unexpectedly invaded its Southern counterpart on June 25, 1950, which was encouraged by the Soviet Union. By September 14, 1950, the United States, alongside the United Nations, helped defend South Korea from further attacks (Document C). Consequently, this led to the U.S. and the United Nations forces nearly being pushed off of the Korean peninsula. However, soon after this the U.S. decide to take more immediate action with General MacArthur on July 25. General MacArthur devised a plan to counterattack North Korea at port Inchon, though it was risky it was successful in the end, due to it pushing North Korea back towards the Yalu River near China. Finally, on July 27, 1953, the ongoing war was over (Document C). The Korean War is a good example of containment because NOT

The war began on June 25, 1950, with communist North Korea’s invasion of South Korea. (Document C) With support from the Soviet Union, North Korea attacked democratic South Korea without warning. Since, South Korea was US supported, president Truman vowed to help defend it along with the United Nations. On September 14, 1950, America sent its forces in Japan to defend South Korea, though this resulted in the forces nearly being pushed off the Korean peninsula. The commander of the American forces at the time was General Douglas Macarthur, who planned a counterattack of the port of Inchon, on November 25, 1950. The attack was successful, it pushed back the North Korean forces to its border between it and China; the Yalu River. In November of 1950, China decided to enter the war to support North Korea's spread of communism. Chinese forces are able to push the UN and the US back into South Korea. This resulted in the border between North and South Korea to move back to where it was originally. The war finally ended three years later on July 27, 1953. The Korean War is a good example of containment because the United States was successful in preventing North Korea from expanding communism into South

According to Document C, on June 25, 1950, North Korea suddenly invaded South Korea. North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union, while South Korea was being supported by the U.S. president, Harry Truman, and the United Nations promised to defend South Korea. After World War 2, on September 14, 1950, the U.S. and the U.N. were officially sent to protect South Korea, but the U.S. and the United Nation’s forces were almost pushed off the Korean peninsula. The leader of the Americans, was General Douglass MacArthur. On November 25, 1950, General MacArthur organized a dangerous, yet victorious retaliation at the port of Inchon. The Americans pushed the North Korean forces all the way back to the border of North Korea and communist China, but this battle got difficult again because China got involved and pushed the Americans back to South Korea. Over two million people died in this war as well as more than fifty thousand American soldiers. This act of containment in a way made the U.S. look kind of weak, because there were a lot of deaths and suffering before it ended therefore making their system look

Efforts to unify Korea resulted in more than 100,000 deaths due to guerilla warfare. In April 1950, North Korean leader Kim II Sung persuaded Joseph Stalin to back an invasion of South Korea, convincing Stalin that the United States would not intervene. Stalin agreed to provide arms, equipment, and advisors to the North Koreans (“Korean War”). Kim II Sung did not stop there as he also persuaded the newly communist Chinese to aid the North Koreans. The Korean War, (June 25,1950 – July 27, 1953), occurred when over 75,000 North Korean Army invaded the land across of the 38th parallel. American president Harry Truman was feeling heat after “letting China fall”, so Truman ordered American troops into action on South July, the United Sates entered the conflict on South Korea’s behalf. The next three years would be the darkest and most horrific in Korean history. As seen in American reporter Bill Shinn’s account, “the North Koreans were gruesome…during the occupation of South Korea, they killed over 165,000 civilians. Also, I witnessed a South Korean mass execution of civilians suspected of having helped the communists. Korea was a mess” (“The Forgotten War Remembered: Korea, 1950-1953). This shows the depths of the horror that was perpetrated in Korea for three years.

The Korean War begun on the arrival of the North Korean Army troops consisted of 750.000 soldiers at the 38th parallel- the imaginary boundary between South Korea- on une 25, 1950 (History.com Staff,2009). According to (PBS, N.D.), Korean War was the first war to provide the confrontation of nuclear powers and the war also showed how hard was the difficulty of both sides to create the right decision on when to attack using the bomb at the right time. Although it might seemed to be difficult, the attacks from Soviet Union and China on behalf of North Korea was hard to repel so that United Nation was asked to help South Korea repelled those attacks (PBS, n.d.). By the end of the brutal war that lasted 60 years there were two millions victim

1. Truman’s Policy of Containment was that the U.S. would work to stop the spread of communism by providing political, economic, and military assistance to all democratic nations under the threat of communism or any external authoritarian forces. The political aspect of this policy was the alliances made during the Cold War. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was a defensive alliance among the U.S. and other European countries against the Soviet Union. This alliance still exists today. The Warsaw Pact was a defensive alliance that included the Soviet Union and its satellite governments in Eastern Europe. These alliances assured that if one country was attacked, then the others must react by coming to the defense.

The United States geared up for a war against communism. Not more than a day after Seoul fell, the US had officially entered the war and had ground troops committed, an action backed by the U.N. At the beginning of the war the U.S. soldiers had little combat experience and they were in a foreign land. This was the reason for the mass casualties sustained by the U.S. “US Army casualties from June 25 through July 31, 1950 totaled 6,003: 1,884 Killed In Action, 2,695 Wounded In Action, 523 Missing In Action and 901 reported captured. Of these more than half were from the 24th Infantry Division- 3,610.”( Evanhoe, Ed. "The Korean War." The Korean War. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://www.korean-war.com>.)

On 25 June 1950, North Korea forces launched a surprise invasion on South Korea under the command of Kim Il-sung and the North Korean People’s Army. During this time, the North Korean People’s Army forced through the 38th parallel and pushed through the unprepared Republic of Korea forces to the Southeast Pusan peninsula. The approximately 125 mile defensive perimeter was where United Nation forces withdrew to by August, 1950 and held that Southeast position of the peninsula. While UN forces were outnumbered, commanders were in search for a new course of action that would help skew the war in favor of them. It was then General of the Army Douglas MacArthur first envisioned his plan for what would become the Battle of Inchon.