U.s. Involvement During 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

Another factor for the US becoming militarily involved in Korea was the US domestic policies. US ideology was highlighted in NCS 68 which said ‘the assault on free institutions is worldwide now,’ and ‘a defeat of free institutions anywhere is a defeat of everywhere,’ therefore they felt it was their duty to stand against communism. However, NSC 68 also says ‘half measures will be…more dangerous,’ in reference to the 1930’s. Truman feels guilt over not getting involved in the British policy of appeasement against the Nazi’s in Europe, which led to WW2. In his memoirs he wrote ‘democracies failed to act it encouraged the aggressors to keep going.’ However, as this was written in his memoirs, it is written in hind sight, therefore will not be completely accurate. Furthermore, in 1949, Spy Trials were hosted in the US, when scientists and politicians were interrogated by HUAAC, the House of Un-American Activities Committee, and found to be giving nuclear research to Russia. This included Klaus Fuchs, a member of the Manhattan Project. As well as this, the US lost their nuclear monopoly when Russia successfully exploded their first Atomic Bomb, several years before expected, and China became communist. This led to the fear of more spies within the US government, and Truman was accused of ‘losing China’

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.

Fears of communism was a huge issue dating back after the Second World War. Americans were afraid of every new person coming into the United States and they did not want anyone who they thought was a “communist” to stay in the United States. The United States government made many Americans inclined to fear. Eisenhower's administration did not influence communism but Eisenhower's “Domino Theory” helped decrease a little of the American fears of communism. Containment also helped lower the fears that almost every American was having after the Second World War. Every policy that Eisenhower had was driven from the fear of communism. Communism was absolutely the biggest fear that Americans had dating back after the Second World War, the Eisenhower

Communal living has been a fixture of society since the days of hunter-gathering. It wasn’t until social classes began to emerge and forms of capitol were created that societies moved away from communism. The modern theory of communism comes from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’, The Communist Manifesto. Published in 1848, this dissemination of communist ideals, which called for the elimination of class

The Korean War would be a radical step in fighting wars, as well as the feelings people had toward the war. All wars in American History fought before the Korean War were based on either national survival or the gain of territory. A strong conflict was created between the Soviet Union and the United States. From this conflict, tension was so strong that wars were fougt in the midst of this Cold War. The Korean War was the first America ever waged that was not fought for national survival, for territory, for manifest destiny or for hegemony. Korea was the first ideological war;" (Coppel, 505).

The U.S. and other countries in the United Nations joined the war because they wanted to stop communism from spreading in South Korea.

Communism can affect everyone because of all of the people will begin to be corrupt and they will starts protests and block the streets. The government is going to be corrupt and he will not be able to lead the country into a good economy. In a communist government, he controls the property that you sell in and he controls the profits and tells you what you can and can’t sell. This is going to lead to many being corrupt and going against the us government. This can be a good thing, but with the interruptions with the people the

In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan. After the Imperial Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by the Soviets and the south by the Americans. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948, separate governments were formed: the socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the south. An invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War (1950–1953).

Communism is a great idea. That’s what they said before Stalin swiftly executed 700,000 people with a gunshot to the back of the head, and before Mao Zedong’s policies and political purges indirectly killed at least ten million. It is a simple hypothesis; if everyone is equal, then everyone will be happy. Not a terrible concept, but the corruption of humans constricts the system until it inevitably crumbles. Some nations and individuals continue to believe in the fantasy, but the approach has no hope. In this way, Communism is equivalent to humanity. Humans choose to portray ourselves as selfless and benevolent, a species of unconditional love and kindness towards one another. We naturally fall short of these standards and sabotage our own system with warfare and selfishness. We beat each other into the ground in a simple game called life in which we are all meant to be playing on the same team. We are remarkably hopeful, while incredibly hopeless.

Economic loss, in budget control was another factor. The author has drawn together theories form different sources on how the war played out. The Korean War, he states, that if the U.S. had never entered, would not have known of how communism worked. The Korean War called soldiers together using propaganda, or misleading promises. The government promised that fortune lay ahead for the men who took this adventure up.

The Korean War fought for mutually unknown and incommensurable (if not incomprehensible) goals by the two most important sides, North Korea and the United States. The North Koreans attacked the South because of fears that Japan’s industrial economy and its former position in Korea revitalized by recent changes in American policy. Kim II Sung weighed the possibility that the United States might intervene in defense of the South. Korea was a critical presence in American Policy at the dawn of the Cold War. The Truman administration identified its stake in Korea in the same “fifteen weeks” in which the containment doctrine and the Marshall Plan hammered out. Dean Acheson, then Undersecretary of State, and George Marshall,

First, is the Domino Theory that was made up by Truman. He believed that, if one country fell to Communism, then one would follow, like a line of dominoes. he was worried that if Korea fell, the next ‘domino’ would be Japan, which was very important for American trade. Second reason, was to undermine Communism. And last, by supporting South Korea, the US was able to fight USSR directly without invading Russia.

In On War, Carl Von Clausewitz stated, “When whole communities go to war . . . the reason always lies in some political situation, and the occasion is always due to some political object. War, therefore, is an act of policy.” Carl Von Clausewitz describes war as a true political instrument carried out by other means. The United States policy on “containment” was an important motive in analyzing their involvement in the civil war between North Korea and South Korea. President Harry S. Truman was receiving increased domestic pressure not to appear "soft" on communism. The United States chose to go to war in Korea to contain communism.

The foreign influence and conflicting leaders that the two sides of the war were instrumental in the cause of the Korean War. This is because when two sides have completely different ideologies, mass conflict easily sparks from just a small dispute. These conflicting ideologies were the causes for the two most powerful countries during the time period to battle against each other through the Korean War. The two sides, having completely different opinions on how to unify Korea lead to a dispute that would last three years as a war and cause large losses for both sides14.