history korean war

• Mao Zedong's China turned Communist, becoming the People's Republic of China


  October 1949
• China turned Communist


  Stalin agreed a treaty of Friendship with China in 1950, USSR would support China's economic, technological and military development
• The US was keen to establish a regime in Korea that would ensure the production of a capitalist democracy</b>
• The US wrongly suspected that the fall of China to Communism was part of Stalin's scheme to spread Communism across the world
• The Korean peninsula was partitioned along the 38th parallel, with a Communist regime in the North and a capitalist dictatorship in the South
• Kim Il Sung


  Leader of the North Korean People's Democratic Republic
• Syngman Rhee


  Leader of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
• Invasion of South Korea

  1. Kim Il Sung, with support from Stalin and Mao, invaded South Korea on 25th June 1950

  2. Within days, Seoul the capital had been captured by North Korean forces
• The US believed Stalin encouraged the invasion of South Korea, fearing a 'domino effect' of countries falling to Communism
• UN response


  1. UN condemned the attack and formed a military force to stop it

  2. UN force led by General Douglas MacArthur landed at Inchon in September 1950, then pushed North Korean forces back to the 38th parallel
• The USSR did not directly enter the war but helped North Korea by providing weapons, aircraft and pilots in Chinese uniforms
• Domino Theory


  Truman thought that if one country in Asia fell to Communism, others would follow, undermining US national security
• In April 1950, the US National Security Council recommended a more hard-line 'rollback' approach to Communism, rather than just containment
• US forces crossed the 38th parallel in October 1950


  Pushed North Korean forces back to the Yalu River (North Korea's border with China)
• MacArthur's aim was to reunite the whole of Korea
• China's intervention


  1. MacArthur's invasion worried China

  2. In November 1950, 250,000 Chinese 'volunteers' invaded North Korea, pushing UN forces back over the 38th parallel
• Truman then decided to move to a policy of containment


  Feared direct conflict with China
• In April 1951, Truman sacked MacArthur after he criticised the President's policies
• The Korean War lasted until 1953, with over 600,000 casualties
• Containment had worked, Communism had not spread to South Korea
• The Korean War indicated the US was committed to containing Communism where its interests were threatened
• Death of Stalin led to Khrushchev becoming new Soviet leader


  1953
• In 1953, Eisenhower and Khrushchev sought peace, and an armistice was signed, leaving Korea divided