Korea PDF - Early 1950s

The Chinese Revolution and the Korean War Early 1950’s Monolithic Communism The American public likes simple ideas. They do not want to think about complex issues and topics that must be balanced between different ideas. They like clear boundaries of ideas. Good vs. Evil is what they understand. T...

The Chinese Revolution and the Korean War Early 1950’s Monolithic Communism The American public likes simple ideas. They do not want to think about complex issues and topics that must be balanced between different ideas. They like clear boundaries of ideas. Good vs. Evil is what they understand. This created a feeling in the U.S and other parts of the Western World that all Communist nations are exactly the same. They are all hostile to the U.S and friendly with each other. This idea was called Monolithic Communism and it was totally wrong. Many Communist nations hated each other, especially in the later stages of the Cold war. It took a very long time for some people in the U.S to realize this fact. Many statesmen in Europe realized this long before the U.S did. At various points in the Cold war China hated the USSR (they even got into a small war with them) Yugoslavia hated the USSR. Poland and Hungary revolted against the USSR while still staying somewhat communist. Even with these examples it would be 20 years before the U.S realized that it could negotiate with different Communist groups not just the U.S.S.R. Chinese Communism Chinese Communism The ideas behind Communism focused on the industrial worker and the land owner. These are the initial principals that guided the development of the U.S.S.R. Communism in China took on a different form. During the 1930’s and 1940’s China was a very technologically primitive nation. It’s cities were very basic compared to cities in Europe, North America and Japan. The land was politically fractured and vulnerable. There was very little in China that you could call stable leadership. Mao Zedong Japan took advantage of this unstable China and invaded it in during the 1930’s and 1940’s. A force of Chinese people that were trying to bring stability banded together and headed for China’s far western provinces. They were lead by Communist ideals and their leader was Mao Zedong. Unlike their Soviet counterparts the Chinese Communists believed in a revolution of the farmer. China was and is still to this day a land that depends on its farming community. Mao was supported by the farming communities of western China as he fought other Chinese warlords and Japanese imperialist forces. Opium To earn money to feed and equip his army, Mao relied on the trade of one key item. Opium. Opium is a drug that comes from poppies and is converted into Heroin. It has a long and nasty history in China. Opium is highly addictive, damages the brain and is worth a lot of money. Farmers in the communist held province would grow Opium and the Communists would sell it to the occupying Japanese forces. Communist forces in China essentially gained their wealth and power by being drug dealers to the Japanese. Mao knew how powerful and dangerous this drug was so he banned his people from using it and when he came to power he made it’s use in China illegal. Late 1940’s Civil War and the Communist takeover. After Japan was kicked out of China at the end of WWII, China erupted into a bloody civil war. Mao’s Communists were fighting the nationalist forces. Stalin refused to help Mao and instead helped the nationalists. By 1949 Mao had gained the advantage in the war and pushed the nationalists out. The nationalists set up their base in the small island of Taiwan, where they still exist today. Mao had just successfully created a Communist revolution in China. China Loss Syndrome While all of these events were taking place in China the U.S was not really paying attention. They were very preoccupied with Berlin, Turkey, Greece and Iran as well as the prospects of rebuilding Europe. When China went Communist the U.S government and people panicked. They had formally supported the nationalists since WWI and were shocked to hear that their friends had failed to maintain control of China. They watched as China quickly spread its revolution into neighbouring Tibet, forcing out the Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama. They became frightened that any country in Asia could be next. If China could fall to Communism than anyone could, and that was a scary thought for most Americans who were very anti-Communist. NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization 1949 Western Powers come together and sign a political organization that is designed to “Keep the Russians out and the Germans down” Eventually it becomes a military organization after the Korean war. It has engaged in a number of major conflicts and still exists today. They are the most powerful military block on the planet. There is nothing that the UN can do that NATO can’t do as well if not better except involve the Russians and the Chinese. Post WWII Korea Korea was a colony of Japan. It is located right on the border with China as a peninsula. When Japan was defeated Korea was removed from Japanese control. The U.S.S.R occupied the north above the 38th parallel. The U.S occupied the south including the capital city. By 1948 the nation had yet to be reunified under a national election despite statements by both powers that it was their intention to have one Korea. The Soviets got tired of waiting and set up their own Communist government in the north. The Americans set up their own Capitalist government in the south. Invasion from the North In the summer of 1950 the government of the North decided to attempt to reunify the country by force. They invaded over the 38th parallel and had sweeping victories. The South quickly lost the capital and was pushed back to the tip of the peninsula. The Soviets sent them equipment but not troops. U.N Police Action The United Nations was originally created to deal with this kind of international conflict. After the revolution in China the Soviets wanted Mao’s people to take China’s spot on the security council. The U.S, Britain and France refused stating that the nationalists in Taiwan are still the rightful government. The Soviets walked out in protest. So when the vote came to have military action in Korea against Communist forces there was no Communist power present to support North Korea. The UN decided to have a Police Action in Korea that would remove the threat of a bigger war. 14 Nations including Canada signed up to send troops to Korea. Korean War 1950-53 Lasting from 1950 – 1953 the Korean war was the first major armed conflict of the Cold War. It has largely been forgotten with time since it was such a relatively small conflict in the history of the 20th century. UN forces invaded at the mid point of Korea led by General Douglas MacArthur. They quickly pushed the North Koreans back and liberated the South. They then pressed on past the 38th Parallel into the North reaching just a few Km from the Chinese border. This war also saw the helicopter used for the first time in wide scale action. Mostly for medical transportation. Chinese Intervention The Soviet Union refused to send forces to aid the North. If the North fell this would put a Capitalist hostile nation right on China’s borders. This worried China. By the fall of 1950 Mao had called upon an Army of 100 000 volunteers to help aid North Korea. Since they were volunteers this was not an official action by China, therefore technically China should be safe from invasion. The Chinese forces managed to push the UN forces back almost to the 38th parallel by July of 1951. From that point onward the war was static almost as static as the battles of the Western Front of WWI. The Atomic Question The use of the Atomic bomb was brought up many times in the Korean War. The U.S had a decent supply of bombs, however, by 1949 with the help of a large intelligence network the U.S.S.R had also developed an Atomic bomb. U.S officials could not figure out if they needed to use an Atomic bomb to stop the war. After the results of Hiroshima and Nagasaki they did not know if they had the right to cause that much damage and suffering again. After the Chinese intervention the possibility of using the bomb against Chinese air bases was strongly discussed. Armistice The fighting stopped before the possibility of Atomic bombs became a reality. As in WWI the fighting stopped with an Armistice which is just an agreement to stop the fighting. Unlike WWI there was never a peace process. Technically the Korean war is still going on to this day under a continual state of Armistice. The 38th parallel became a demilitarized zone and large defensive fortifications were built. During the war both sides were responsible for War crimes though the crimes of the North are better documented. WARSAW PACT The Korean War made the Soviet Union fear what the West could achieve militarily, especially through NATO. They knew they had veto power over the U.N which they failed to use in the Korean Conflict. In 1954 West Germany Joined with NATO as an independent nation. This caused the Soviets to create their own defensive structure. In response to the forming of NATO and the results of the Korean War the U.S.S.R decided that it should band together all of the nations that it was occupying and create an organization to rival NATO. Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, East Germany and the Soviet Union. This did not included Yugoslavia or China. Post War Bombs and Missiles Since the Korean war there have been occasional shots fired at both sides. South Korea has developed into one of the worlds leading manufacturers of computer technology and Cars. They also have a fairly extensive missile program that aids their telecommunications industry. North Korea has become reclusive and closed. As of 2006 they successfully tested their first Atomic bomb. Should war come to the Korean peninsula again Canada may be “required” under international agreement to join the fight since we signed the armistice as a part of the UN.