However, taking into account the domestic pressures in the USA, it can also be argued it was the events in Asia that added fuel to the fire and made going into Korea necessary for the Americans. The primary event was the “loss of China” in 1949. This had a tremendous effect on the American attitude to the Cold War. Truman and his administration were blamed for “losing” China. Fear that they were losing the Cold War was taking root. McCarthy’s repeated attacks on the State Department forced Truman to fire civil servants in charge of China “old China hands”, ensuring that the new civil servants were far more aggressive in their outlook. To lose South Korea to an invasion by the North was unacceptable to America. Its domestic and international standing depended on their ability to contain communism. Americans were convinced that failure to protect Korea would mark a subsequent communist rising in other countries, a concept which would later be called Domino Theory. USA was particularly concerned with Japan, which had become America’s ideological, economic and strategic centre in Asia. In addition, strong communist movements in other Asiatic countries such as Malaya and Indo-China seemed to confirm USA fears. Although domestic pressure was important to USA’s involvement, it was the events in Asia that made those pressures immediate.
There were other reasons for USA involvement. Truman and the UN countries involved in the Korean War claimed that they were there to “defend democracy”. A case for this argument can be made since democratically elected South Korea was being invaded by communist controlled North Korea. Furthermore, America’s economic interests were being threatened. Whenever a country becomes communist, USA losses a trading partner. There was pressure from big business to prevent communist takeover of any other country. In addition, Truman learned from the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations and wanted to ensure that the new United Nations was strong. He also learned that appeasing aggressors never worked, and in his eyes Kim Il Sung was nothing more than Stalin’s puppet. And that, arguably, is the most important reason why USA became involved. Americans saw Korean War in the Cold war context. To them everything that happened in the world was the result of the conflict between capitalist and communist. Due to their monolithic view of Communism, they were convinced that Kim was fighting on the orders of Stalin. Because of this they could not afford to lose anything – cold war was zero-sum game. Losing Korea would be unacceptable if they wanted to win the Cold war.
Domestic pressures and events in Asia, as well influencing USA’s decision to become involved in the war, had a tremendous impact on the conduct of the war. Although the expedition to Korea was nominally UN venture, the armed forces were dominantly American under the command of General MacArthur. As such, majority of the decisions were American. Previous events in Asia affected the opening stages of the war. Truman distrusted Sigmund Rhee, president of the Republic of Korea, and as such refused to give military weapons and support to Korea. USSR reinforced DPRK army had no problem in driving poorly armed ROK back into the Posen pocket. At first instance, due to the USA policy, North Koreans seemed to be winning.
It is at this instance that the domestic pressures at home and the imminent disaster in Asia forced Truman to approve MacArthur’s risky Chromite attack. Once America became involved in the war, to loose it was unthinkable. Truman had many reservations over MacArthurs plan, due to the fact that it was extremely risky and could result in total defeat for UN forces. However, pressure by the Republicans and USA public forced him to agree. Chromite was an undisputed success, with UN forces managing to drive DPRK army out of Seoul, the capital, and across the 38th parallel. It is here that domestic pressures at home forced Truman to make a decision regarding the conduct of the war that he did not want.
Korean War was originally meant to be a “limited war”, both in weapons used and in territory fought over. Truman did not want a World War Three over Korea, and was very cautious not to provoke China or Russia. However, the sudden success of MacArthur’s in Korea galvanized Republicans to demand that Truman takes the war to North Koreans, and instead of containing communism, to “liberate” countries under communist rule. Truman did not wish to cross the parallel, and neither did his other European allies. Attlee, especially, was reluctant to escalate the war. However, MacArthur, a distinguished general, and his Republican supporters, demanded escalation of the war. They were convinced that they could win and unite entire Korea under Sigmund Rhee. Truman gave in and Operation Rollback was initiated. These events suggest that domestic pressures mostly determined the conduct of the war in Korea. However, soon after Operation Rollback began, other factors began heavily to influence USA behaviour.
The most important was the involvement of China in the war. Despite repeated warning of the Chinese via the Indian ambassador that they will became involved if America invades North Korea, USA ignored this and was convinced that China was going to sit this one out. China’s involvement heavily affected USA conduct during the war, since Americans were unable to hold out against Chinese onslaught. They were forced to retreat, Chinese driving them off North Korean capital Pyongyang, and over the border. Furious, MacArthur demanded “discretionary right” to use atomic weapons against Korean forces, and even against China. He was supported by the Republicans. However, in this instance, Truman refused to give under the domestic pressure. One of the reasons was the international pressure Truman was under. Attlee flew to America especially to ensure that A- bomb was not used. Furthermore, most of the allies considered MacArthur unreliable. Since Truman increasingly mistrusted MacArthur, he was willing to fire MacArthur after he criticized Truman in public. All of this factors indicate that in addition to the domestic pressures at home, conduct of the war was influenced both by the events in Asia and by the international pressure of the UN.
However, in addition to these arguments, there is strong indication that the Cold War context played a significant role in the conduct of the war. This is demonstrated by the continuing argument between the USA and Chinese forces over the treatment of Prisoners of War. Under Geneva convection, after cease of hostilities, all PoWs were to be returned to their forces. USA however, found that many Chinese and North Korean soldiers did not wish to return. They considered this a major propaganda victory if it can be used. As such, they refused to surrender all the PoWs, resulting in continuing of hostilities long after it was necessary. This event indicates that American’s considered Korea just a steppingstone in the Cold war. To them, the propaganda victory was more important than ending the war. They wanted to win the Cold War, not so much the Korean War.
From all the different factors, it can be determined that although domestic pressure had a great deal of influence over America’s involvement and conduct of Korean War, it was not a prevailing factor. And, in spite of their importance, were the events in Asia. It was the Cold War context under which USA regarded the Korean War that was the primary influence on the USA behaviour. USA was aiming to win the cold war, and behaved with that aim in mind.
