How far was the USA's military involvement in Korea the consequence of a desire to defend democracy?

How far was the USA’s military involvement in Korea the consequence of a desire to defend democracy?

The USA’s military involvement in the Korean War is often seen as America’s desire to defend democracy. This argument is often difficult to refute considering economically there was little to gain from Korea and there was a certain risk of coming into conflict with the USSR. Although there are factors which I will later explore that are indicative of there being another purpose to the Korean War, much of the evidence shows the USA’s military involvement was driven by their fear of communism, which clearly went against their ideals and threatened democracy and their way of life. Detest conceit presented in unnecessary situations

Furthers Unfounded arrogance

It makes the person look ridiculous and the person their conversing with being left feeling uncomfortable and stifled.

Domestic events up to the 1950 in America had led the American people to be violently anti-communist. America the country that put much emphasis on liberation and the importance of democracy felt threatened by the USSR their rival superpower, who had a different government system and an opposing ideology. Often this is the main argument that the American’s belief of there being immense communist aggression and a threat to global peace urged them to take on the role as world policeman and defend democracy which they held close to their hearts. In addition the Truman’s doctrine promised political, economic and more importantly military aid to any of those country threatened by Communism, thus Truman could not back out of a promise.

Pressure on Truman mounted when on February 1950 Senator McCarthy accused the American government to be infiltrated with communism, this escalated the fear further. The loss of China to communism and the possible expansion of communism in the east, put pressure on Truman to take a ‘hard line’ approach to communism. One could argue that Truman’s decision to enter the Korean war was simply a way to appease his political opponents who accused him of being ‘weak on communism’, but this of course is a very limited reason since it does not account for various other events and possible reasons.

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6The historian Stephen Hugh Lee argues that the ‘war was not about two Koreas but about the US power and prestige’; this could be a possible reason, rather than America’s desire to defend democracy. 1949 saw the Soviet Union test its first atomic bomb which brought the US atomic monopoly to an end and proved the USSR were becoming almost technologically superior to the US which perhaps made them feel threatened that their position as the world’s leading superpower was under attack. This feeling may have meant there was a deep animosity within the US towards the Soviet Union, thus they may have felt if they intervened in the Korean War, and successfully won their image as a successful unbeatable superpower would be enhanced. One could argue this is a more worthy argument since Korea was not of a critical interest to them. Therefore the USA’s involvement in Korea can be seen not as their desire to defend democracy but their desire to prevent their rival superpower USSR from another victory and appear tough and resolute in the face of any threat. However whilst this may be a reason the real underlying reason was undeniably America’s fear of communism.

On April that year the NCS-68 document was produced which recommended a hard line approach and the recommendation of strengthening the USA military forces. The clear implication was that America would use it to fight against any communism threats. It becomes obvious tat with the political turmoil and anti-communist feeling in the USA and with Truman’s furious reaction ‘Dean we’ve got to stop those son of bitches no matter what’ on the 26th June when Acheson gave him the news of South Korea’s invasion, it was clear America would resort to anything to stop the spread of communism and preserve democracy. The US firmly believed that the North Korea was attacking under the orders of Stalin.

Clearly the American’s were dedicated to the cause since the majority of the military troops were American in addition they sought the involvement of the UN to justify their intervention. Although some may argue that it may have also been a way to show their support of the UN and legitimise the UN as a peace keeping organisation in its first international conflict. Yet again whilst this may have been a reason along with America’s desire to uphold its prestige and power and a way for Truman to counteract domestic political criticism once again America’s conduct of the war suggests otherwise.

The US’s actions in Korea were dictated by the policy of containment. The domino theory (if one country fell to communism then a chain reaction would follow leading to the loss of other countries) led to America enforcing this policy, which was America’s aim to contain the spread of communism by keeping it within in its current borders. With the course of the war America’s policy of containment changed to roll back, this was a very anti-communist stance in which communism was to be rolled back from the Korean peninsula and if successful would lead to the elimination of a communist state. But this policy was unsuccessful with the intervention of

... South Korea and allow it too to become communist.

Another factor of containment is the Truman Doctrine. Due to what President Truman had stated in this the Americans were morally obligated t o get involved. As the Truman Doctrine said "…it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." The invasion of South Korea by the North clearly meant that under the Truman Doctrine the USA had to get involved.

Another reason the Americans got involved in the Korean war was ...I’m narcissi Narcissistic:

In early came the first U.S. commitment to form a peace treaty with Japan that would guarantee long-term U.S. military bases. Some observers (including ) believed that the Japanese treaty led to approve a plan to invade U.S.-supported on , . Fearing that a united communist Korea could neutralize U.S. power in Japan, committed U.S. forces and obtained help from the to drive back the North Koreans, to Stalin's surprise. In a historic diplomatic blunder, the Soviets boycotted the , and thus its power to veto 's action in the UN, because the UN would not admit the .

However, would offset this with his own monumental, historic error: allowing his forces to go to the Chinese-Korean border. Communist China responded with human-wave attacks in that decimated U.S.-led forces as well as their own. Fighting stabilized along the thirty-eight parallel, which had separated the Koreas, but now faced a hostile China, a Sino-Soviet partnership, and a bloated defense budget that quadrupled in eighteen months.

The Korean War was a failure both for the military and political leaders in the U.S.. The United States never calculated the costs involved. If the conflict had ended at the 38th parallel in 1950, it could have been considered a stunning victory. But MacArthur and the UN. dreadfully underestimated the result of their actions. The UN. failed to understand that communist China would not tolerate UN. forces on its borders. The anti-communist hysteria in the United States during and after the war, made the U.S. leaders stockpile nuclear weapons. The Soviets responded by stockpiling their own nuclear weapons, thus creating a "Balance of Terror".34 The world became much more dangerous after the Korean War because of the volume of nuclear weapons produced. High taxes were imposed upon the American people to keep up the nuclear race with the Soviets. Within a year or so, America had turned its back on the Korean War. No one wanted to remember a war which cost so much to accomplish so little. The dead were just simply forgotten in the fast modern world. The lessons of the war were also forgotten. As the last troops left Korea, another conflict started in a nearby Asian land, Vietnam. If we had learned from W.W.II, we would not have fought the Korean War. If we had learned from the Korean War, we would have not fought Vietnam.

Often the decision to cross the 38th parallel and invade North Korea proved to be both a military and political blunder for the USA during the course of the war.

Bibliography:

Paul Johnson – A History of the American people pgs 682-688, Articles: The USA in Asia – Korea by Kevin Ruane & Stephen Hugh Lee – Korean War.