"How was the Korean War Significant?"
"How was the KoreaWar Significant?" Following World War II both Russiaand the U.S.interested in securing spheres of influence in order to spread their respective ideologies. Already prior to this Koreaand its neighbour Manchuriahad been of great importance to the USSR, and now this interest returned. In August 1945, shortly after Japanhad surrendered to the allies, Russian made an attempt to occupy Korea. The U.S.not wanting to make the same mistake with "appeasement" as they had done with Hitler, moved into southern Koreain order to contain communist spreading. Now, similarly to the situation in Germanyat the time, Koreawas split in two along the 38th parallel. North Korea became Communist and South Korea became anti-Communist and under U.S. control, the scene was set for the first conflict of the Cold War. The Korean War actually broke out on June 25th 1950when North Koreacrossed the 38th parallel invading South Korea. The NKPA (North Korean People's Army) managed to gain quick victories over the South Korea, due to their weaponry and tanks that they had gotten from Russia. Although the U.S.had previously said that they did not consider "South Korea a vital part of [their]
defense perimeter in Asia", Truman committed U.S.naval and Air support to South Korea. Although Koreawas clearly not a strategically important to the U.S. it was probably the tense political situation at this point in the Cold War that got the U.S. to intervene. In April Truman had also just approved of document NSC-68, which said that the U.S.S.R. had a plan "to conquer the world", thus the U.S.felt it had to oppose this communist threat. So, on September 15th after approval of the NSC-81/1 and with U.S.and R.O.K. (RepublicOf Korea) troops pushed back nearly to the end of the Korean ...
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defense perimeter in Asia", Truman committed U.S.naval and Air support to South Korea. Although Koreawas clearly not a strategically important to the U.S. it was probably the tense political situation at this point in the Cold War that got the U.S. to intervene. In April Truman had also just approved of document NSC-68, which said that the U.S.S.R. had a plan "to conquer the world", thus the U.S.felt it had to oppose this communist threat. So, on September 15th after approval of the NSC-81/1 and with U.S.and R.O.K. (RepublicOf Korea) troops pushed back nearly to the end of the Korean peninsula the U.N. "enters" the war. Under flag of the U.N. and command of MacArthur (mainly) U.S.forces launch a surprise amphibious landing at Incheon. In order not to get split, Communist troops are forced to retreat into North Korea. After having pushed the NKPA back to the 38th parallel by September 27th Mac Arthur decides to put NSC-81/1 into action. This (National Security Council) document suggests that the U.N. commander (Mac Arthur) should cross the 38th parallel invading North Korea. It is stated that if possible the U.S.should bring about a complete unification of an anti-Communist Korea. This is maybe the most significant change brought about in the Korean War, instead of just "containing" communism U.S. forces now attack and "roll-back" communism. This change signals the increasing tension in the international struggle between the USand the USSRfor world domination of their competing ideologies, Democracy/Capitalism versus Communism. U.N. forces managed to fight back the North Korean army all the way to the northernmost provinces of North Korea. Afraid that the US was interested in taking North Korea as a base for operations against Manchuria, the People's Republic of China entered the war sending an army to support the NKPA. The U.S.now also had another war to fight out, internally between President Truman, who wanted to end the War relatively quickly, and MacArthur who was still convinced of uniting Koreacommunist-free. After gaining the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Truman relieved MacArthur of command. This move by Truman was very unpopular among the American public, and only the support of the JCS saved him from impeachment. After MacArthur's leave, and his replacement through Ridgway, U.S. forces focused on holding their ground just north of the 38th parallel. In July 1951 peace talks were beginning at Kaesongand then later moved to Panmunjom, yet did not bring any results, as both sides did not want to appear weak. War and peace talks waged on simultaneously, without any results, until Eisenhower was elected President of the U.S.Eisenhower managed to advance peace talks significantly and on July 27th 1953 the armistice was signed at Panmunjom, except by South Korea. The 38th parallel is re-established as the boundary between communist North and anti-communist South. If you look at it one way you could say that the Korean War had no effect whatsoever on the country, except that large parts of it were now destroyed, especially in North Korea. The boundary before and after the War was at the same place, and both sides have still got their respective ideologies present. For the Cold War however the Korean War had a huge impact. While the Soviet Unionnever got directly involved in the fighting, it did supply North Koreawith weapons and supplies. The U.S., on the other hand, did commit its own troops as part of the U.N. peace-keeping force, making this the first "hot" conflict in the Cold War. Another thing that became clear in this War was, that the U.N. could be used by the U.S.as a foreign policy tool, meaning that since the majority of the U.N. force is American it is dependant on the U.S.A significant result of the Korean War for Russia, Chinaand the U.S.was that it greatly increased their military spending, and pushed the "nuclear race" to another level (the "H-Bomb"). North Korea also became involved in this race, and as a result also has nuclear capabilities, something which is definitely a negative outcome. The Korean War represented an important shift in U.S.Cold War policy; by 1950, a loss to communism anywhere was thought of as a loss everywhere, and must be engaged, due to the NSC-68 document. Finally, the Korean War demonstrated how difficult it would be to fight a limited war under "nuclear" conditions. Although the U.S.attempted to keep the war on a very small scale, it did get out of hand, involving China, at times seeming as if it might become a World War III. Looked at another light, though, the Korean War can be considered a success: although the war did at times get out of hand, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were able to avoid direct confrontation, especially since the U.S.S.R. fought mainly by supporting the N.K.P.A. Perhaps most importantly of all, though it was fought just five years after Hiroshimaand Nagasakiwere bombed, the Korean War was not an atomic war. Now in retrospect it can be said that the Korean War could have ended a lot worse, leaving not only Koreain ruin, nevertheless it ended with armistice, but the Cold War was not yet over.