Extracts from this document...

Introduction

'The US intervention in the Korean war was caused entirely by the aggressive behaviour of N. Korea.' How far do you agree with this judgement? The true reason as to why the US intervened in the Korean war has created a lot of conflicting answers from many historians. The aggression behaviour of North Korea inherently contributed into US intervention. Historians believed that this was another event in a civil war that had been raging since Korea had been divided. Kim Il Sung was seen by Stalin as someone who is capable to destroy left wing factions in the north and his ability to unite the people under a communist leadership. ...read more.

Middle

One of the reasons why the Americans urged to stop the spread of communism is due to the pressures from home. The 'red-scare' started by McCarthy threatened Truman's popularity as the people's president. He was accused of supporting communism and employing closet communists under his administration. The fact that North Korea invaded the south provided the perfect opportunity for Truman to take action and convince the public that he was no more communist than they were. He assisted South Korea in a war against the ideology of communism. ...read more.

Conclusion

IT was essential for Japan to maintain as a regional democratic power in South East Asia so that it would provide a bulwark to the spread of communism in SEA and inform the USA on checks on Soviet influence. Korea is only 160 km from Japan, if the whole of Korea fell into the hands of communism, Japan would be the first country affected which would create a domino effect towards the other SEA countries. If all the region of Asia is under the influence of Soviet, America would lose her superpower stature and diminished all ties and faith from other nations such as Western Europe. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level History of the USA, 1840-1968 section.