THE KOREAN WAR

1. THE KOREAN WAR Proxy War : Cold War Characteristics

2. Big Questions Homework • Did it improve American status overseas? • Did it stop the Domino Effect from happening again? • How did this war effect North and South Korean relations for the future? • Will the 38th parallel ever be diminished? • How did the war influence the most hardline communist state in the world?

3. Up until WW II, Korea had been one nation, known as the Korean Peninsula, and was part of Japan.

4. Interesting • In South Korea, the war is called “625” or the “6-2-5 Upheaval,” which refers to the day North Korea invaded South Korea, June 25. • In North Korea, the war is called the “Fatherland Liberation War” or the “Korean War.” • In China, the Korean War is called “The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

5. Some Interesting Facts • The Korean War was the first military action of the Cold War. • I was drafted during the Korean War. None of us wanted to go . . . It was only a couple of years after World War II had ended. We said, 'Wait a second? Didn't we just get through with that?'- Clint Eastwood • North Koreans who were born after the Korean War in the late 1950s are on average about 2 inches shorter than South Koreans.

6. Did you Know ? • The first war in which the United Nations played a role. • When asked to send military aid to South Korea,16 countries sent troops and 41 sent equipment or aid. • China fought on the side of North Korea, and the Soviet Union sent them military equipment.

7. Cool Facts • Even though 16 countries participated in the Korean War, it is still not considered a “world war.” • Fifteen United Nations countries sent combat troops to Korea: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey. • Four countries sent medical assistance: India, Italy, Norway, and Sweden

8. Cool Facts • The U.S. dropped more bombs in Korea (635,000 tons, as well as 32,557 tons of napalm) than in the entire Pacific theater during WW II . • One of the most embarrassing incidents during the Korean War was when U.S. Army Brigadier General Francis Townsend Dodd was held hostage by North Korean POWs during a camp uprising. The incident led to a North Korean propaganda victory, and Dodd suffered career-ending embarrassment

9. Really ? • During the Korean War, like in other wars, prostitutes were available and became more available the farther back from the front line a soldier was. Venereal diseases were a constant fear of the military, and many men contracted them • During the Korean War, the South Korean government provided women for its troops. According to one account, the government standard of performance for such women was to service at least 29 men a day. Intercourse should not last longer than 30 minutes so the prostitute could move on to other men and make the maximum daily profit. There is heated and ongoing debate about how much the U.S. military was involved in providing prostitutes for its men.

10. Why ? • After the Korean War, 21 American soldiers chose to stay with their Chinese captors. Hailed in China as “Peace Fighters,” in America they were denounced as turncoats and traitors. • The U.S. media claimed the soldiers were brainwashed by their captors. Most of them later recanted their statements and returned to America.There were 7,245 American POWs during the Korean War. Of these, 2,806 died while in captivity and 4,418 were eventually returned to military control. Twenty-one refused repatriation

11. Malaises • Many soldiers died of frostbite during the Korean War before ever reaching the battlefields. The temperature in some areas fell below zero for long periods of time • It was during the Korean War that the intravenous use of amphetamines was first reported. Some soldiers had developed the habit of mixing heroin with amphetamines and injecting the combination. A significant number of servicemen returning from the Korean War brought back the habit with them.

12. Technological Miracles • The world’s first all-jet dogfight occurred ruing the Korean War on September 8, 1950 • During the first few weeks of the Korean War, the U.S. rushed a new weapon into service to provide an effective counter to North Korean armor: M-20 bazooka. It was nicknamed “super-bazooka” and could fire a larger, 3.5-inch rocket capable of penetrating North Korean armour. • The most powerful tank to see action in the Korean War was the 67-ton British Centurion with a 105 mm main gun. • The U.S. Army used approximately 1,500 dogs during the Korean War and 4,000 in the Vietnam War

13. Did you Know ? • Unlike World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War did not get much media attention in the United States. • The most famous representation of the war in popular culture is the television series “M*A*S*H,” ( Moblile Army Surgical Hospital )which was set in a field hospital in South Korea. • The series ran from 1972 until 1983, and its final episode was the most-watched in television history.

14. Communist Work by Pablo Picasse, Massacre of Sinchon

15. NK Publicity • The North Korean film Unsung Heroes(1978) glorifies members of the North Korean military while depicting war crimes by South Korea and the U.S. In its cast were several U.S. soldiers who had defected to North Korea • A little-known hero of the Korean War has been immortalized by a statue. The mare known as “Sgt. Reckless” brought ammunition to soldiers during the war and carried wounded men off the battlefield. The heroic horse is on display in the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

16. They are Cannibals

17. They are Cannibals

18. They are Cannibals

19. They are Cannibals

20. They are Cannibals

21. They are Cannibals

22. They are Cannibals

23. They are Cannibals

24. America Under Communism ?

25. America Under Communism ? Home by Xmas ?

26. America Under Communism ?

27. America Under Communism ?

28. Welcome to Korea • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbhZ0RapV4U

29. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson(1893-1971) • If the best minds in the world had set out to find the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war, “the unanimous choice would have been Korea.”

30. President Harry Truman(1884-1972) • “If we let Korea down, the Soviet[s] will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another.” • The fight on the Korean peninsula was a symbol of the global struggle between east and west, good and evil. 

31. Did you Realize that .. ? • The North Korean invasion came as an alarming surprise to American officials. • As far as they were concerned, this was not simply a border dispute between two unstable dictatorships on the other side of the globe. • Instead, many feared it was the first step in a communist campaign to take over the world

32. THE KOREAN WAR A grief stricken American infantryman whose buddy has been killed in action is comforted by another soldier. In the background a corpsman fills out casualty tags, Haktong-ni area, Korea.

33. Background of The Korean War

34. Japanese rule (1910-1945) • Korea had been controlled by the Japanese from 1905 to 1945. Annexed to Japan in 1910 • Control educational system • Japanese language and culture • Control land (40% of entire country) • Infrastructure • railroads and telegraph lines • Industrialization • Provisional Government-in-exile (1919)

35. 1910 - 1945 • Korea used to have some of Asia's most prominent communist groups and activists • These organizations worked underground to reestablish Korea's independence during Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula (1910-1945)

36. Timeline of Events • In 1945, Two young aides at the State Department decided what to do with their enemy’s imperial possessions. ( Japan lost in the war) • They divided the peninsula in two: • Soviets occupied the NORTH • America the SOUTH • The two halves were divided by the 38th Parallel

37. MAPS

38. Occupation DMZ ( demilitarization zone)

39. 1948 • UN organized elections in South Korea and in 1948 the Republic of Korea was established. • BY 1948, the Soviets had evacuated their zone • In the North, the Communists created the Democratic Republic of Korea • Americans left North

40. The Two Koreas • South Korea • Non-Communist • Fertile • Temperate • Rapidly Industrialized • Seoul is the Capital • North Korea • Communist • Mountainous • Cold • Little Industry or Farmland • Pyongyang Capital

41. Armies • The North Korean army was well-disciplined, well-trained and well-equipped ( guerrilla ) • Rhee’s forces, by contrast, were frightened, confused, and seemed inclined to flee the battlefield at any provocation

42. Summer 1950 • It was one of the hottest and driest summers on record, and desperately thirsty American soldiers were often forced to drink water from rice paddies that had been fertilized with human waste. • As a result, dangerous intestinal diseases and other illnesses were a constant threat.

43. Timeline of Events North • North: • communist government • supplied with weapons by the Soviets. • South: • capitalist system • supported by the U.S. • 1949- Both the US and the Soviet troops withdraw from Korea. Kim Il Sung South Syngman Rhee

44. Kim II Sung vs Syngman Rhee • 33-year-old, soviet army captain, Kim II Sung became known to be a heroic guerrilla commander. • In early 1946, Soviet occupying forces chose him to head the provisional government for North Korea. • 3 weeks after the Southern Republic of Korea was made, Syngman Rhee was named premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on September 9th 1948.

45. Progression & Economy Kim didn't want a Soviet satellite state and instead embraced Korean nationalism. The focus of which was the Korean People’s Army. Under Kim's rule: • over 2 million acres of land were redistributed in under a month • women were guaranteed equality under the law • political action cells were formed to educate the population It was clear that under his rule, North Korea had become economically well-endowed in comparison to South Korea. In June of 1949 both the Soviets and Americans had left the peninsula, this is when Kim's plan to unite Korea became evident.

46. On the Brink of War • South Korea obviously appeared to be faltering, but President Syngman Rhee (South Korea) unleashed a brutal campaign against suspected communists and leftists. • At first Kim wanted to use force, however he needed support and so he turned to Stalin for help. • Stalin supported Kim’s invasion plan, and advised him to get support from China’s new communist leader, Mao Zedong. • He did and was now on the brink of war. China NK USSR

47. Causes of the Korean War

48. Leading Causes of the Korean War • Reputation • American Army had recently upped the anti-militarization financement as far as the arms race went and Truman wanted to display the power and wealth of America internationally. • The USSR wanted better results and a chance to prove themselves after the Berlin Blockade.( will discuss next week ) This was particularly important to Stalin. • They felt that the Korean war was their way of proving their reputation.

49. Back in America • Strong Containment Success in Europe ( La politique d’endiguement ) • McCarthyism and Strong Anti-Communist Movement • “Loss of China”-Truman Administration Blamed

50. Truman’s Asia Policy after the Fall of China • Strong Pressure to Assist Taiwan and Chiang Kai-shek • Truman Administration Contemplates Not Helping Chiang Kai-shek and allowing China to Conquer Taiwan