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The Cold War Heats Up. Chapter 18.2 pages 609-627. China Becomes a Communist Country. The communist party led by Mao Zedong gained much strength towards the end of WWII and by 1945 Northern China was mostly under Communist control.
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The Cold War Heats Up Chapter 18.2 pages 609-627
China Becomes a Communist Country The communist party led by Mao Zedong gained much strength towards the end of WWII and by 1945 Northern China was mostly under Communist control. The U.S. supported the “Nationalist” in China who were led by Chaing Kai-shek. The Nationalist in China were admired in the U.S. because of how they fought off the Japanese during the war. However, since Mao and the Communist gained so much support because of his appeal to China’s peasant class , civil war soon broke out between the Nationalist and the Communist. America supported the Nationalist and provided them with over 2 billion in military supplies and equipment. Despite this however, the Communist drove the Nationalist into Taiwan and took over main land China. This news shocked Americans and they began to fear the spread of Communism more and more. Containment they claimed had failed!
The Korean War In 1945 Japan surrendered Korea to the Soviets and the Americans. The line that divided the two halves was the 38th Parallel (north latitude). South Korea was the democratic half and North Korea the communist half. Soon after the war ended there was a mere 500 American troops stationed in South Korea. This signaled to the Soviets that the U.S. would not defend South Korea. In June of 1950 the North Koreans charged across the 38th parallel and attacked the South Koreans. This was the beginning of the Korean War. The Soviets supported the North and when the war came to vote at the UN Council, the Soviets did not show up and the council agreed to take military action against North Korea. 16 nations sent troops to aid the South and over 90% of the troops were American. The combined troops from the UN and the South Koreans were put under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.
The US Fights in Korea The North Korean forces at first seemed like they could not be stopped, however General MacArthur launched an attack that would surround the North Korean troops which resulted in half of them surrendering. The rest of the North Koreans retreated back behind the 38th parallel line. The UN troops would eventually come close to the Chinese border and it seemed that Korea would once again be a single country. However, China felt threatened by the presence of the UN and US troops at their border so they sent troops to fight on the North Korean side. China sent 300,000 troops and by their power in numbers, they drove back the UN forces into South Korea. The Chinese pushed into South Korea and took the capitol city of “Seoul.” This was now “an entirely new war” as MacArthur put it. The UN and US forces fought back and eventually pushed the battle line back to the original line, the 38th parallel.
MacArthur Gets Canned In early 1951 General MacArthur called for an extension of the war and wanted to attack China directly. He wanted to invade the Chinese main land and proposed using nuclear weapons to bomb Chinese cities. President Truman did not agree with MacArthur and refused to attack China in fear of possibly starting WWIII! MacArthur was stubborn however and tried to push his idea another way. He went around the president and spoke with private newspapers and Republican leaders. Truman would not stand for this and in 1951 he fired General MacArthur. The American public was shocked at Truman’s decision and most Americans agreed more with MacArthur than Truman. MacArthur was given a ticker-tape parade in NY City and even addressed Congress. His famous closing remarks, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.”
Stalemate Declared! The Soviets surprised the UN and US troops when they called for a cease-fire to the war. The two sides began peace talks in July of 1951 and reached an agreement based on two main points. That the 38th parallel would be the cease-fire line between North and South Korea. The area between the two separate countries would be a demilitarized zone. The two sides finally signed an armistice two years later in 1953 which ended the war in Korea. In the U.S. the news of a stalemate was not taken well. The war had cost 54,000 American lives and 67 billion dollars. Not only that, but the unsuccessful war depleted American morale and increased American’s fear of Communism. This feeling of fear began an inner nation man hunt for those Americans who were supporters of Communism.
