Korean+War+Project

=﻿The Cold War gets .. hot=

Introduction
The Cold War was the on going tension between the U.S and USSR after World War II. The U.S believed in Democratic Capitalism and the USSR believed in Communism Dictatorship. Containment kept tensions between the U.S and USSR stable enough to not turn to the point of engage in military conflict. Germany and Poland were two major nations that were left to decide what type of government they wanted and the Americans feared that the influence of Communism would take over. Harry S. Truman took action by creating the Truman Doctrine which supplied Turkey and Greece over $400 million to prevent the influence of Communism. On June 24, 1450, North Korea occupies South Korea and the U.S involves itself causing the Cold War into a "military engagement". Both the U.S and Soviet Union sent troops to Korea and neither were willing to leave.

Causes
Before World War II started, Japan had complete control over Korea. The U.S and USSR declared war on Japan in 1941. U.S entered Korea from the South and USSR from the North. The government in South Korea was formed by the anti-communist Syngman Rhee. The Japanese surrendered in 1945 and both the U.S and USSR divided Korea into two. Each divided part of Korea had their own government. The U.S side would follow the influences of them and the USSR side would be influenced by Communism. Americans feared Communism would take over as many nations as possible and it would get to the U.S. North Korea was somewhat a "stalling" or "buffer" against U.S invasion.



Timeline

 * 1945**
 * Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes president
 * U.S drops atomic bombs on Japan, they surrender
 * Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet at Yalta
 * Japanese surrender Korean peninsula, Americans divided by 39th parallel, U.S troops - Southern part, USSR troops - Northern part
 * 1946**
 * Republicans win control of Congress
 * Republicans tell citizens if they want to be safe from Communism, vote for them
 * 1947**
 * Truman Doctrine [aka Containment Doctrine] - Truman supplied Greece/Turkey with $400 million, preventing Communism influences
 * Truman orders loyalty checks on all federal government employees
 * 1948**
 * Berlin Airlift - Supplies were sent because the capital of Germany, Berlin was divided into two.Truman wanted part of Berlin and the USSR responded with a naval blockade of western Berlin
 * 1950**
 * Korean War Begins ..
 * North Korea crosses the 38th parallel invading South Korea, almost taking over it's capital, Seoul
 * Chinese entered the war defeating Americans most of the time
 * 1951**
 * UN troops reach Yalu River and approximately 300,000 Chinese troops began to cross the river; MacArthur wanted to fire missles through the bridges but Truman said no
 * Truman dismisses MacArthur of his command because MacArthur disagreed with Truman on what to do with the Chinese
 * 1952**
 * Negotiations began for truce but fighting kept going for nearly two years
 * Truman announces he will not run for reelection
 * Eisenhower wins Presidential election by a landslide
 * 1953**
 * Peace Treaty signed at Panmunjom
 * 38th parallel reset as boundary between communist North and anti-communist South
 * Cold War tensions continue undebated



Outcomes
After two years of fighting the Korean War was finally over. North and South Korea attended the meeting at Panmunjom. The armistice document was a temporary cease-fire and not a treaty of peace.President Rhee of the South strived for more military engagement, on the other hand the North proposed an agreement ending the hostilities of each side. Each nation were suppose to stand a mile and a half from the battle line which was located along the 39th parallel. The Korean War showed how far of an extent the U.S would go to prevent Communism to invade everywhere. The U.S benefited the most from the Korean War because they used containment to stop North Korea from changing South Korea's government into Communism. The U.S also had new atomic and nuclear weapons to improve their military battles. America also faced the least about of casualties out of North Korea, South Korea, and the Chinese.



Casualties
Americans - 36,940 Chinese - 900,000 Killed/Wounded North Korea - 520,000 Killed/Wounded South Korea - 1,300,000 Killed/Wounded [1 million were civilians]



Why did Truman send troops?
Truman sent troops to occupy South Korea because it was the start of the Cold War getting "hot". Truman wanted to do everything he could to prevent the USSR from spreading Communism. When the Chinese intervened in the war, Truman did not want any conflicts with them since their relationship greatly improved during World War II. Truman was afraid of maybe another "World War III" because all these nations were fighting throughout the Korean War and the USSR did not stop by any means when it came to Communism.