cold war Essay -- essays research papers

World War II divided Korea into a Communist, northern half and an American-occupied southern half, divided at the 38th parallel. The Korean War began when the North Korean Communist army crossed invaded non-Communist South Korea. As North Korean army, armed with Soviet tanks, quickly overran South Korea, the United States came to South Korea's aid. General Douglas MacArthur, who had been overseeing the post World War II affair of Japan, sent the US forces, which began to hold off the North Koreans at Pusan, at the southernmost tip of Korea. Although Korea was not strategically important to the United States, the political environment at this stage of the Cold War was such that policymakers did not want to appear soft on Communism. The US step in as part of a "police action" run by a UN international peace- keeping force. With the US, UN, and South Korean forces pinned against the sea at Pusan, MacArthur orchestrated a daring amphibious attack on Inchon a port on the western coast of Korea. Having made this landing, MacArthur defeated the North Korean army and recaptured Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Instead of being satisfied with his defeat of South Korea, MacArthur crossed the 38TH Parallel and pursued 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 secretly sent an army across the Yalu River. This Chinese army attacked the US/UN/ROK forces. Only after the appointment of Lt. General Matthew Ridgway as commander of ground forces did American the motivation begin to swing against the Chinese Communists. Although President Truman hoped to end the war quickly and pressed MacArthur to be more tactful, the brilliant strategist went against presidential orders and continued spouting incendiary lines about his hopes to reunify Korea. After gaining the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Truman relieved MacArthur of command. The move was extremely unpopular in America MacArthur was perceived as a popular war hero. Only the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saved Truman from impeachment after the firing. Ridgway took MacArthur's command and held off the Communists with strong forts and entrenchment’s just north of the 38TH Parallel, sending occasional offensives against the Iron Tria... ... terms. Although the United States attempted to keep the war on a very small scale, it quickly snowballed out of proportion, involving China, at times seeming as if it might become a World War III. Looked at another way, though, the Korean War can be considered a success: although the war did at times get out of hand, the US and the USSR were able to avoid direct confrontation, especially since the USSR fought mainly by proxy. Perhaps most importantly of all, though it was fought just five years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, the Korean War was not an atomic war, avoiding both the possibility of immediate nuclear and setting a pattern that would continue throughout the Cold War. The Korean War had a huge effect on the US government. One of the main reasons that the war was fought was to stop communism from taking over the world. The war strengthened our relationship with Britain. This war also let the US avoid a confrontation with the USSR, which would have hurt the economy drastically. If this war would not have happen I believe that the world would have been conquered by communism. Instead of living our lavish US life I believe that we would be living like Russia.