1950-1953

The Korean War

Korea

• After Japan’s defeat in WWII, Soviet and American forces agreed to divide Korea temporarily along the 38th parallel of latitude.

• North Korea was a communist ally of the Soviet Union.

• South Korea was backed by the US.

• North Korea invaded the south in order to reunite Korea under communist control.

• The UN condemned the invasion. The US organized a UN force to help South Korea.

"U.S. Marines on the Korean front." Image. Corel. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 18 Dec. 2011.

Korean War

• The US –led troops quickly captured Korea’s north-south rail lines and cut off North Korean troops from their supplies.

• North Korean forces in the south soon surrendered.

• China sent troops to help North Korea.

• China and North Korean troops forced UN troops back to the south of the 38th parallel. The war turned into a stalemate.

Douglas MacArthur

• Favored an invasion of China• Distrusted Truman’s policy of a limited war, fought to achieve

only specific goals.• MacArthur favored total victory.• MacArthur sent a letter to the House Republican leader attacking

the President’s policies.• Truman fired MacArthur for insubordination

End of Korean War

• The stalemate was a key issue in the election of 1952.

• Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower promised that if elected he would end the war.• Eisenhower was convinced that only strong action would

break stalemate. • Peace talks failed- he hinted at nuclear weapons- convinced

communists to settle the conflict.

• 1953 both sides signed an armistice, or end of fighting.• Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) an area with no military forces

near the 38th parallel. • No peace treaty was signed

Effects of Korean War

Long-Term• Military spending

increases• Military

commitments increase worldwide

• Relations with Japan improve

• Future presidents send military into combat without Congressional approval

Immediate• 37,000 Americans killed• 103,000 Americans

wounded• Relations with China

worsen• Armed forces racially

integrated

Korean War: Who Started It?

Why might textbooks from different countries offer different versions of the

same historical events?

When textbooks offer conflicting accounts, how do you decide which

textbook to believe?

Textbooks, like other historical documents we have looked at, have a bias and often offer only

one perspective on the past.

History textbooks are often influenced by a country’s national perspective and geographic

and geo-political relationship to other countries.

Today we are going to look at two different textbook accounts of the start of the Korean War and try to

figure out where they come from, and which one offers the most trustworthy account. Before we do this, we

need some background information.

Korean War was the first hot war of the Cold War: 1950-1953.

During Second World War, the Allies decided to divide Korea at the 38th parallel. The North was under the trusteeship of the Soviet Union, the South under the trusteeship of the Americans. Two different countries developed: the North became a communist country, the South a non- communist, democratic country.

Both sides wanted to re-unify the country under their own rule.

In 1950, after a number of small skirmishes at the border, war broke out between North and South Korea. The US backed and fought with the South, and China fought with a backed the North.

Initially, American and United Nations forces pushed deep into North Korea; however, China entered the war and pushed the Americans backed into the South.

After three years, the two sides fought to a stalemate and kept the country divided at the 38th parallel

Our job today is think about the question: Who started the Korean War?

Background Recap

You are going to read two textbook accounts of the Korean War, one from North Korea

and the other from South Korea.

Read the textbook excerpts and answer the guiding questions.

According to each textbook, how did the Korean War start?

Which of these textbooks do you find more trustworthy? Why?

Where else would you look in order to figure out how the Korean War started?

Which textbook comes from North Korea? Which comes from South Korea?

Discussion