CONTAINMENT & COLD WAR IN ASIA
APRIL 30, 2014 NOTE PACKET C
• In the 1930s two political parties existed in China
• Mao Zedong & Communist Party• Chiang Kai-shek & Nationalist Party
• Civil War broke out & Communist Party defeated Nationalists
• China renamed People’s Republic of China• Nationalists fled to Taiwan
• Fear of communist spreading
• Post WW2 Japan est. a constitutional democracy now in communist threat
• US support for Japan became another way to contain
• Korea was divided at the end of WW2
• Japan had annexed Korea prior to WW1• After Japanese surrender, Allies agreed to divide Korea
at the 38th parallel (line of latitude running through middle of Korea)
• Soviets occupied north est. a communist gov’t, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
• US occupied the south and est. The Republic of Korea
• The Korean War begins in 1950
• N. Korean troops invaded S. Korea in hopes to unify country by force
• US fear action driven by Soviet Union spread of communism
• US responds with heavily military involvement
• US & UN actions during the Korean War
• General MacArthur in command of US troops • UN est. the United Nations command
• Contributed troops & arms from 16 member nations
• By mid 1951 a stalemate was reached• Figured continued, neither side able to advance
• Truman & MacArthur begin to disagree over objectives & strategies
• MacArthur pushed for second front while Truman feared a 3rd world war
• Truman dismissed MacArthur from command
• End of the Korean War
• Peace talks began in 1951• Eisenhower won election of 1952 promising to bring peace• When peace talks stalled, “Ike” threatened to use atomic
weapons • Korea remained divided at the 38th parallel
• Effect of the Korean War
• Policy of containment before Korean War focused on economic aid programs, after Korean War US showed willingness to take military action
• Truman ordered integrated units in armed forces • Permanent US military mobilization
• Military-industrial complex