Wednesday, 09 October 2013

The Korean War

The Korean War broke out for various reasons:

Firstly, long term causes abetted the start of the Korean War. Long standing Cold
War tensions lead to a mistrust. As N. Korea is communist and S. Korea is
democratic the war was considered a universal issue; America and Russia both
supported opposing sides. Furthermore, Russia had just finished testing their first
prototype atomic weapon; which further leads to increased tensions.
Secondly, short term causes also led to the start of the Koran War. The
Communist take-over of China worried the west; the fact that such a large
country had succumbed to communism meant that containment wasnt effective
in Asia, this led to the Domino Theory, If S. Korea were to be defeated Japan,
Taiwan and even India could be under threat. Furthermore, the attitude of the
South Korean government has always been totalitarian; they had always wanted
to control the whole of Korea, because they believed it was rightfully theirs. This
leads to them being determined to go to war.
Finally, trigger effects were also responsible for the start of the war. Kim Il Sung
asked Stalin for permission to start the war in 1949, as he was busy with
events in Berlin he declined the offer. In 1950 Kim Il Sung applied again and the
green light was give; this meant that N. Korea had the backing of the Soviet
Union in the war, giving them more confidence to advance on S. Korea.
Furthermore, one of the main reasons for the start of the war was the invasion
itself, if N. Korea had not have invaded S. Korea there wouldnt have been a hot
war.

America chose to defend S. Korea for various reasons:

Firstly, as America was democratic, they wanted to contain communism. Being
involved in a war trying to stop communism spreading was a good war for them.
Secondly, Russia had resigned from its seat in the U.N over communist China not
being allowed to participate. This meant that when America put forward the
suggestion Stalin could not overall the decision with his veto, as he was a
permanent member of the Security Council. Finally, was worried about the
domino theory, If S. Korea were to fall; Taiwan, Japan and even India could too.

America went through the United Nations to defend South Korea because:
Firstly, Russia had left his seat unattended over a dispute between him and the
west over Chinas position in the U.N. This meant that Stalin could not veto the
plan. Secondly, America saw the spread of communism as a worldwide issue, so
he allowed the worlds nations to vote on the issue rather than America alone.

Wednesday, 09 October 2013

Thirdly, if America went through the U.N he would have the support of other
countries: e.g. Britain sent troops to S. Korea. Finally, by keeping the war above
board Stalin could not accuse America of underhand tactics in the future.