• The fall of China, the North Korean attack on South Korea,and Communist
insurgencies in Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaya,seemed to confirmthat
KEY TERMS
ational Security Council
Establishedin 1947 to
co-ordinate US government
external
work on internal and
security; members included
President,
the President,Vice
Secretary of State, Secretary
the chiefsof
of Defence, and
the CIA andICS.
Conventional forces
Soldiers, sailors and so on, as
opposed to nuclear or high-
tech weaponry.
Communism was on the march in Asia.
e Many in the Truman administration believed US Cold War credibility
was at stake in Korea. The US ambassador to the USSR,Alan Kirk,cabled
Washington on 25 June 1950, that the attack represented 'a clear-cutSoviet
challenge which US should answer firmly and swiftly as it constitutesdirect
threat our leadership of free world against Soviet Communism'.
McCarthyism and domestic political concerns
The United States was already in the grip of a 'Red Scare' when Republican
Senator Joseph McCarthy declared in February 195()that there were
Communists in Truman's Slate Department. This generated hystericalanti-
Communism and Truman feared if he were not seen to oppose the Communist
threat, the Republicans might win a great victory over the Democrats in the
Congressional elections of November 1950.
NSC-68
Early in 1950a beleaguered Truman, haunted by the Soviet bomb, the
establishment of the People's Republic of China and McCarthy, commissioned
the National Security Council (NSC) to produce a planning paper. He
wanted this paper to summarise where the United States stood in relationto
Communism and in which direction it should move.
NSC-68 was a classic Cold War document in that it described a polarised world'
in which the enslaved (in Communist countries) faced the free (in countriessuch
as the USA).This 68th planning paper of the NSC (hence 'NSC-68') claimed
that the USSRhad a 'fanatic faith' and that its leaders wanted total dominati0n
of Europe and Asia. The paper recommended:
e the development of a hydrogen bomb even more powerful than the atomic
bombs dropped on Japan, so that the United States could resist Communist
attempts at world domination
• the build-up of American conventional forces in order to defend the nation's
shores and enable the USA to fight limitecl wars abroad
e higher taxes to finance the struggle
e alliances to gain help for the United States
e the mobilisation of the American public in order to create a Cold War
consensus.
The recommendations of NSC-68 make it easy to see why the United Stateswas
ready to intervene in Korea.
Fears for Japan
The post-war American occupation had revitalised Japan, which was
increasingly perceived as a potentially valuable US ally in the Cold War (see
 Chapter 2 The Korean War 1950—3

page 20).Japan was only 100 miles from South Korea and within
Acheson's
defence perimeter. The safety of Japan would be jeopardised in the
face of a
Communist Korean peninsula with Communism apparently on the march.
The Defence Department told Truman that Japan was vital for the defence of
the West against Communism and in June 1950,several of Truman's leading
advisers said Communist control of South Korean airbases would greatly
threaten Japanese security.

The United Nations and lessons from history KEY TERM

Collective security had been tried in the years between the two world wars Collective security
in the form of the League of Nations. The League's failure was thought to An internationalsystem
have played a role in the outbreak of the Second World War. A keen student of whereby all countnes agree
to collectively protect any
history,Truman felt that the 1930s had taught that collective security should one of their number that is
be supported and appeasement (as when Britain and France gave concessions a varn of aggression. The
to Hitler) should be avoided. The North Korean attack led Truman to believe League of Nations served as
that the League's successor was being tested: if he failed to support the United the first worldwide collective
security organisaton between
Nationsand appeased aggressors, another world war might result. He was
the two world wars. and the
certain of support from Western allies such as Britain and France: they were Unted Nations took up the
anxiousaboutCommunist unrest in their colonial possessions (see pages 34 and role after 1945.
100)and they needed US protection in Europe.

US world domination?
Fromthe viewpoint of the Communists (and of a few Western historians),
theAmerican entry into the Korean War was part of the US attempt at world
domination.Some Western historians attribute US actions to ambitions to
mouldothernations in their own image (see page 15) or to ensure a capitalist-
dominated world economy (see page 57).

Thesignificanceof the US entry into the Korean War

Trumantookgreat risks in entering into the Korean War. His administration
wasvery conscious that events in Korea might somehow lead to a third world
warif the USSRand China got involved. JCS chairman
General Omar Bradley
Wasreasonablyconfident
that they would not, but US allies such as Britain
consideredUS policy towards China and Taiwan in 1950 provocative.

Uspolicytoward
China and Taiwan in 1950
WhenTruman sent
American forces to Korea, he also dispatched the US 7th
FleettotheTaiwan
Strait. His stationing of the fleet between mainland China
andTaiwanwas
motivated by the US fear that a Chinese Communist
ofTaiwanor
an aggressive move
takeover
CommunistChina by Jiang Jieshi would threaten US security, but
theChinese naturally interpreted it as reinjection of the United States into
civilwar Chinese
dismay,General fears were confirmed when, to state Department
30Julyand MacArthur made a high-profile visit to Taiwan to see Jiang
publiclypraised on
him. Secretary of state Dean Acheson
had declared
 o 50 100 mls East
China
Sea
Matsu
O 100 200 km
US 7th
Fleet.
aircraft
Carriers

Formosa
People's Republic (Taiwan)
of China Strait

Quemoy
Little
(Formosa)
O Quemoy Taiwan

US 7th Fleet-
aircraft carriers
South China
Sea

Figure 2.1 The Taiwan Strait in July 1950.

on 10 July 1950 that the US war aim in Korea was simply to restore the status
quo by evicting North Korea from South Korea. However, the British criticised
the dispatch of the 7th Fleet as constituting a US extension of the KoreanWar
to China. Britain pointed out that the combination of the fleet deploymentand
MacArthur's public support for Jiang suggested that the US aimed at something
more than the restoration of the Korean status quo. At the very least it suggested
that America aimed to defend Jiang and perhaps even to promote his aggression
against the People's Republic of China.

US public opinion
A second great risk that Truman took in entering the Korean War was a hostile
public reaction. Initially, the war had considerable popular support. Pollsshowed
three-quarters of Americans approved of aiding South Korea. Second WorldWar
hero General Dwight D. Eisenhower (see page 101)said, 'We'll have a dozen
Koreas soon if we don't take a firm stand.' Members of Congress stood up and
cheered when Truman's decision to send in troops was announced and whenhe
asked them for $10 billion in July 1950. A Christian Science Monitor reporter said'
'Never before have I felt such a sense of relief and unity pass through thecity
[Washington].'
Despite the cheers in Congress, Truman
asked Senator Tom Connally, head
of the influential Senate Foreign neededa
Relations Committee, whether he
 congressionaldeclaration of war. Senator Connally thought not, even though
Trumanpointed out it was stipulated by the US Constitution. Connally said:
Ifa burglar breaks into your house, you can shoot at him without going down to the
policestation and getting permission. You might run into a long debate by Congress,
whichwould tie your hands completely. You have the right to do so as Commander
in Chiefand under the IIN Charter.
Subsequently,however, when the war went badly, Truman's failure to get a
congressionaldeclaration of war caused him great political difficulties, and gave
hisopponentsthe opportunity to call the Korean War 'Truman's war'.

MacArthur
KEY TERMS
Anotherrisk in entering the Korean War lay in the appointment of General
DouglasMacArthur to command the US/UN/ROK forces in Korea. US/UN/ROK The forces
MacArthur'smilitary record and success in Japan made him seem the logical of the Unred States, Unted
Nations and Republic of
choice,but he was potentially problematic. John Foster Dulles (see page 105),
Korea (South Korea) that
theleadingRepublicanspokesman on foreign affairs, warned Truman that the opposed North Korea in the
UNcommanderwould need tact —not MacArthur's strong point. JCS Chairman Korean War
OmarBradleyconsidered MacArthur domineering, vain and arrogant
Bunco man A con man.
(MacArthur was convinced that he understood what he called the 'mind of the
Oriental'betterthan anyone else and he surrounded himself with sycophants Orthodox viewpoint
andfriendlymembers of the press who he could be sure would take flattering Historians who see the
Korean War as a war of
picturesofhim). Truman himself had reservations: in his diary in 1945, he Communist aggression and
describedMacArthuras 'Mr Prima Donna, Brass Hat', a 'play actor and bunco blame the Soviets for the
man'. Cold War have the orthodox
viewpoint.
Fromthefirst, there were major tensions between MacArthur and Truman.
Trumanbelievedin containmentand wanted a limited, defensive war in South
Koreain order to forestall Soviet or Chinese intervention; MacArthur wanted to
goalloutin North Korea and, later, against
Communist China.
Keydebate
Who or what caused the
Forroughlytwo decades Korean War?
after the end of the Korean War, American historians
demonstrated
relativelylittle interest in what some christened 'the forgotten
War',
'thewar beforeVietnam'
or 'the unknownwar'. Subsequently, the war
generated
considerabledebate —although far
less than the Vietnam War.
Wasit a war
of Communist aggression?
For years,
the traditionalorthodox
esternhistorians viewpoint on the Korean war among
was that it was a war of
Stalin's).
Not surprisingly, Communist aggression (especially
Trumanand this was the viewpoint presented by President
secretary of state
Dean Acheson in their memoirs.
 Summarydiagram: Causes of stalemate 1951—3

Two sides equally matched

Terrain suitable for trench warfare Military stalemate

US and USSR did not go all-out

All wanted peace

Diplomatic stalemate

Unwillingto lose the peace

until

POWs
Stalin's
Eisenhower death
Military negotiators

The outcome for the participants

How did the Korean War affect the combatants?

TheKoreanWarhad a great impact upon many of the participants, but most of

allupon the two Koreas.

The outcome for Korea

Thewarhad a devastatingeffect on many Koreans. Millions of Korean civilians
hadtheirlivesdisrupted by the war and became refugees. Although estimates
vary,it seemslikely that South Korea had around 250,000 military casualties and
a millionciviliancasualties,while North Korea had roughly 400,000military
casualties and 600,000civiliancasualties. During the fighting, Koreans, Chinese
andAmericanscommitted atrocities that were sometimes directed against
civilians.WhileSouth Korean and North Korean troops killed and harmed
farmorecivilians,the Americans also killed some. For example, in No Gun
Rivillage,nearTaejon,American soldiers fired on and killed several hundred
civilianrefugees,while American soldiers blew up a bridge after the refugees
onithadignored
warnings not to cross (the United States persuaded the United
Nationsto keep
such things quiet).
 suffered greatly. Communist troops were poorly fed and clothed.
Korean troops
paid and their casualty rate was around
South Korean soldierswere poorly
cent. When Matt Clark replaced Ridgway as UN Commander in May
40 per
on the front line in order to save American
1952,he put South Korean troops
were likely to suffer from malaria, dysentery,
lives (troops of all nationalities
summer, and frostbite in the winter).
encephalitisor yellow fever in the
suffered great economic problems
Predominantly agricultural South Korea
However, the post-war American build_
during and immediately after the war.
led to the injection of $1.5 billion per
up of the South Korean armed forces
a South Korean soldiercost $8 per month
annum (Washington reasoned that as
way to fight the ColdWar).
and an American cost $1650,this was a cheaper
increasingly prosperous from
American aid helped ensure that South Korea was
suffered greatly fromthe
the 1960sonwards. The North Korean economy also
war, primarily due to American aerial bombing.
Politically,the bitterness of the war confirmed the division of the peninsula
and helped the two authoritarian leaders to consolidate their power. At the
1954Geneva conference,negotiations on Korean reunification failed because
each participantrejectedreunification if 'their' Korea could not dominate
the peninsula. Rhee became a reliableAmerican ally and many Americans
considered South Korea a model state in the context of US containment

policies in Asia. Rhee held on to power until 1960, when he was driven out by a

combination of nationwide student demonstrations and US exasperation with

his rigged elections. Kim retained power until his death in 1994, his control and

propaganda such that he remains greatlyrevered by North Koreans. As of today,

the two Koreas remain divided, there is still no peace treaty that has endedthe
Korean War, and while South Korea isprosperous and democratic, Communist
North Korea isa secretiveand impoverished nation.

The outcome for the United Nations

Views on the outcome of the Korean War for the United Nations depend upon
one's interpretation of the war (see Table 2.2).
Table 2.2 Viewpoints on the outcome for the United Nations
and
Impact of viewpoint on the IJN
Viewpoint on the Korean War the Korean War
The Korean War was a genuine
The Korean War was a UN triumph.
UN war and a just war against North
The UN saved South Korea from
NorthKorean aggression
Korean aggression
The UN got involved in what was in a
The UN had no right to intervene
essentially a Korean civil war
civil war, and in doing so perpetuated
the division of Korea
The Korean War was a US
war —5 The UN was an American tool
The outcome for the United States
Over 30,000Americans died in Korea: for contemporaries, this now 'forgotten
war' was immensely important and significant for US foreign policy and in
domesticpolitics.

A USforeign policy triumph?

Containment (see page 10) could be said to have worked. The United States
wentto war to save South Korea from Communism and to restore the status quo
in the Korean peninsula. In that it succeeded. The United States showed itself
willing and able to halt Communist expansion, 'saved' South Korea and ensured
Japanesesecurity. The war could be said to have helped American prestige and
credibilityin that the United States held the line against the Communists and
restoredthe status quo, but the United States had failed in its attempt to reunify
thepeninsula. General Matt Clark said, 'I gained the unenviable distinction of
beingthefirstUnited States Army Commander in history to sign an armistice
withoutvictory.'

A Cold War turning point?

Inmany ways, the Korean War was a great turning point in the Cold Wan

• Althoughthe Truman administration was dominated by Europe-firsters, it

can be argued that the Korean War had shifted the storm centre of the Cold
Warfrom Europe to Asia, which made the Soviets feel more secure. Truman
had dramatically expanded and militarised US policy in Asia.
• TheKoreanWar poisoned Sino-American relations. It would be nearly two
decadesbeforethe two nations finally exchanged ambassadors.
• Although the United States believed and claimed that it fought for democracy
in theCold War, the Korean War left it wedded to undemocratic regimes in
Taiwan (see page 54) and South Korea.
• TheKorean War escalated the Soviet—American arms race. US defence
expenditurequadrupled between 1950and 1953,and when Truman ordered a KEY TERM
speedingup of the US hydrogen bomb programme, the Soviets did likewise.
TheKoreanWar inspired the United States to strengthen NATO, the new NATO The NorthAtlantic
defensiveWestern military alliance established in 1949.Building up NATO Treaty Organisationwas an
led the US to initiate the remilitarisation of West Germany. anti-Communist Western
e TheKoreanWar helped military alliance established by
transform the US relationship with Germany and
Japan,who had been America's great the United States in 1949.
enemies, but now became America's
close allies.
• Thehistorian
James Matray (2002)saw the 'main legacy' as being that the
'UnitedStatesthereafter
pursued a foreign policy of global intervention and
paidan enormous
price in death, destruction, and damaged reputation'. This
Wasparticularly
the case in relation to Vietnam, US interest in which was
fatallyincreased by the Korean
War (see page 100).
 of the Korean War on Japan
The impact
development into a reliable and
Korean War speeded up Japan's
The
US ally (see page 21) and greatly benefited the Japanese economy
invaluable
heavily upon Japanese products and facilities: for example
The US relied
and Toyota produced and repaired trucks for the Americans during
Nissan
Korean War, and soon grew into industrial giants on the world stage
the
owed much to internal factors (such as the hard
Japaneseprosperityalso
States bearing the financial burden of Japan's
work ethos)and the United
second most prosperous nation in theworld
defence.By 1965,Japan was the
By the 1970s, Japanese nationalist antipathy
(theUnited States was the first).
quite strong, while the perceived
towardsthe UnitedStates was often
economicthreat from Japan aroused American antagonism. However,it
was not until the 1980s that Japanese—American relations deteriorated
dramatically.Significantly, that deterioration paralleled the winding downof
the Cold War.

The impact upon US domestic politics

The KoreanWar:
exacerbatedthe anti-Communist hysteria that Senator McCarthyhad
generatedsince February 1950 (see page 52). Sales of backyard bomb shelters
increasedand schools had atomic attack drills in which children weretrained
to hide under desks in the event of a Soviet bomb being dropped on them

Communistswere banned from employment as teachers or civilservants.

Free speech was badly affected as left-wingers and suspected Communists
were persecuted.
e cost the United States $67billion (billions more were subsequently spent
on rebuildingSouth Korea).The increased defence expenditure boostedthe
gross nationalproduct,but also generated
inflation.
• greatlydamaged Truman's
presidency. His failure to obtain a congressional
declarationof war helped to saddle
him with all the blame for 'Truman's
war', and, accordingto the
historian James Patterson (1996),rendered
him 'virtuallypowerless'
either to control Congress or to lead the country
effectively.He decidedagainst his
standing for re-election in 1952because
popularityratings had
plummeted. The war helped to ensure the 1952
of theRepublican Dwight D.
Eisenhower, because voters hoped he would
bring peace.American
people were tired of Truman and felt that General
Eisenhower could be bf
trusted to bring an acceptable peace in Korea,where
son was fighting.
• hastened the
desegregationof the army
Underthe pressure ordered by President Truman
of war, the army white
American top brass integrated black and
soldiers in Korea.
 China and the USSR
Theoutcomefor
Chinese and the Soviets were concerned, the Korean War had
Asfar as the
mixed results:
in Korea impressed the world. In the military
China'smilitary performance
Chinese troops effectively held the Americans
stalematefrom 1951to 1953,
other hand, these triumphs came at the cost of around a
to a draw.On the
million Chinese casualties.
between China and North Korea
Thewar strengthened the relationship
strengthened the Sino-Soviet alliance. It encouraged the
and,in some ways,
a nuclear power from 1955,
Sovietsto set China on the road to becoming
had left them to do all
butthe Chinese nursed resentment that the Soviets
thefighting,and this played a part in the subsequent Sino-Soviet split (see
page 177).
• Thewar poisoned Sino-American relations and contributed greatly to
Westernopposition to Chinese membership of the UN.
Thewar consolidatedthe power of Mao's government, which promoted
nationalunity through the 'Resist America' campaign and used the war as an
excuseto introduce greater repression.
• TheKoreanWar was in some ways a triumph for the USSR: it demonstrated
Communistmilitary effectiveness, tied down the Western powers in Asia,
andcausedtensionswithin the Western alliance. On the other hand, it led
to the remilitarisation of two Soviet rivals, Japan and Germany, and to their
integrationinto the Western defensive system.

Thesituation in Asia in 1953

Attheend of the Korean War, North Korea and South Korea were devastated
andremaineddivided, Cold War tensions remained high, and Asia was clearly
thenewcentreof those tensions. The United States and its allies still faced what
theyperceivedas Communist aggression: although the Communist insurgencies
inthePhilippinesand Malaya neared
defeat, the Vietnamese Communists were
doingwell (see Chapter
3).
KEY FIGURE
Whilethe Korean War increased
US interest and aid in Asian countries such
asFrench
Indochina,the Philippines and Pakistan, it also encouraged several Jawaharlal Nehru
statesto distance (1889-1964)
themselves from the Cold War. Amongst the neutralist or
non-aligned nationswere Egypt, India and Indonesia. Indian Prime Minister A leading figure tn the Indian
Jawaharlal Nehru had criticised not only North Korean
aggression in 1950, but campaign for independence
alsoAmerican policytowardsTaiwan and French Indochina. He from Britain. he was the first
supported the
entryofCommunist China into the United Nations and opposed the crossing Pnme Minister of an
ofthe38thparallel. independent India (1947—64).
Nehru had proclaimed cold war neutrality as early as
December 1947,but the He encouragedthe Non-
andencouraged Korean war intensified his belief in non-alignment
Aligned Movement of nations
others to agree with him, as
conference demonstrated at the Bandung that sought to keep out of the
(seepage 89).
Cold War conflict.