The war in Korea was the first war waged against an aggressor state by the United Nations in the twentieth century. It was unlike any other major conflict in that there was no formal declaration of war to mark its beginnings and no peace treaty to mark its end. Casualties for the Korean people and for the United States and communist armed forces were horrific; and for the British and Commonwealth forces it was their third biggest conflict in the twentieth century. (Alexander, 1986). Unlike any previous war, Korea provided a complicated scenario of advance and retreat during 1950-51, followed by a deliberate decision to fight a ‘static war' throughout 1951-53, while negotiations between the delegates of the armed forces proceeded fitfully, first at Kaesong and then at Panmunjom. These negotiations often revolved around the prisoner of war issue, for Korea was the first war in which westerners were subjected to barbaric forms of imprisonment ameliorated only when they responded positively to intensive indoctrination.
Key Words: Second World War, Colonel General Ivan Chistiakov, Truman, North Korea, UN General Assembly, Franco-British draft.
[...] Similarly, both military governors encouraged the return of Korean political leaders in 1945: Kim Il Sung, destined to become the first premier of North Korea; and Syngman Rhee, who would become the first President of South Korea. Chistiakov and Hodge first met in the Joint Commission in Seoul on 16 January 1946, charged with the creation of democracy in Korea but neither could agree on a definition of the term. (Cumings, 1981). It soon became clear to Truman that Chistiakov was creating a communist state north of the 38 degree Parallel. [...]
[...] This essay will examine how and why the Korean War began within the context of the greater Cold War. From this it will be clear that the Korean War erupted as a microcosm of the greater Cold War, and Korea was very much used as the battleground for conflicting ideologies; Soviet-style communism and western-style democracy. Prior to the end of the Second World War, Americans had little knowledge of Korea. The Allies had agreed at the 1943 Cairo Conference that Korea should be freed from Japanese occupation; at Potsdam in 1945 they noted that Korea would be the demarcation area for Soviet and American air and sea operations once Stalin had entered the war against Japan. [...]
[...] This essay has examined how and why the Korean War began within the context of the greater Cold War. We examined the ‘political chess' that was played by both sides, and how efforts to avoid war were unsuccessful. There are many theories about who actually instigated the war, but as was described in this paper, it is generally thought, at least by the majority in the West, that it was North Korea's aggression that spurred it. From this it is clear that the Korean War erupted as a microcosm of the greater Cold War, and Korea was very much used as the battleground for conflicting ideologies; Soviet-style communism and western-style [...]
[...] He authorized the use of US air power against the invading North Korean tanks and ordered the US Navy to patrol the straits between Taiwan (Formosa) and mainland China. (Hickey, 1999). Next day, on 27 June, Truman and Acheson met US Congressional leaders and confirmed that America would defend South Korea. As a member of the United Nations and of the Security Council it was America's duty to do so. At that stage, when diplomatic and military intelligence available to the President was, to say the least, imperfect, both Truman and Acheson instinctively held the Soviet Union responsible for the North Korean attack. [...]
[...] Such a policy, unprecedented in the brief history of the Cold War, might prevent its sparking a Third World War against the Soviet Union and the newly established People's Republic of China. (Hickey, 1999). It is important to note that a previous UN General Assembly resolution dated 21 October 1949 defined the Republic of Korea as a lawfully established government. The Security Council now viewed ‘with grave concern the armed attack upon the Republic of Korea by forces from North Korea.' It stated that North Korea's action constituted a breach of the peace. [...]
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