Lesson Students will understand the Korean War as a major conflict of the Cold War.

Revolution in China After WW2 China was caught in the middle of a civil war between the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong’s communist army.

By 1949 Mao’s Communist forces had won. Soon he gives aid and support to other Communist groups like those in North Korea.

Korea After WW2 Korea was split into North and South Korea along the 38 th Parallel. The North was communist while the South was democratic.

In June 1950 the North Korean Army crosses the 38 th Parallel and invades the South. Kim IL Sung

The US Responds President Truman and the UN send a force to South Korea immediately to stop the North. WW2 hero, Douglas MacArthur, is given command of the army. (Truman Doctrine)

At first UN forces are outnumbered and poorly supplied. Pushed back into the “Pusan pocket” they are barely able to hold on.

With UN forces about to be pushed into the sea, MacArthur makes a surprise landing behind the North’s army at Inchon.

After the landing at Inchon the North’s army is in full retreat. UN forces cross the 38 th Parallel and chase them to the Yalu River border with China.

, Afraid that the US will invade China next, Mao Zedong sends thousands of Chinese troops into Korea. MacArthur is caught off guard and the US is pushed back to the 38 th Parallel. The war turns into a stalemate.

In order to break the stalemate MacArthur demands the use of anywhere from 7 to 36 nuclear bombs to use on China and North Korea. Truman fires MacArthur because he was afraid of making the war bigger, and because he no longer trusted MacArthur. Stalemate

Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president in He promises to visit the troops and resume peace talks during his campaign and end the war.

In July 1953 a cease fire is signed. Fighting stops, although technically the war has never ended. (DMZ formed across the border) 54,000 Americans and 2 million Koreans and Chinese are killed when the war ends. Nothing changes as the border between North and South Korea stays at the 38 th Parallel. However, the war proves how far the US was willing to go to stop Communist expansion. War Ends

Korea Firsts In 1948 Truman signs Executive Order 9981 forcing integration in the armed forces. As a result African Americans and whites fight alongside each other in Korea for the first time.

Helicopters are used in M.A.S.H. (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) units to quickly tend to wounded soldiers.

The first jet vs. jet dogfights take place in the skies over Korea in “Mig Alley” Mig -15 F-86 Sabre