Alex Castillo, Gavin Brock, Ryan McNew Korean War Alex Castillo, Gavin Brock, Ryan McNew

What started the war and who was involved? The following states were involved in the Korean war: Russia, United States, North Korea, South Korea, and China. The war was between Communist North and Anti-Communist South, in other words called a proxy war. It started on North Korea invading South Korea in order for it to become unioned to one communist nation instead of a separate nation.

What was the outcome of the war? The korean war was short, but bloody with about 5 million people dead. As the war went on it took two years for negotiations to take place. The war ended with a stalemate on July 27, 1953. The stalemate concluded with a division on the 38th parallel and a 2 mile wide demilitarized zone.

Which historical figures were in the war and what were their roles? Anti communist dictator Syngman Rhee Communist dictator kim il sung U.S. President Harry Truman Macarthur Mao Zedong Macarthur was the U.S. army general who led fighting in the pacific theater during WW2. He played his role by leading the war in korea, but he also ignored Truman’s orders for invading North Korea which ended with them retreating. Harry Truman played a tremendous role serving as the President and leading the UN to help with the war.

Positive Effects of Korean War Boost the economy of Japan Legitimize the United nations Bring larger military expansion to the world Established America’s chain of military bases around the world

Boosted the economy of Japan Much of the material used in the war was bought from nearby Japan. This gave Japanese economy such an dynamic boot after the ravages of WWII that some have called the Korean War, Japan’s Marshal Plan. The U.S. needed a supply line to fight in the korean war and Japan was the obvious choice. The Korean War had similar effects on the American economy, as defense spending nearly quadrupled in the last six months of 1950.

Authorized the United Nations The United Nations Security Council (which was being boycotted by Russia at this time) asked for UN states to send troops to the region under a UN flag. The huge bulk of the troops sent were American Gained respect by taking prompt and direct action. Used combined force to stop aggression. Achieved joint action by members.

Bring larger Military expansion to the world Helped give the U.S. a larger military around the world by proving the U.S. military is an unstoppable force. It confirmed the ideas behind NSC-68, with its call for US to expand its military and to lead an anti communist alliance.

Established America’s chain of military bases around the world Gave the United States the freedom to expand its military and have more bases around the world. Defense spending of the U.S nearly quadrupled in the last six months of 1950 for the military and expansion Gave the U.S. military authorization to have the most military bases around the world.

Negative effects of the Korean War The Korean War helped prompt a rapid and serious escalation of the Cold War between the United States and communist China and the USSR This war represented the first direct war between communist and American forces The United States considered a direct attack on China during the Korean War

Continuation of the Negative Effects North Korea’s economic and agricultural infrastructure was almost completely destroyed as a result of the war The bombings annihilated much of the country’s agricultural lands and most of its transportation system The country of North Korea had a 12% decrease in the population due to the constant bombing, disease, and famine

Living Conditions in Korea Due to one of the hottest and driest summers on record, the thirsty American soldiers had to drink water from the rice paddies. As a result, dangerous diseases were very common. During the frigid cold winter of 1950, U.S. soldiers had to deal with icy terrain, shortage of cold weather gear, jamming guns, and frozen food rations

Costs of the Korean War In North and South Korea, millions of refugees were scattered around the two countries. For the US, Defence spending went up from 12 to 60 billion dollars, failed to liberate North Korea After the war, russia was forced into an expensive arms and space race with America China failed to win South Korea for Communism, and was isolated by America in trade and politics

Casualties of the Korean War 1.3 million South Korean military, 520,000 North Korean military, and over 3 million civilian casualties 17,000 UN casualties 142,000 US casualties 900,000 Chinese casualties