Lauryn Hopson, Kathryn Lee, Matthew McNally, Natalie Martin Korean War Lauryn Hopson, Kathryn Lee, Matthew McNally, Natalie Martin

Leading up to Korean War Communist North Korea invaded South Korea with the help of the Soviet Union and China North Korea tried to turn the whole Korean peninsula into a communist nation, but South Korea resisted and the United S tates intervened to help stop the spread of communism The U.S. entered the war to fight against the Soviet Union without causing a “Hot W ar” and at this time tensions were very heated between America and the U.S.S.R In 1945 Korea was divided into two along the 38th parallel, Russia occupied the North and America occupied the south

The Korean War and the Cold War Most people believed this civil war was the first step to a communist campaign to take over the world This is why most nations felt they had to get involved to prevent communism from spreading any further This war brought the cold war to Asia, Russia, China, the U.S., and the United Nations all took the opportunity to fight without directly fighting each other and starting another world war Both super powers contained nuclear weapons on both sides of the War which added to the tension of the Cold War

The War front At first when North Korea invaded Seoul the U.S. used a more defensive strategy but then they realized North Korea had a strong army and they used more offensive strategies The first summer was one of the hottest and driest summers on record and soldiers had to drink water from rice patties that had been fertilized with human waste Disease was always a constant threat 54,000 Americans and 5 million Koreans lost their lives during the war The U.S. pushed North Koreans back behind their border but were stopped at the Chinese border Unlike World War two and the Vietnam War the Korean War did not receive that much media attention President Truman was in charge during the Korean War and sent troops into Korea Kim Il-Sung lead communist North Korea during this time and Syngman Rhee led South Korea The war lasted from 1950-1953 The war ended in a stale mate after a cease fire

Outcome of Korean War The Korean peninsula remains divided to this day, North Korean remains a communist nation and South Korea is a democracy The Korean War gave the U.S. reason to expand their military expenditure Also, the Korean War was an important step on the road to civil rights because it was the first war fought where black and white soldiers were first integrated in the U.S. army Also, Americas relationship with Britain strengthened China became a major military power because the soviets gave them aid during the war America and South Korea remain to be close allies and over 30,000 American soldiers are still stationed there today