The Korean War

But First... Let's have a recap of where we are so far. What is the Cold War? Why are we involved? What's going on in Europe? What is this Iron Curtain thing?

The Iron Curtain

Germany Divided Germany was divided into zones by the big 3 powers and France after WWII creating an East and a West Germany Berlin is also divided into East and West sections What was the Berlin Airlift?

Strengthening Our Allies The Marshall Plan gives economic aid non-Communist states in Europe Why didn't the Communist states receive aid?

Containment Policy of stopping the spread of communism through military and economic aid Examples Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan? North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?

Background on Korea Let's Look at Korea Under the control of Japan at the time of their surrender in WWII Like Germany, it would be divided into two separate nations Both desired to be united again

Falling Dominoes 1949 – Communists win civil war in China In the U.S., President Truman's administration is blamed for not being tough enough against Communism January 1950 - North Korea Stalin tells North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung that he is willing to help him unite the two Koreas

North Korea Invades the South June 1950 More than 100,000 troops carrying Soviet- made weapons and driving Soviet-made tanks Truman is determined to contain communism Orders U.S. naval and air forces to aid the South Koreans U.N. Security Council demands withdraw of South Korea 21 nations send aid or troops

Stop. Question Time. Why might President Truman have been more willing to aid the South Koreans after 1949? Why was Korea divided into two nations anyway? What do you think? Should the U.S. have gotten involved in Korea?

A War in Four Phases For this next section of notes, I'm going to do things a bit differently: Draw four large boxes on a sheet of paper Each of these boxes represents a phase of the Korean War Your task is to listen to the description of each phase of the war, give each phase a title, and fill in the box with any relevant information

Phase 1 North Korean forces push into the South taking its Capital, Seoul U.N. Forces join with South Korean South Korean and U.N. Forces hold only a small portion of territory around Pusan

Phase 2 Communist forces stall U.N Forces under American General MacArthur go around N.Korean forces and land at Inchon for a counter-attack U.S. leaders decide to move into North Korea

Phase 3 Chinese forces cross into North Korea to aid N. Koreans U.N. Forces are pushed back into the South MacArthur favors a full scale war against China

Phase 4 U.N. Forces move North Korean and Chinese forces back slightly War comes to a stalemate with little ground taken for 2 more years

Major Movements of the Korean War

The War's End? Armistice will be signed in July,1953, after several failed attempts at peace This really only stopped the open hostilities between the two nations and created a demilitarized zone between them

Questions In 4-5 sentences, answer the following Why did the U.S. become involved in the Korean War? Now that you've seen how much was gained and lost in the war, do you think the U.S. should have gotten involved? Justify your response with examples.