1. Do Now: What’s My Plan Wednesday
April 9th
Do Now: What’s My Plan Wednesday

2. Background on the Korean War
Read and put events in sequence of when they occurred.
Be ready to answer:
Why is Korea important to the US? Why does this conflict become a groundbreaking conflict for US foreign policy?
Why does the US need to intervene in a conflict between North and South Korea?

3. The Decision to Cross the 38th Parallel Activity
After reading the background on the Korean War, students will read primary source documents and decide whether the events were reasons for crossing the 38th parallel or reasons for not crossing.

4. Timeline of Events Related to the Korean War, June 29-October 10, 1950
June 29, General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. forces in East Asia, visits the front lines, where he witnesses firsthand the desperate situation of the South Korean army.
July 7, General MacArthur proposes to use U.S. troops to launch a massive counterattack against the North Koreans that would not only drive them from South Korea, but would overthrow Kim Il-sung’s regime in the North and unite all of Korea under a single government. Most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff oppose this, as does George Kennan, who insists that U.S. forces should only drive the North Koreans back across the 38th Parallel.
July 10, The United Nations authorizes the formation of a force comprised of U.S. troops and those of fourteen other nations, under the overall command of General MacArthur.
July 19, Truman appears before Congress asking for $10 billion to support the “police action” in Korea. He follows this up with a radio address to the American public, but he makes it clear that there will be no full-scale mobilization as there had been in World War II.
July 23, MacArthur proposes an amphibious landing of U.S. forces at Inchon, behind the North Korean lines. The Joint Chiefs of Staff approve the plan on August 28.

5. August 7, 1950 -U.N. forces halt North Koreans outside the city of Pusan.
September 15, U.S. forces under MacArthur land at three separate locations on the Korean coast near Inchon. The North Koreans, taken completely by surprise, are driven from Inchon with minimal U.S. casualties.
September 19, U.N. troops reach Seoul and recapture it ten days later.
September 27, Truman approves MacArthur’s plan to cross the 38th Parallel, invading North Korea.
October 7, U.N. forces under MacArthur cross the 38th parallel; later that same day, the United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution recommending “the establishment of a unified, independent and democratic Government in the sovereign State of Korea.”
October 10, The official radio station of the People’s Republic of China warns that the “Chinese people cannot stand idly by” and allow U.N. forces to overrun North Korea.

6. Revolution in China

7. Republican Revolution (1912)
Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian)
Founded Kuomintang (KMT) – Nationalist party
Overthrew Manchu (Qing) dynasty
Established a republic
President of Chinese Republic who succeeded him – Yuan Shih-k’ai
Kuomintang symbol

8. Republic of China: Weaknesses
Disunity
Local warlords fought Kuomintang for control
Wars raged between 1912 and 1928
Foreign imperialists
Americans, Europeans, and Japanese
Poor transportation
1914 – only 6,000 miles of railroad track
225,000 miles in the smaller United States
Few decent roads

9. Foreign Imperialists Twenty-One Demands (1915)
Japan attempted to make China a Japanese protectorate
Action condemned and stopped by other leading world powers
World War I and the Treaty of Versailles
China attempted to abolish concessions and extraterritoriality
Attempt failed
China did not sign the Treaty of Versailles
Japan gained mandate over most of Germany’s Asian possessions and rights

10. Growth of Communism
Sun Yat-sen appealed for Russian (Soviet) aid following the Versailles Conference
– China received advisors, arms, communist propaganda, and loans
Russia revoked its imperialist rights in China
Chinese flag,

11. Nationalist Revolution
Sun Yat-sen succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek
Communists expelled by Kuomintang
– war to control the warlords
Capital moved from Peiping (a.k.a. Peking, today’s Beijing) to Nanking (Nanjing)
Possible anecdote: The Kuomintang changed the name of Peking/Beijing to Peiping (or Beiping) in 1928.
Presidential Palace under Kuomintang Government in Nanjing

12. Civil War in China
and – war between Communists and Nationalists
Communists – Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong)
Nationalists – Chiang Kai-shek
War halted and to fight Japanese aggression
Communists were victorious in 1949
Nationalists retreated to Formosa (Taiwan)
End of imperialism in China
Hong Kong returned to China in 1997

13. Japanese Aggression Japan was a threat to China – 1894-1941
1937 – Japanese invasion
Japanese took control of north and areas along the coast
Rape of Nanking
Chinese Communists and Nationalists
Intermittently were at peace as they united to fight against the Japanese
Guerrilla and scorched earth tactics
Received American aid against the Japanese

14. World War II
U.S. interest in China increased after Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941
Cairo Conference (1943)
Chiang Kai-shek met with Allied leaders
Discussed war in eastern Asia
Westerners gave up imperialist rights in China
U.S. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 repealed in 1943

15. Communists in Control – 1949
Communists and Nationalists resumed civil war following World War II
Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government wasted foreign economic aid
Many Kuomintang deserted to Communists
Manchuria – taken over by Communists in 1948
December, Communists in control
Chiang Kai-shek and Nationalists retreated to Formosa (Taiwan)

16. Political Changes under Mao
Communist government on mainland China
Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong)
Chairman Mao – chairman of the Communist party and leader of China –
Possible anecdote: Other men served as chairman of the republic (as opposed to both the party and the republic) as well as premier, but Mao was the de facto leader of China until his death in 1976.
Mao Zedong 毛泽东

17. Foreign Relations Russia (Soviet Union) Tibet Korea Vietnam
Growing split between USSR and China
“Peaceful coexistence” policy of USSR viewed as surrender
1960 – end of Soviet economic aid
Tibet
Seized in 1962
Korea
Aided North Korea in the Korean War ( )
Vietnam
Supported North Vietnam and aided Viet Cong during Vietnam War ( )

18. Foreign Relations Cold War “Atomic Club” (1964) United Nations
Economic aid to Africa, Asia, and Latin America
“Atomic Club” (1964)
Fifth overall, and first non-white, country to develop nuclear weapons
United Nations
One of five permanent members of U.N. Security Council (1971, replacing Taiwan)
Relations with United States
1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon opened diplomatic relations with China