Korean+War

Colin Kerner Spencer Olsen Michael Salvesen Andrew Kolodgie

The Korean war was a military conflict between the democratic South Korea, supported by the United States and other democratic supporting countries, and the communist North Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union. This war was based less around the two countries themselves but more around the basic war between democracy and communism. Now of course there is no possible "winning side" only just a shift in control. Both sides (democracy and communism) had nuclear weapons. Obviously at that point not as many but "MAD" still played a huge roll. MAD was something called "mutually assured destruction" where if the democratic side shot a nuclear missile then the communist side would shoot back, by the end of all the retaliations everyone would die. No one wins, so in this case neither side fires unless they are planning to die also. The war began on June 25th 1950, when North Korea launched an attack on south Korea. The line dividing North and South Korea swayed throughout the entire war, at first advantaging the North Koreans but then soon advantaging the South Koreans, and by the end of the war, the line was in the same place it started in. This line was called the 38th Parallel. It was the first significant armed conflict in the Cold War. In the end though I would have to say score one for America because we avoided a singular war with China (and/or Russia).

In the diagram you see below you can see in 1949 it looked like South Korea had them beat but then at the end of 1949 the U.S stepped in and cut through South Korean troops back to the 38th parallel. At this point they started pushing into South Korea's side going on the offensive. Until they had them pushed up against China but then with the help of the Soviet Union and China (Communists) they managed to even things up leaving the war how it started. With the Countries in awful shape.



This war devastated Korea. Both sides used a policy of total war. They burned villages, killed innocent women and children and destroyed crops. Whatever they could destroy, they did. Korean citizens were subjected to death from a firing from their own race, and if that didn't get them, the other side would.

President Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur chief of UN forces. General Douglas MacArthur and his troops headed for the Korean War. It was the first amphibious attack since WWII. General pushed back North Korea all the way up to Yalu River when the Chinese and Soviet Union jumped in. Bibliography: http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/images/korean_w.gif
 * Douglas MacAruthur**