Italy Essay Research Paper InbrigdablThe Korean War

Italy Essay, Research Paper

InbrigdablThe Korean War took place between the years of 1950 and 1953.

The cause of the war was that Korea was under Japanese rule ever

since the end of the Chinese-Japanese war in 1895. After World

War II, in 1945, Korea was freed from Japan. The United States

troops occupied the southern part of the country and Russian forces

took the north.

The very first and main reason we entered the war in Korea was

because John Foster Dulles, the future Secretary of State under

Dwight Eisenhower, said that it would be best if we entered the

war. At the time Dulles was a special advisor to the Secretary of

State Acheson. Dulles was in Tokyo when the Koreans staged war.

Dulles sent a message to Acheson that if the South Koreans start

losing and cannot hold back the North Koreans, they should send in

United States forces. He said to do so, “even though this risks

Russian counter moves. To sit by while Korea is overrun by

unprovoked armed attack would start a disaster chain even leading

most probably to World War III.” When Dulles got back to

Washington he specified that he meant sending in United States Air

and Naval forces only, not troops.

Almost immediately after getting word of the invasion, Acheson

decided that the United States should put the matter before the

United Nations. He then called President Truman and got his

approval.

Almost fourteen hours after Washington got word of the war

there was a conference set up among certain members of the United

Nations. The final decision of the United Nations was to give arms

and equipment to the R.O.K. army (Republic of Korea). Then they

authorized General MacArthur to use his forces and the United

States Seventh Fleet, “to stabilize the combat situation”.

We first entered the war on June 25, 1950 because the United

States felt that if Russia’s troops would fight for North Korea, we

should fight for South Korea. Also, since South Korea had a

dictatorship, we wanted to prevent it from becoming communist and

remaining a dictatorial form of government. If the communist

started conquering many nations they might start a whole empire

(the domino effect).

In December 1943 the United States, China and Great Britain

made a promise to Synyman Rhee during World War II that Korea would

be given its independence “in due course” after World War II. Our

involvement began with Korea dates back to when we dropped the atom

bomb in Hiroshima, Japan and the defeated Japanese gave up Korea.

The United States took all of Korea below the 38th Parallel and

Russia took everything else. Russia began indoctrinating its

occupied territory of Korea in communist thinking. This upset the

United States which wanted the region to have a democratic

government, rather than the existing dictatorship.

On June 25, 1950 , without warning a surprise attack was

staged by North Korea, on South Korea, across the 38th Parallel.

Almost the minute the United States found out from Ambassador John

J. Muccio, the United States asked for a meeting of the United

Nations Security Council, which had been formed just five years

before , to discuss the matter on hand. The first decision of the

United Nations was not to aid North Korea. Two days later a second

meeting was called and the United Nations decided to assist the

Republic of Korea because it was necessary to repel the armed

attack and regain international peace and security in the area.

Earlier that day President of the United States, Harry S. Truman,

had announced that he had ordered U.S. air and naval forces to give

the South Korean troops cover and support. On June 29 , Truman

ordered General Douglas MacArthur to use special supporting ground

units in Korea, and authorized the United States Air Force to

conduct missions on specific military targets in North Korea. He

also asked to set up a naval blockade off the entire Korean coast.

A reason why the U.S. entered the war is because the United

Nations, voted and decided that the invasion was a violation of

international peace. Since the communists continued to fight,

sixteen United Nations countries sent troops and forty-one

countries sent military equipment, food or other supplies. The

United States sent around 9% of the supplies.

A North Korean division invaded South Korean territory, past

the 38th Parallel. One of the main commanders involved in the

Korean War was Major General William “Big Bill” Dean, commander of

the U.S. 24th Infantry Division , a combat veteran of World War II

and former military governor of South Korea. On June 25, 1950

General Dean was walking out of church and the post duty officer

came running saying, “General, sir, we’ve just had word that the

North Koreans have crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South

Korea.”

The minute General Dean heard this he notified Lieutenant

Colonel Charles Brad Smith and had him call in the Task Force.

This was a group of four hundred infantrymen. Soon after many

other troops were sent into Korea.

I feel that the Korean War was a tragedy. I disagree with the

people who said we should enter the war. I feel that the United

Nations should have threatened the North Koreans rather than the

United States getting into the fight. Many people died, and the

U.S. did not even, necessarily, win. North Korea succeeded in

turning South Korea into a communist nation. On the other hand,

the U.S. succeeded in preventing the domino effect, further

stopping the spread of communism. I do, however, think it was

important to stop communism, so if the United States would have

tried alternating peace methods and still did not succeed, then

sending in the troops was acceptable and important.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Alexander, Bevin, Korea… The First War We Ever Lost.

New York: Hippocrene Books, 1986

2. Edwards, Richard, The Korean War. England: British Ed.,

1988

3. “Korean War”, World Book Encyclopedia. Volume 10, pp.

297-307

4. “Korean War”, Encyclopedia Britannica. Volume 13, pp.

488-491

5. Lawson, Don, The United States in the Korean War. New

York: Abelard Schuman, 1964

6. Marshall, S.L.A., The Military History of the Korean

War. New York: Franklin Watts Inc., 1963

World Book Encyclopedia, page 297

The Korean War, page 64

Korea… The First War We Lost, page 26

Ibid

Military History of the Korean War, page 16

Encyclopedia Britannica, page 488

Korea… The First War We Lost, page 57

The U.S. in the Korean War, page 34 A quote by the leaders

of Great Britain and the United States

Encyclopedia Britannica, page 488

World Book Encyclopedia, page 298

Korea… The First War We Lost, page 33

World Book Encyclopedia, page 297

The U.S. in the Korean War, page 19

Ibid., page 19

Ibid., page 20