Korean War
The Korean War was the first of two major conflicts that arose from the cold war between the East and the West. It would test the newly formed United Nations, and their ability to act as a world power; and would be the opening rounds of the communism vs. democracy battle.Korea is a small peninsula, located at the crossroads of Japan, China, and Russia. It has long been coveted by these three nations, as a strategic point on the Asian continent, which gives its controller access to the boarders of the other two countries. After WWII, Korea was split between the Soviet Union and American, the USSR controlling the north, and the US controlling the south. The plan at the end of the war was to eventually have both sides relinquish control to a single Korean government, but the Cold War began, and the nation remained split between communism and democracy. The United Nations had been formed immediately after WWII in the hopes of providing a method for countries to work out their differences peacefully, and try to avoid another world war. The UN agreed to help sponsor free national elections in Korea. But the Soviet Union would have nothing to do with the UN, so they held their own communist elections while the UN held election
Soon McArthur began to get reports of his men seeing Chinese soldiers among the ranks of North Koreans, but he ignored them and pressed on. As a result of this move, many North Korean troops were able to escape through the gap and back to the north. By that time, the Chinese had approximately half a million troops along the boarder, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the UN forces. McArthur took this as a sign that they had given up, and not as a warning that the Chinese were willing to fight. If the UN had left what was alone, the war would have been over when they reached the 38th parallel; instead, they attacked the North, and prolonged the fighting another two bloody years. Like so many other wars it accomplished nothing, and served only as a waste of human life. They saw the Koreans as an inferior people, and this prejudice led them to believe that they could be easily defeated. He did all of the things he shouldn't have when facing a possible confrontation with the whole of the Chinese army. In his quest to capture communist Korea, McArthur broke every rule of military science. General Douglas McArthur, who made himself into a worldwide icon in WWII, was appointed as commander of all UN forces, which consisted of troops from fourteen countries. They would last until mid-November, and saw some of the bloodiest action of the entire war, along with a prisoner revolt that took the lives of several UN guards. Saturday afternoon, June 25, 1950 North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, and rapidly swept through the country, capturing the capital city of Seoul. The overall objective was to cross the country, effectively cutting the North Korean Army in the south off from it's supplies in the north near the 38th parallel, and then crush it. In December 1948, the Soviets withdrew from Korea, but they left behind a highly trained North Korean Army outfitted with the latest in Soviet military equipment. Bachman, Deborah The Korean War Lucent Books Inc, San Diego, CA c19912.
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