Korea+9321

9 FACTS:

CAUSES: -The communist party in North Korea defeated the Anticommunist Nationalists(who fled) in the Civil War in China and elected a leader, Mao Zedong to lead them to establish a powerful position within the countries

- In June 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, immediately beginning the fighting

EVENT:

- When South Korea began being attacked, the United States appealed to the United Nations to stop the Communist move into South Korea and the United Nations responded by providing them with 16 nations worth of forces, but the U.S made up most of the force. -In early fighting, the North Koreans pushed the South Koreans back almost to Pusan, a city on the Southern tip of the Korean Pennisula but MacArthur(United Nations General) reversed the fighting by landing a major victory at Inchon, a port city behind the North Korean lines - The North Koreans soon retreated across the 38th parallel and MacArthur pursued the enemies into North Korea, further upsetting China, who soon after joined in the battle

IMPACT: - The two Koreas were left more or less where they had been in 1950 with a border near the 38th parallel - Communism had been contained in Korea - Americans felt frustrated by the indecisive war - Caused politicians to selfishly make use of this frustration

IMAGES:

//Northern Korean tanks roll across the 38th parallel into South Korea, at the very beginning of the war//



//Northern Korean soldiers are warmly welcomed by their fellow Seoul citizens//



//Mao Zedung, Buganin and Stalin meet to consult Mao Zedungs worried complaints that China will get involved in the war//

MAPS:



//Illustration of the South Korean Invasion onto Northern soil, stage 1 of the war//



//An view of the famous battle of Inchon, that completely changed the course of the war overnight//

// QUOTES: //

//"I will defend Korea as I would my own country—just as I would California."//

- Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Dr. Syngman Rhee, President of the two-month-old South Korean Republic, October 1948

//"In my generation, this was not the first occasion when the strong had attacked the weak….Communism was acting in Korea just as Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese had acted ten, fifteen, and twenty years earlier. I felt certain that if South Korea was allowed to fall, Communist leaders would be emboldened to override nations closer to our own shores."//

- President Harry Truman