The Korean War took place between 1950 and 1953. After World War II the country was divided between the USA and the Soviet Union into a communistic North Korea and a capitalistic South Korea on the line of the 38th parallel. It was a war between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union.
Many scientists call the Korean War as "The Forgotten War," because it has been overshadowed by bloodier and vaster conflicts like the War of Vietnam, Desert Storm and the anniversary of World War II. The Korean War was not a success for the West like the WW II. But it was not a defeat like the war in Vietnam. From the part of the America President Truman has never called it as a war. It was called just a conflict in the region. There were no celebrations and a huge publicity of the case. White House always kept silence (Cumings, 229). In majority people in USA didn't care about the war, they didn't think about it (Tomedi, 154).
It was a first conflict in the period of the Cold War between USA and the Communist USSR.
The USA went to war in Korea for three reasons. I think that the most important reason for America’s involvement in the war was Truman’s belief that the Communism would be spreading between countries of the region like a line of dominoes. He was worried that the next communist country would be Japan, which was very important for American trade. The second reason was in belief of Truman that capitalism, freedom and the American way of life were in danger because of the force of Communism. This led Truman to drive communism out of North Korea. Finally, Truman realized that the main rival of the USA for world domination was the USSR. By supporting South Korea, America was able to fight Communism without direct conflict with the Soviet Union. The USSR also kept the line of the rough foreign policy and that was later called as the Cold War.
On 24 June 1950 President Truman was informed that the North Koreans had invaded South Korea. Truman decided that the United States was obligated to act. On 27 June there was the first significant battle for the America in the Korean War. It was two days after the invasion of the North Korea and three months before China entered the war. That day the arms of the North Korea broke through the border with the South Korea on the Han River. Truman decided to begin active phase of the conflict in the North Korea and the British government and the arms of the Commonwealth countries supported American President in his decision. (Snow, 54).
The war on its first year was a dashing affair. It was a war of movement, of tanks, of planes up and down the peninsula. There was much fervor and martial oratoryBy November 1951 there was no more oratory (Brady, 2).
The war involved troops from other nations of the region and the force of almost all Commonwealth countries. We don't know how many people died exactly in the Korean War. It was first a civil war then kept by huge countries with different ideologies.
When the war ended, the countries that took part in it didn't resolve the case like other military conflicts. Korea is still divided in two different countries. The war actually didn't come to the end.
The Korean War had long-lasting consequences for the entire region. It froze the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.
This war didn't resolve nothing. In 1953 there was signed the agreement that till today maintain peace in the region. There was created a demilitarized zone, that is actually strongly militarized by North and South Korean soldiers and by a number of American soldiers. There are only a few observers from the neutral countries.
The Korean War was the first open conflict between the USA and USSR in the Cold War. It was a great but frustrating experience for America that was used to the victories in the military conflicts. The public didn't understand that war and didn't support it.
Over 60 years have passed and the South Korea has become a country with huge economic force. The North Korea is a poor communistic country with a military regime. Both North and South Korea are raising their nuclear powers. They conduct trainings near the borders of each other but i think that people in this countries are still wondering to unite and live in peace. Many families were divided during the war. They continue to live in different ideologies without the possibility to reunite their families. They are divided by the demilitarized zone with a huge number of troops that are keeping eye on everybody who is trying to cross the border.
Cited Works
Brady, James. The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2000. Print.
Cumings, Bruce. The Korean War: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2010. Print.
Snow, Donald M, and Dennis M. Drew. From Lexington to Desert Storm and Beyond: War and Politics in the American Experience. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2000. Internet resource.
Tomedi, Rudy. No Bugles, No Drums: An Oral History of the KoreanWar. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1994. Print.
