Communism spreads in Asia (1950’s—70s)

OUTLINE:I. Communism in China

--US & USSR reaction--Mao’s Great

Leap Forward--Cultural

RevolutionII. Communism in Korea

--Korean War

Major Ideas:•Mao was a complete dictator who used his power to enforce communist ideas in China•The Korean War was 1st major battle between Comm. and Demo. in the world—led to a split in the nation

The Qing Dynasty (The Last Emperor) (1644—1912)

•China thought they were superior to other civilizations BUT…

•19th c. = way behind West in tech, weak gov’t & military, many ppl = v. poor

•Not interested in trade w/ Eur (were not impressed w/ Eur technology) = Eur had to pay $ (silver) for Ch goods

Communism in China

•Nationalists versus Communists•After WWII, Civil War in China finally led to Communists and Mao Tse-Tung seizing power by 1950

•Nationalists (led by Chiang Kai-shek) were very corrupt and that contributed to their loss—exiled to Taiwan which is still today a separate nation

•New economic plan where ppl were moved into communesto produce food & goods•“Great Leap Forward” = food riots & famine—20 million died in 2 yrs

•Strict obedience to Communist ideas was required —many ppl persecuted (esp. teachers, business leaders, politicians) •Cultural Revolution created disorder & fear—no schools, factories closed etc

Korean War (1950—53)

•After WWII, US and USSR split Korea in ½ which had been occupied by Japan

•N. Korea = Comm gov’t•S. Korea = Demo gov’t

•June 1950, N.Korean troops (backed by USSR & China) invaded S. Korea (backed by US)

•US sent troops, pushed the N. K. troops to Chinese border

Communism in Korea

•Korean War became a bloody stalemate for 1 ½ yrs.

•An agreement between N. and S. Korea was signed—no one gained anything

•54,000 US killed/100,000 wounded

•Still—N. K is Comm, S. K is Demo.

•At border—1 million Ch troops forced US retreat back to 38th parallel