SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT 5 LESSON 8 HOT WAR IN ASIA During the early years of the Cold War, the United States adopted a policy of

containment in an attempt to stop the spread of Communism. In the 1950s, the United States extended the policy of containment to Asia.

American fears about Communist expansion in the region had grown after the Communist takeover of China in 1949. In this lesson, you will learn about events in China and Korea during the Cold War era.

OBJECTIVES

Recall the important dates, key figures, events, and results of the Korean War Describe the history of conflicts in Asia in the twentieth centuryVOCABULARY

faction Group of people within a political party, church, or other organization working toward a common goal.

China

Before World War II, two factions struggled for control of China. General Chiang Kai-shek led the Nationalists. Mao Tse-tung led the Communists. Fighting broke out from time to time between these two groups.

When Japan invaded China in the 1930s, Chinese people throughout the country joined forces. The Nationalists and the Communists temporarily put aside their differences and worked together against the Japanese invaders. Mao led the fight against the Japanese in northern China where the Communists assembled a large army of peasants.

The civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists resumed as soon as World War II ended and the danger from Japan had passed. The United States supported Chiang's government with economic and military aid. The Soviet Union, which had occupied Manchuria in the last days of the war, turned over weapons and supplies to Mao's Communists.

During the fighting, Mao's forces held control over much of northern China. By 1948, the Communists had won several victories over the Nationalists and seized control of the northern cities. The Chinese capital fell to the Communists in early 1949, and the Nationalist armies collapsed.

In October 1949, the Communists won power and Mao established the People's Republic of China. The defeated Chiang withdrew his Nationalist Chinese government to Taiwan, or Formosa, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean one

hundred miles off the mainland of China. The government set up by Chiang and his followers became known as the Republic of China, but it was frequently referred to simply as Taiwan. Until the 1970s, the United States recognized this government rather than the People's Republic of China as the official Chinese government.

Over the years, Taiwan prospered economically, being greatly aided by the United States. United States economic aid ended in 1968. Eventually, Taiwan grew to have one of the highest standards of living in Asia. In the meantime, mainland China suffered economic hardships under Mao's radical ideas. Land was taken away from farmers and made into huge collective farms. People who had an education and training were attacked as dangerous to the revolution. During what he called the "Cultural Revolution," Chairman Mao ordered gangs of youths into the streets to attack people who held authority, succeeded at a business, had contacts outside of China, or had a measure of prosperity. As a result, China remained an isolated, backward nation for years.

In 1971, the United Nations expelled Taiwan and gave that seat in the General Assembly to the People's Republic of China. The following year, the People's Republic of China replaced Taiwan on the United Nations Security Council as well.

President Richard Nixon changed U.S. policy in 1971. He began to improve U.S. relations with China to gain China's support against the Soviet Union. In spite of the fact that both were Communist, the Soviet Union and China had been in conflict with each other for years. In February of 1972, President and Mrs. Nixon visited Peking (today, know as Beijing) and met with Chinese Premier Chou En-lai. On December 15, 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States was establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Ambassadors were exchanged between the two countries in March of 1979.

Mao Tse-tung died in 1976. The leadership that followed him gradually backed away from his radical ideas. The government remained a Communist dictatorship, but wide-ranging economic changes began in the 1980s. Businesses began to operate for profit, and land was again given to individual farmers. A huge boom in building, modernization, and trade began. In 1989, demonstrations broke out all over the country seeking democratic reform of the government. The government responded by sending tanks against the unarmed students who were protesting in Tiananmen Square in the capital, Beijing. The protests were crushed, and the Chinese government denied it had happened. China continues to modernize and grow in wealth. Today, China's economy is the second largest economy in the world after the United States.

The Occupation of Korea

The land of Korea is a mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. The country is surrounded by Russia, China, and Japan.

For hundreds of years, the three powerful neighbors fought over who should control Korea.

The Japanese ruled Korea from 1905 until Japan's defeat in World War II in 1945. Although the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan at the very last minute, it joined with the United States in decisions affecting China, Japan, and Korea. The decision was made that the United States would occupy South Korea. The Soviet Union would occupy North Korea. The thirty-eighth parallel was to be the dividing line.

The stated purpose of the occupation was to disarm the Japanese and to help Korea become a free and independent nation. In violation of this understanding, the Soviets began training and arming Communists in North Korea.

The United Nations tried to help the country to unite, but its efforts failed. In 1948, the two sections announced the formation of separate governments. Both North Korea and South Korea claimed for themselves the right to govern the entire country.

The North Korean government called itself the People's Republic. The South Korean government was called the Republic of Korea. The United States and most of the United Nations, with the exception of the Soviet Union, recognized the Republic of Korea.

Later, the United States and the Soviet Union withdrew their occupation troops. But two hostile Korean armies still faced each other across the thirty-eighth parallel.

The Korea War

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army crossed the thirty-eighth parallel and invaded South Korea. The United Nations Security Council immediately called for a cease-fire. Two days later, President Harry Truman pledged the United States to help defend South Korea. The United Nations termed the North Koreans "aggressors" and called upon its members to help South Korea.

The United Nations troops, including the American forces, fought on the side of the South Koreans under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.

[Slide 1] The events of the Korean War can be divided into four segments. [Slide 2] From June to September of 1950, the North Korean invasion pushed its

southern counterparts to the far southeast corner of Korea. This is called the Pusan Perimeter.

[Slide 3] In September, United Nations military forces landed in Inchon and drove back the North Koreans out of their conquered territory.

[Slide 4]However, by November, North Korean and Communist forces regrouped and, with the aid of China, launched a counterattack driving U.N. forces back south, causing an evacuation of Wonsan and Hungnam.

[Slide 5] From January 1951 to June 1953, the U.N. continued pressing north with heated resistance from the new strength of the Communist forces. It was a standoff, and, on July 27, 1953, both sides signed the armistice agreement. The battlefront became the armistice line. The boundary between what is now North and South Korea.

The North Koreans pushed the South Koreans and United Nations troops to the southeast part of the country and surrounded them there. There, the defending troops held at the "Pusan Perimeter." General MacArthur ordered a stunningly successful amphibious attack halfway up the Korean peninsula at Inchon. From

there, he liberated Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and cut off the North Korean troops in the south. MacArthur pursued the retreating North Koreans to China's border. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of Chinese Communist troops rushed down from the north and reinforced the North Koreans. The battle lines were finally stabilized along the thirty-eighth parallel for the rest of the war.

General MacArthur asked to be allowed to bomb the Chinese mainland. President Truman refused to give MacArthur permission to proceed. MacArthur became openly critical of the President, his Commander-In-Chief. President Truman made a hard decision. In April of 1951, he relieved General MacArthur of his command. When the general returned to the United States, he was received almost everywhere as a great hero.

In the summer of 1951, truce talks began. Incredibly, the talks stretched on and on for two years—and so did the fighting. One of the main issues was the return of prisoners of war. About sixty thousand captured Chinese and North Korean troops refused to be sent home.

On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed between North Korea and the United Nations. Two countries—North Korea and South Korea—were recognized. Although the United Nations had failed to unite the country, it had demonstrated its determination to halt acts of aggression.

South Korea prospered after the war, growing to be a wealthy manufacturing nation. It has also suffered from military governments and harsh martial law. Its first civilian president since 1961 was elected in 1993. Since that time, South Korea has had a stable democratic government. It has a strong economy, and its people enjoy a high standard of living.

North Korea has remained a backward Communist nation. In 1995, its Gross National Product—the total amount the nation produces—was less than one tenth (1/10) that of South Korea. Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea for 40 years, died in 1994. His son, Kim Jong-il, succeeded him. This did not change the country's policies. North Korea possesses atomic bombs and uses that threat in its interactions with other counties of the world. Kim Jong-il died in 2011. His son, Kim Jong-un, is now the new leader of North Korea.