The Korean War After WWII, Russia and the US divided Korea into protected zones just like Germany. But we both preached our politics at them. North Korea became Communist and South Korea became Democratic.

In a speech to the National Press Club, Dean Acheson said we’d oppose all Communism in our “sphere of influence”. When he identified this, it did not include the Korean peninsula. The Soviet Union thought that meant it was OK to push Korean into Communism.

In June 1950, North Korean troops attacked across the border at the 38 th parallel. South Korea and the US were completely unprepared. 38th

Only 5 years after WWII, we’re at war again! The arrogant General Douglas MacArthur was appointed to lead United Nations forces to repel the North Korean invaders. I shall return!

United Nations??? Well here’s a little story. Once upon a time in New York City, there was a…

MacArthur was dictator of Japan after WWII. He wrote their constitution! He thought he understood the “oriental mind.”

Using Soviet tanks and planes, the North Koreans pushed the SK’s and UN troops into the Pusan Perimiter in just weeks.

MacArthur decides to use an amphibious landing at Inchon on the Western coast of Korea (in the Yellow Sea) to cut NK supply lines.

It works! The NK’s are hit hard and begin running towards the Chinese border in the North. (Is this a good thing?) China gets nervous about this.

The North Koreans were in full retreat. MacArthur wanted to pursue them all the way to the Chinese border, but China had said they would feel threatened by this. But MacArthur didn’t give a rat’s patootie what the Chinese thought.

Soon, Chinese troops were pouring across the Yalu River border into Korea. The Americans were unprepared and were pushed back towards the 38th Parallel. Only the Marines at Chosin Reservoir held their ground. MacArthur wanted to escalate the war.

Truman feared a large-scale war in Asia, but MacArthur wanted to nuke China off the map. Truman removed MacArthur from command in 1951.

The war settled down to a stalemate until a cease-fire was signed in With 55,000 dead and 113,000 wounded, the public wondered if the gov’t was serious about stopping Communism.

Now we had a decades-long enemy in China because of the: 1. Recognition of Taiwan. 2. Opposition of Communism. 3. Approaching the Yalu River. 4. Fighting the Korean War.

Joseph McCarthy (Senator, R-WI) became a leading Communist hater in the 50’s. In a speech in Virginia, he held up a paper claiming to know 205 Communists in the State Department. Pull my finger!

When pressed for details, he reduced the number to 57. These were only Truman employees tried under the loyalty program.

Americans became paranoid about the Communists. We began to see a Communist under every rock.

McCarthy even attacks Secretary of State George Marshall (!), saying he was in a “conspiracy so immense as to dwarf any previous venture in the history of man.” (…uh…whatever…)

Teachers, lawyers, and other educated people were suspected of being Commies. Public education was even suspected.

McCarthy even implied that the US Army was full of Commies. Military leaders decided that these wild allegations had to stop.

In 1954 the Army-McCarthy hearings occurred. The Army asked that they be televised and “Tailgunner Joe” agreed. When the American public saw his bullying tactics and wild allegations first- hand, public opinion turned against him. He had no supporters left.

McCarthyism remains a word that means a witch-hunt without facts. Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible” to show how this could happen.

What had America lost or gained by going through this process?

In 1953, the war hero General Dwight D. Eisenhower became president. He was able to get the cease-fire in Korea because Stalin died that year. ?

Ike believed in the Domino Theory concerning Communism in Asia. Why do you think it’s red?

The theory said that if one country falls to Communism, others will soon follow until the whole world is Communist.