1. Objectives
Explain how Communists came to power in China and how the United States reacted.
Summarize the events of the Korean War.
Explain the conflict between President Truman and General MacArthur.

2. Main Idea
After WWII, China became a Communist nation and Korea was split into a communist north and democratic south.

3. Why It matters Now
Ongoing tensions with China and North Korea continue to involve the United States.

4. Partner Up: Use pages 609-615 to answer the questions listed below
Why was China fighting a civil war AND how did the U.S. help the Chinese nationalists?
Why was the U.S. involved in the Chinese civil war AND how did its outcome affect the U.S.?
How did Korea become divided into 2 countries?
How did the Korean War start?
Why did the U.S. go to the aid of South Korea?
What brought China into the war?
How did the Korean War end?
What is the present day situation of North and South Korea?

5. Domino Theory
The idea that if a nation falls under communist control, nearby nations will also fall under communist control.
Example

6. Chiang Kai-Shek
The U.S. supported Chinese nationalists leader Chiang Kai-shek by sending $3 billion in aid between to keep his government from falling to communism.
The U.S. will send another $2 billion worth of military equipment and supplies for the nationalists government to fight off the communists.

7. Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, the Chinese communist revolutionists, rallies the support of the peasants.
Zedong is financially supported by the Soviet Union.
By 1945, Northern China was under communist control.
By 1949, all of China was under communist rule.

8. U.S. REACTION
*The U.S. policy of containment had failed. *Many Americans felt like the U.S. government hadn’t done enough or spent enough money to stop communism from spreading into China. *The U.S. government had to be careful not to start a war with China---a war the U.S. was not ready for and could not win.

9. KOREA
As WWII ended, the Japanese troops that occupied Korea in the north surrendered to the Soviet Union.
The Japanese troops that occupied Korea in the South surrendered to the U.S.
The Soviet Union and the U.S. agreed to split Korea in half at the 38th parallel.
North Korea was communist. South Korea was democratic.

10. THE KOREAN WAR
In 1948, the Republic of South Korea was established with Syngman Rhee as the leader.
The U.S. had pulled all but 500 troops out of South Korea by 1949.

11. THE KOREAN WAR
The communists formed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north with Kim II Sung as the leader.
The Soviets and North Korea decided that the U.S. would not fight to defend South Korea.
The Soviets promised to back North Korea with tanks, airplanes, and money in an attempt to take over all of Korea and unite it into one communist country.

12. THE KOREAN WAR
On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel and attacked South Korea.
By June 27th all of South Korea was under North Korea’s control.
South Korea pleads to the U.N. for help. The Soviets are not present to veto the U.N.’s plan for military action.
16 nations send 520,000 troops to aid South Korea. 90% of those troops were American.
South Korea had an additional 590,000 troops.
All troops were put under the command of General Douglas Macarthur.

13. GENERAL MACARTHUR
Macarthur believed the U.S. could only win by waging a “full scale war” on the Chinese.
“Full scale”=invade China without any rules or regulations.
Macarthur said he was forced to fight this war with “one hand tied around my back.”
Asked Truman for permission to use atomic bombs vs. China. Had a plan in place to use 50 atomic bombs.

14. Write It (2 Minutes)
Why do you think President Harry Truman authorized the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945, but would not authorize the atomic bombing of North Korea in 1951?

15. WW III?
The Soviet Union had an alliance with China. So attacking China could set off WW III.
General Omar Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, said, “an all out conflict with China would be the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.”

16. MACARHTUR FIRED
General Macarthur is fired by President Truman on April 11, 1951 after Macarthur criticized Truman in the press.

17. STALEMATE
The Soviet Union unexpectedly suggested a cease fire on June 23, 1951.
Peace treaty wasn’t finalized until July 1953.
Result: 1) Korea divided again at the original 38th parallel line. They are still split into 2 separate countries today. 2) Established a demilitarized zone between the opposing sides on the 38th parallel. 3) The U.S. was able to contain communism, even though we weren’t able to unite the two Korea’s.

18. YouTube

19. We Can Learn 2 Major Lessons From the Korean War
The U.S. will spend billions of $ in aid to support democratic governments and/or to fund revolts against non-democratic governments.
The U.S. is willing to send troops overseas to strengthen democratic governments and protect the individual freedoms of citizens in democratic governments.

20. Write It (2 Minutes)
Was fighting the Korean War worthwhile? What is your opinion? Why?
Think About:
The loss of American lives.
The fear of communism that struck the country at the time.
The stalemate that ended the war.

21. WAR COSTS 54,000 Americans died in the war.
Cost the U.S. $67 Billion dollars.
Increased fear in the U.S. of communism aggression.
Did it give hope to the Vietnamese?

22. Write It (2 Minutes)
Why did the U.S. feel like they had to make a stand in Korea against the spread of communism?