🤸‍♀️ Cold war - Korean War

Question 1

Causes - Division

Answer 1

• Division of Korea (1945)
• Following Japan’s defeat in WWII Korea was divided along the 38th parallel (US occupied south and USSR occupied north)
• Rival governments (DPRK vs ROK)

Question 2

Causes - nationalism and civil war

Answer 2

• Nationalism and Civil war dynamics
• Korea had been under Japan’s rule for 35 years
• North and south wanted reunification but under their own terms

Question 3

Causes - Kim il-sung

Answer 3

• Kim il-sung
• Travelled to Moscow to convince Stalin that the south was weak, US would not intervene etc
• Stalin provided tanks etc
• Mao agreed to support the North if needed

Question 4

Causes - Syngman Rhee

Answer 4

• Syngman Rhee
• Government was unpopular and authoritarian which weakened the south internally

Question 5

Causes - Containment (US, speech)

Answer 5

• US was more focused on Europe and didn’t think Korea was as strategically vital
• US unintentionally encouraged aggression (strategic ambiguity)
• Acheson’s speech (1950): outlined US defensive perimeter or Asia which didn’t include Korea

Question 6

Causes - superpowers

Answer 6

• Superpowers wanted to avoid direct war but were willing to fight through proxy

Question 7

Impact - human cost

Answer 7

• Human cost
• Around 3 million Koreans died
• 36,000 Americans killed + 600,000 Chinese soldiers killed or wounded

Question 8

Impact - military, economy)

Answer 8

• Military scale
• Was the first major UN military intervention
• Devastated the Korean economy and shifted the cold war from political rivalry to a global military conflict

Question 9

Impact - Geographic (division, DMZ, US)

Answer 9

• Permanent division into North and South Korea
• DMZ became one of the most militarised borders in the world
• US strengthened alliances with Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Southeast Asia

Question 10

Impact - Geographic (China, communist, alliance)

Answer 10

• China emerged as a major military power
• Encouraged communist movements in other countries e.g Vietnam
• US built new alliance: SEATO, ANZUS

Question 11

Impact - Duration

Answer 11

• Lasted 3 years
• Directly influenced: Vietnam war, Sino-soviet split, nuclear arms race, US military presence in Asia

Question 12

Significance - Koreans

Answer 12

• Millions were killed, wounded, displaced
• Families permanently separated by the DMZ
• States became heavily militarised and authoritarian

Question 13

Significance - US

Answer 13

• Tripled defence spendings + established permanent military presence in Asia
• Strengthened alliances with Japan, Taiwan, South Korea

Question 14

Significance - USSR

Answer 14

• Strengthened ties with China and North Korea
• Accelerated arms race

Question 15

Significance - China

Answer 15

• Emerged as a major military power
• Became more independent from the USSR

Question 16

Significance - UN

Answer 16

• First major UN military action (enhanced UN credibility as a collective security body)