The Korean War, being one, was an open opportunity for both the Soviet Union and the United States to spread their power. Although the Korean war resulted similarily to how it had begun, seperated by political disagreement, the Soviet Union and the United States continued battleing against one another though small wars within the Cold War. The fact of Korea remaining the same and the United States and the Soviet Union still battleing concludes a point. The Korean war was more between the United States and Soviet Union than anyone
This essay will attempt to determine whether the US desire to contain Communism contributed to their involvement in the Korean War. It will also cover factors such as the invasion of Korea and the threat to international security as well as the US exploitation of the Korean Civil War. It is possible to argue that the US desire to contain Communism contributed to their involvement in the Korean War. This is supported by the Truman Doctrine in 1947 which states “to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures”. This means that the US would have to support South Korea against the Communist North Koreans.
Communist aggression was the most important reason because without the original assault by North Korea there would’ve been no war, merely suspicion on the US’ part regarding Stalin and other Communist nations’ activities. Another reason for the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950 was the ambiguity of the US’ foreign policy. The US were very contradictory about their objectives prior to the war and at different stages throughout
Therefore when the north invaded the south the US felt as though they needed to intervene because they could not let communism spread. They used the excuse that another country was going to be ‘lost’ to communism just as China was. At the same time the USSR were boycotting the National Security Council meeting because they wanted China to be a part of it. The US used this to their advantage and suggested to the UN that Korea needed military aid. This allowed them to enter Korea despite it not being in the defensive perimeter strategy.
The conflicts between the North and the South Vietnam increased along with the Viet Cong rebels. The North Vietnam threatened South Vietnam that they will take over and make the communist. Even with the help of the United States, the South Vietnam wasn’t able to win. For both wars, the main reason for U.S. involvement was to follow the policy of United States that they will stop communist from spreading. There are many differences between the two wars.
Prior to the war, the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was extremely volatile despite having been allies in World War II. The Cold War, if thought about too closely, was actually in a comical sense in that it was the United States and the Soviet Union fighting each other without ever actually fighting each other. Instead, each nation used other “client” nations to fight for their beliefs on their “behalf”. In the Korean War this was very evident. The Soviet Union, a communistic nation, supplied the weapons to the North while anti-communist United States supplied the
After World War II, the Soviet Union had been established as the United States’ main world rival, a rivalry that would become known as the Cold War. This period of harsh tensions would last all the way till the end of the 20th century. Right from the beginning, the United States had been adamant on stopping the spread of Communism through the strategy of Containment. Successful tactics were used through the Marshall plan, Truman Doctrine, and the Korean conflict which actually saw U.S troops in combat trying to stop Communism. The Korean conflict set a precedent for the United States as they were so dedicated to stopping Marxism’s spread, they would physically fight for it.
Moreover, USA also sent troops in Vietnam. For non-military interventions, it is possible to explain US policy in Taiwan and Japan. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. From this point, the US sent troops in South Korea in order to ‘contain’ the spread of Communism : thsi intervention is often seen as the first one concerning the containment policy. On the surface, this war can be seen as a success for the United States as Communist forces were maintained on the north of the 38th parallel.
But fearing the loss of an ally and a Communist buffer to protect their Northeast provinces, China joined forces with North Korea to push back UN troops and stop their invasion. In the end, there was very little change to the border between North and South Korea, and to this day, the tension between the two countries is
Why did the US become so deeply involved in the Korean War in the years 1950 – 1953? It has been argued that the US became very deeply involved in the Korean War in the years 1950 to 1953. Factors such as the Truman doctrine, the domino theory and China’s fall to communism with Mao are all reasons for the US becoming involved in the war in Korea. The main factor for the US becoming deeply involved in the war was the domino theory, as it caused the release of the Truman doctrine and caused the USA to fear the fall of Japan, which is why they got so deeply involved in the war. China falling to communism caused great fear to spread across America as they worried Japan would be next in line to adopt the communist ideology.