Korea, 1950-1953

 Lecture topics (keyed to Arc of Empire, chap. 3 [pp. 120-84]):

  • Overview: the Cold War and the expanded U.S. position in Asia.
  • Divided nation: Korea, North and South.
  • A widening war: Washington, Beijing, and Moscow.
  • The soldiers’ perspectives.
  • The home fronts: degrees of mobilization and devastation.
  • Politics of peacemaking.
  • Legacies: U.S. frustration, Korean division, and China rising.

 

Korean War chronology.

 

Study questions:

  • Scholars have debated the merits of calling Korea a civil or an international war. Which position makes better sense? Is there some way to reconcile the two opposite positions?
  • Compare the two alliances arrayed against each other in Korea. Do the basic goals, levels of cooperation, and intensity of commitment suggest differences greater than the similarities?
  • How and why did the Korean War turn into a stalemate finally settled through negotiations?
  • The Korean War ended in a military stalemate, but can either side justifiably claim to have achieved a political victory?
  • Identify the ways in which the Korean War marked a critical shift in China’s role in East Asia and in its relations with the United States? How well did the Truman administration grasp that shift?

 

Study questions with a comparative dimension:

  • How did the Korean War compare in its origins with the two previous U.S. wars in the Pacific?
  • How much was the course of the Korean War a break from the pattern set by the Philippine and Japan conflicts?
  • What does the Korean War tell us about the relationship between civilian and military leadership in wartime?