Development of the Korean War (AQA GCSE History): Revision Note

Summary

When North Korean soldiers began moving south on 25th June 1950, many people on both sides expected a rapid Communist victory. However, the USA acted quickly to mobilise both its armed forces and the United Nations (UN) to support South Korea. 

The result was a series of spectacular military victories that saw North Korean troops defeated and forced back beyond the 38th parallel. The decision to continue the fighting into North Korea proved to be disastrous and led to hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops entering the war on North Korea’s side.

After months of bitter fighting, the war settled into a stalemate with both sides holding more or less the same territory they had at the start of the war.

UN campaign and Inchon landings

• The UN forces were led by US General Douglas MacArthur

Fact file text:

• Fought as a soldier in World War I and was awarded 13 medals

• Successfully led the American forces against Japan in World War II

• Was seen as arrogant by some politicians in Washington

• The first thing MacArthur did was to rush reinforcements to Pusan in the southeast to prevent North Korean troops from completely occupying the Korean peninsula

• He then launched a successful surprise attack from the sea on the port city of Inchon

  • This was just 40 km from Seoul in the northwestern region of South Korea

• UN forces then advanced north from Pusan and south from Inchon — attacking the North Korean troops from two sides

  • The strategy was extremely successful, and thousands of North Korean troops were killed or captured

  • All North Korean troops had been driven out of South Korea and passed the 38th parallel by early October

Advance into North Korea and Chinese intervention

• The UN troops did not stop at the 38th parallel and kept advancing into North Korea

  • The invasion was approved by the UN, which wanted to see a reunified and independent Korea 

• The Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, repeatedly warned UN troops not to approach the Chinese border

  • These warnings were ignored 

    • On 25th October, China launched an enormous attack involving 200,000 well-equipped troops in support of North Korea

• The UN troops were forced back beyond the 38th parallel, and Seoul was once again captured by the Communists

  • Counterattacks meant that Seoul was back under the control of UN troops by March 1951

  • By this stage, both sides were roughly back where they were when the fighting had started

The Sacking of General MacArthur

• President Truman was satisfied with having liberated South Korea from the invasion by North Korea

  • It allowed him to say that Communism had been contained and that he had stopped it from spreading

• MacArthur, however, was determined to keep fighting, defeat China and reunite Korea

  • He defied orders, sent troops back into North Korea and advocated using atomic bombs to overcome China

• Truman could not tolerate this refusal to follow orders and dismissed MacArthur as commander-in-chief in April 1951

  • Truman was widely criticised for the way he treated a man whom many believed was a war hero

  • However, Truman was desperate to maintain his authority and to avoid the conflict escalating any further