Korea - The Forgotten War

Ten Important Things Everyone Should Know About the Korean War:

1. Korea was a Japanese colony until Japan surrendered to the US at the end of World War II. In 1945, the US and the USSR split Korea at the 38th parallel, with the US taking the southern part.
2. Sixteen nations from the United Nations sent soldiers to Korea, most were from the US. General Douglas MacArthur was commander of all the UN troops.
3. At first, North Korea pushed South Koreans back almost to the city of Pusan, located on the southeastern tip of Korea. MacArthur decided to land his troops at Inchon, a port city behind North Korean lines.
4. The Chinese warned the UN forces to stop pushing their forces toward the Yalu River, the boundary separating China from North Korea.
5. Once the Chinese Communist troops crossed the Yalu River into North Korea on November 25, 1950, the UN troops were pushed all the way back into South Korea.
6. MacArthur tried to gain support for his plans to blockade and bomb China, which Truman refused because he feared another world war. Truman fired MacArthur for public critisism of his orders.
7. As the war progressed, it lost much of its popularity. In July 1951, Truman accepted a Soviet suggestion to start truce talks, which ended up lasting for 2 years.
8. During the 1953 presidential campaign, Truman decided not to run again, so they Democrats chose governor Adlai Stevenson as their candidate. The Republicans chose World War II hero General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who criticized the war and promised to go to Korea and end the conflict soon. Eisenhower won by a landslide.
9. During talks with the North Koreans and the Chinese, Eisenhower agreed to compromise to end the war, but he privately warned that he was ready to use nuclear weapons to carry out war in China.
10. Fighting in Korea ended in July 1953, with the 2 Koreas left near where they were in 1950, at the 38th parallel. Although communism was contained in Korea, Americans were frustrated by the indecisive war.