The Korean War - 10 important facts

1. In June 1950, North Korean forces, which had been taken over by the Soviets and made communist, crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, which was democratic and supported by the United States, and began to fight in what becomes known as the Korean war.
2. U.S president Harry Truman used this war to test his containment policy by appealing to the UN to stop the communists from taking over South Korea. Truman succeeded and 16 nations provided soldiers for a UN force.
3. The commander of the UN forces was General Douglass MacArthur, who was a hero of World War 2 in the pacific.
4. At the beginning of the war, UN forces had been pushed back deep into South Korea but General MacArthur turned the situation around by landing troops in a port city near the border of the two countries. This forced North Korea to retreat back behind the 38th parallel.
5. General MacArthur wanted to lead an offensive attack into North Korea, and was given approval by president Truman although they were both warned by China that if they did this, China would join the war.
6. As the UN forces started to move into North Korea, China joined the war as they had promised and began to attack UN troops until they were backed up all they back to South Korea.
7. After they were driven back, MacArthur wanted to blockade and bomb China but Truman said no. Despite this, MacArthur tried to gain support by criticizing the president and by trying to gain the support of Republican leaders. As a result of this, president Truman fired General MacArthur but when he went home he was treated like a hero.
8. The war grew unpopular over time and in July of 1951, truce talks began. These talks lasted over two years and were still going on when the 1952 presidential elections took place. Harry Truman decided not to run again and so the democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson and the republicans nominated world war 2 hero Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower won in a landslide by criticizing the unpopular war and gaining support through this.
9. After Eisenhower became president, he went to Korea to speed up truce talks and end the war. When he agreed to the truce with the North Koreans and Chinese, he warned the Chinese privately that he was ready to carry war into china and use nuclear weapons against them. A cease-fire was called in July of 1953. America's goal to contain communism was a success with Korea.
10. When the fighting was over, both North Korea and South Korea gained next to nothing and the border stayed very close to the 38th parallel.