The Korean war, which was very close to third world war, was prevented but already resulted in bloody and general war in Korea.
After second world war, USA wanted peace, they don’t want any other war. All over the media, they spread words of peace and foreign politicians were assured that now the USA won’t engage in any other war. This made Stalin furious as now he was more secured if he fought with any other nation. The Soviet Union at that time was having the support of China which was a communist state and vice versa. The world was getting divided between communist and democratic states and both of the nations were furious to get nations to their sides
During the second world war, Japan occupied the Korean peninsula. After world war 2, Soviets tried to establish a communist state in Korea and USA wanted to establish a democratic state. This made chaos in Korea. The USA was a monopoly from 1945-1949 as they had a nuclear bomb but after 1949, the soviet union established their own A-bomb. Two states were formed at last but their peace doesn’t last for long, they were-
- The Republic of Korea, supported by the USA
- The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, controlled by the Soviet Union
The USA wanted to stay away from any kind of war in East Asia but USSR was hungry for conquering the whole region of the Korean peninsula.
Mao (Communist leader of China) and Stalin planned a plan for attacking South Korea. Chinese were ready to contribute the most in this war whereas Soviets were going to fund the money. The soviet union was still recovering from the huge impact of second world war. Communist finally attacked South Korea and with few days, captured most of the Korean peninsula. They were confident that the USA won’t engage in this war.
Then the USA gave them a surprise. This surprise was enough to shock iron-hearted leaders like Stalin and Mao. they ordered to send their troops and defend the Republic of Korea. The reason for this step was very conscious. Truman (president of USA) got feelings that something like happening in Korea was very similar to what happened back in 1938-1939. The activity of Nazi Germany, they also conquered neighbor countries like past of Czechoslovakia and some part of Poland and Every nation ignored that activity thinking that it could spark into war, it sparked anyway. Something similar was happening on the Korean peninsula. ”Not to ignore this time” was the feeling of Truman. They send their military to defend the Republic of Korea. It was like a deja vu for the American military.
Chinese knew that they can control the land power completely and were confident about it. They had one of the largest militaries, of about million soldiers. But what they fear was about the naval and air power. The United States of America was far more powerful in naval and air power if even we combine both of Chinese and Russian.
With the quick and powerful support of Americans, suppressing attack was there. the American military was under Douglas Mcarthur. Douglas McArthur was a renowned general. known for his techniques and successful offensives in the second world war. But this time, he was overconfident. Instead of being defensive, he was attacking offensively. Another major surprise was that UN was also involved in this war. Reason for this was same as of USA, they also wanted to stop this war before getting this start. Douglas McArthur didn’t stop even after claiming 60% of the land. This was resulting in a muddy and ambush war.
The world was not expecting another world war and was going not. But if Americans continued the warfare in Korea. It can result in Soviets to start a general war in Korea. It can further be a nuclear battle. If Soviets get completely engaged, simulation can be – China+USSR+NK vs USSR+ Turks+ French+ UN forces. Neither US wanted this nor the world. Therefore, USA decided to order their troops for a retreat. A treaty was signed in which a line was made to divide the North and south Korea.North Korea got under communism whereas South Korea decided to be a Democratic state. In between of Korean war, Stalin died, the new leader, Nikita Khrushchev came to power.After some years, Soviet support for NK decreased. The unstable government in North Korea resulted in a complete dictatorship. Poor conditions and starvation increased. People were getting brainwashed by the government and NK saw its downfall and conditions in NK is what we see today. Whereas on the other hand, South Korea is now one of the most prosperous nations in the whole world. Leading many sectors like IT.