Korean War Blog

The Causes of The Korean war  

The 38th parallel was an imaginary line that essentially divided communist North Korea and anti-communistic South Korea. North Korea invaded the South and passed the 38th parallel, officially starting the war. The U.S. helped the South because of the fear of communism spreading. 

Causes

After World War Two, Korea was occupied by Japanese soldiers, who relinquished their land to the Allies. Korean land was distributed between the Soviets, the United States, France, and Britain. The Soviet Union wanted to claim Korea but The U.N. wasn't comfortable with having all that land be communist. They agreed that the North will be controlled by the Soviet Union and cut off at the 38th parallel. The southern part of Korea will be under U.N. control. in 1948 Soviet Russia declared that North Korea will be under communist control, and the 38th parallel would be a political border between the Communist North and the American South. The Northern communist dictator was Kim Il Sung, and the Southern dictator was Syngman Rhee, both wanted the others land. over 10,000 Korean soldiers on both sides died before the war started. The war officially began on June 28th, 1950 when North Korean troops passed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea.

Most of the terrain was uphill during the Korean war. It added difficulty to what already seemed  to be a struggle. That with the extreme temperatures, most soldiers were unprepared for the harshness of Korean land.

Street battle in the town of Seoul. Civilian casualties were common during attacks.  Most buildings were destroyed as a result of the battles. 

U.S. Involvement 

Soon after the North invaded the South, Truman deployed troops in South Korea along with the UN (which were mostly American troops also). Douglas McArthur was the general for American troops and planned tricky and dangerous tactics but eventually pushed the North back. With the help of the Chinese, The U.S. troops were pushed back behind the 38th parallel and farther down south. With a strong counter attack UN and American troops fought back and brought both sides back to the 38th parallel  where the war started in the first place. Eventually both sides called a truce and stayed behind their respective boundaries.

Picture of U.S. troops powering through the freezing weather conditions in Korea.
The temperature was around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Many troops suffered from
frostbite. 

American troops crossing over the 28th parallel into North Korea.  It is also known as the DMZ today. It is the  line that was made after the truce that divides North and South.

A Korean girl carries her little brother in front of an American Tank. Many families moved away to try and escape the violence. The war spanned across the entire peninsula. and affected many citizens. 

Setting

After World War II Korea, which was previously under Japanese control, was divided up between the U.S. and The Soviet Union. With the North being under communist control and the South being influenced heavily by the U.S. Tensions quickly rose and by the time the war was over 55,000 American troops lost their lives, while over 1 million North Korean and Chinese perished. Soldiers who fought in Korea dealt with extreme climates that were so cold that many suffered from frostbite. Soldiers weapons would freeze and be disabled due to the harsh weather. Korea has mountainous terrain which heavily affected the way the war was fought. The humid and scorching summers were breeding grounds for disease and infested with rats.

One of the toughest obstacles soldiers faced was the temperatures.  Many troops froze to
death as seen in this picture. With temperatures far below freezing, many of their rations would also freeze and be useless. 

American General, Douglas MacArthur sits comfortably  alongside comrades. He got involved with politics believing that they should attack the Chinese at the source. Truman opposed his strategies believing that it would only make matters worse. 

North Korean terrain was very mountainous. With large slopes it was very difficult to make it up hills while being fired at. Many American vehicles and weapons malfunctioned due to the climate.

Home Front

The home front during the Korean War was completely different than WWII. During World War II many Americans rationed and sacrificed necessities for the troops over seas. During the Korean war many did not acknowledge a war was happening or did not care enough to do anything about it. Since the war in Korea happened so quickly after WWII ended many veterans did not want to sacrifice anymore. Truman did not even call it a war, but the "Korean Conflict". Congress never allowed Truman to go to war with North Korea but he was allowed to place troops there for defense. Those who did follow the war did not know the point or significance of it. There were not many radio broadcasts about how the war was going or propaganda posters encouraging the American public to ration food or cut down on gas.

One of the Korean propaganda posters showing a Korean soldiers bombing the White House. Support was much stronger on the Korean home front, which differs from the American home front. Many did not care about the war and did not support it. 

End 

3 years later the U.S came to armistice with China and North Korea. The Korean War was one of the first outcomes of the cold war with Russia. Communism vs. Capitalism was the theme during the cold war and the U.S. was determined to contain it. The truce between the 3 nations left U.S. citizens and officials unsatisfied because we technically didn't "win". During the first year the United Nations and U.S. troops pushed Korean soldiers up North, and looked like a promising victory. However the newly communist leader in China sent troops in and fought back the U.N. and were pushed down south. With the agreement of a stalemate the nations came together and divided Korea into 2 sections, North and South. It was split at the 38th parallel, and named the DMZ (demilitarized zone). Both nations are still in high tension with the fact that communist North wants to invade capitalist, westernized South. 

Many men dreaded being drafted for the Korean War. Bob Hughes, a Korean war vet, said," They took me screaming and hollering." The draft took many troops that wished they could refuse to go to war. 

General Douglas MacArthur was the most well known generals to come from the Korean war because of his compassion towards the cause. "I would defend Korea as I would my own country-just as a I would California" (MacArthur). His passion led him to compete in a political race with Truman. 

What made the war in the Korea so difficult was the unforgiving terrain. "On the other side of every mountain was another mountain" (George Russel). It was physically exhausting for troops to fight while traveling up hills.

Bob Hughes, who was a field medic during the Korea war remembers the constant stress of trying to heal wounded soldiers. "A guy ran to me screaming that he was shot in the arm, I told him it was impossible because his arm was shot clean off" (Hughes). Many wounded soldiers struggled to get the correct aid because they were under constant fire. 

The Korean war was a nasty, unforgiving war on American troops. "If you came out and said you weren't lucky you had problems" (Hughes). He claims that anyone who survived the Korean war was lucky and should be happy they made it out alive. 

World War Two Blog

World War Two

In this picture two marines dive after American explosives go off. They are taking cover in what use to be Banyan Jungle. The american bombs destroyed a Japanese bunker in March 1945.

These are the streets of London after another air raid by the Germans. The Germans utilized a tactic called, "Blitzkrieg" (lighting war). Britain often fell victims to the air raids and the Germans were most of the time successful in their attacks.

Causes 

Here is a picture of Adolf Hitler at a rally in Germany. Powerful and
supported by many, Adolf had Germany in his hands. Many did not
argue as he invaded other countries. 

After the WWI the treaty of Versailles left German weak, powerless, and crippled. It was designed to rip apart Germany by seizing land, food, and ruining what was left of their economy. A vengeful, young WWI veteran took part in politics and fueled the fire to the Germans rebirth. Adolf Hitler gave the German people answers and solutions they wanted to hear; ways for German to rise back to the top and punish those responsible for crippling the German race. In 1933 Hitler became the Reich chancellor and the Nazis became the main political party of the country. Hitler was self named the Fuhrer and became the head power in Germany. In 1938 Hitler sent troops to stay in Austria which was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. He formed allies with Japan and Italy who agreed to help aid him in war against the U.S. and many other European powers. On September 1st 1939, the war was unofficially started when he invaded his neighboring country, Poland. England and France declared war on September 3rd, officially started WWII. 

U.S. Involvement in WWII 

Giesels cartoons often criticized our absence in World War II.
In this cartoon he points out since the other countries being invaded
are not American, it should not be our problem. He protested that the U.S. should
help countries being terrorized by the Axis in any way. 

One of the larger battleships sunk during Pearl Harbor
was the USS Arizona. 2,500 people died because of the attacks, more than
1000 were wounded. Almost half of the deaths were on the USS Arizona. 

At the beginning of the war the U.S. was determined to stay out of Europe and avoid being involved. Learning from the previous failures in World War I the U.S. passed the Neutrality Acts between 1935 and 1939. As the war thickened in Europe protesters in U.S. claimed we needed to start getting involved before this is a larger problem for the U.S. Theodore Giesel (Dr. Suess) was a political activist and created many political cartoons criticizing the U.S. not being involved with WWII. Even though we claimed to be neutral, Roosevelt helped give aid to Britian and other allies with the Cash and Carry act. In 1937 this act said that the Allies could purchase arms from the U.S. if they paid in cash and met us in our territory. Contrary to WWI, this system worked because countries paid for weapons upfront and close to home. Even though we were not directly involved with the war, we started manufacturing war equipment and posted a draft. The lend-lease act deepened our involvement and relations with Britain by leasing them older weapons, tanks, planes, etc. from World War I. Roosevelt and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, met many times to discuss involvement and aid. The Atlantic Charter  was a secret meeting held outside of the Netherlands where Churchill and Roosevelt talked over goals and tactics of the war. Japan-American relations tensed up due to that the U.S. cut off over 80% of their oil resources. Moving our naval base to Hawaii was also a obvious move that prepared the U.S. to attack Japan if necessary. Early morning December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, therefor launching the U.S. into war. 

Rosie the Riveter was one of the more famous propaganda
posters to come out of WWII.  She represented women strength
and encouraged them to join the work force. This was heavily effective
because women took jobs while men were away fighting. 

Home Front 

After the attacks on Pearl Harbor many Americans realized how serious the war is and how much we are now involved in it. The U.S. government began to stress the idea of conservation of food, metals, and clothing to help our soldiers over seas. Propaganda posters popped up in local markets, people's jobs, and in the newspapers telling them different ways to help aid American troops. War bonds also contributed to the war funds. These bonds were very popular, especially with children. They asked their parents to buy them war bonds for holidays and birthdays.  The role of women also significantly increased because of the loss of jobs. Since the draft took men out of work and over seas, women had to take the role of these jobs while they were away. It opened up a new day for women into the work force and they were able to have higher paying, more respected jobs. Japanese-Americans were heavily segregated after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. FDR passed executive order 9066, which removed anyone of Japanese descent from communities   They were sent way to rehabilitation camps to stay until the war was over because they were feared of being Japanese spies.

Setting

American troops operating a cannon in Saipan. Civilians that lived on the island
would commit suicide and jump off cliffs because of the horrors told to
them by Japanese officials. Over 30,000 Japanese troops and citizens died
during the battle. 

A American solider looks down at a fallen  Japanese
soldier. It was dishonorable in their culture for
them to come back from a war so most committed
suicide in the face of defeat. Only 200 Japanese
troops were taken prisoner. 

Since there were no fights on American Soil, with the exception of Pearl Harbor, troops were sent to battle in Europe and Asia. Unlike WWI, trench warfare was not used as the main fighting tactic, and was not used as much. With the development of a tanks and advances in planes, fight's were more spread out over a region. The Axis powers were 3 nations, Germany, Italy, and Japan. While the Allies were mainly France, Britain, Russia, and the United States. Hitler sent his troops to take over Poland and Eastern Russia. Russia suffered an overwhelming loss of men, by the end of the war over 20 million soldiers died. Late into the war Russia was able to fight off German soldiers because of the harsh climates. Britain was being attacked by Germany from the South and North. The Netherlands and France was under Nazi control so they were constantly air-raided from both ends. The war tactic was called "Blitzkreig", and it didn't just target soldiers, but British towns and citizens. Japan controlled the Philippines and other small island chains close to Asia. The U.S. closed in and used island hopping. Island hopping was going from one island to another, securing the location and then moving on with the goal being to make it to Japan. As the size of the island grew bigger and proximity to Japan grew, so did the number of casualties on each side. Japanese soldiers used Kammikazi to attack U.S. ships and soldiers. They would take planes, themselves, and boats and ram them into American vessels and sacrificed themselves to impact damage. It was nothing American soldiers have seen before.

The End of World War II

As Germany was defeated troops were sent in and found Nazi concentration camps.
The camps were specifically eradicating Jews, people with special needs, and other ethnic
groups. Over 6 million Jews were put to death in these camps.

On June 6th, 1944, the war changed enormously. "D-Day" was an allied attack on the axis powers where over 200,000 troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. Hitler was defeated and Germany surrendered March 8th. When word that the Axis army was beaten on both Western and Eastern fronts, Hitler committed suicide. Even though the war with Europe was over, the U.S. was still focused on defeating Japan. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 6th, leveling the entire city. Shortly following the Soviet Union declared War on Japan. The next day another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by the American army, leaving the city in total devastation. Japan had no choice but to give up, on August 15th, Emperor Hirohito announced the countries surrender. President Truman, Winston Churchill, and Stalin met at the Potsdam Conference to discuss post war negotiations. Germany would be divided up between France, The United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain. 

One of the most popular and well known pictures to come from the celebration  of the end of the war.
Americans celebrated the victory and partied in the streets of cities. War veterans were able to come home from the bloodiest war in history.

Dropping the atomic bomb was one of the most relieving feelings to those American troops who were fighting their way to Japan."That was the smartest thing we ever did" (Robert S. Appel). Today many question the action as they see the later side effects.
Many of the troops felt isolated from the rest of the world."When you're 300,000 miles away from home and have no friends, no family, you get pretty lonely"(Robert S Appel). The troops dealt with a heavy amount of grief form being so far away from home.
Hitler was a fierce leader and almost completely dominated Europe. "You only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down" (Hitler). He was speaking in reference of invading the Soviet Union.
Roosevelt collaborated with the allied nations leaders which included Joseph Stalin, communist dictator of Soviet Russia. "The Soviet Union, as everybody who has the courage to fact the fact knows, is run by a dictatorship as absolute as any other dictatorship in this world"(FDR). Even though they were fighting on the same side, Roosevelt did not approve of communist leadership.
The Treaty of Versailles is arguably the biggest reason Germany went to war. "As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, there will always be war" (Albert Einstein). Germany held deep hatred for all the nations that handicapped their country after WWI, and wanted revenge.