Korean War
Despite the total victory and unconditional surrender in the recent World War II, the Korean War was not along the same lines whatsoever. The Korean War began when the North and South were divided at the 38th parallel; suddenly, the Communist North invaded the south and most of it was consumed except for a final southernmost city. There, General MacArthur was sent my President Truman to Korea for a “police action.” With U.N advancements up near the Chinese-Korean border, the Chinese sent their own troops to force MacArthur back near the original border lines, where MacArthur called for extra support and was denied.
Korea was a different sort of war in numerous ways. To begin, Korea was not to be a major part of the Soviet Communist expansion plan. Stalin originally did not favor invading South Korea but believed that it would be a small step in expanding and that the U.S would not care too much. Having this be the case, no one knew that the war would carry on for years, certainly not the United States. This attack was a surprise for the U.S and Truman responded quickly. This war was again different because the war was supposed to restore the boundaries to the original 38th parallel. Instead, MacArthur was ordered to push into North Korea and the Chinese became engaged in the battle. The move into the North changed the battle grounds of the war. Now, the U.N was not only defending non-Communist South Korea, but also attacking a larger China. Forces being pushed back called for MacArthur to ask for larger scale attacks, even involving nuclear missiles to be used on China. Having deviated from the original plan to this extent, Truman could not continue and needed to say “no.” This leads to the fact that MacArthur’s claim that “there is no substitute for victory” was problematic in the case of Korea because victory meant launching a full-out attack on China. The U.S at the time was mainly concerned with the U.S.S.R and not the Chinese. Launching
Korea was a different sort of war in numerous ways. To begin, Korea was not to be a major part of the Soviet Communist expansion plan. Stalin originally did not favor invading South Korea but believed that it would be a small step in expanding and that the U.S would not care too much. Having this be the case, no one knew that the war would carry on for years, certainly not the United States. This attack was a surprise for the U.S and Truman responded quickly. This war was again different because the war was supposed to restore the boundaries to the original 38th parallel. Instead, MacArthur was ordered to push into North Korea and the Chinese became engaged in the battle. The move into the North changed the battle grounds of the war. Now, the U.N was not only defending non-Communist South Korea, but also attacking a larger China. Forces being pushed back called for MacArthur to ask for larger scale attacks, even involving nuclear missiles to be used on China. Having deviated from the original plan to this extent, Truman could not continue and needed to say “no.” This leads to the fact that MacArthur’s claim that “there is no substitute for victory” was problematic in the case of Korea because victory meant launching a full-out attack on China. The U.S at the time was mainly concerned with the U.S.S.R and not the Chinese. Launching