Why Did The Korean War Break Out?
Why did the Korean War break out?
Introduction
The origins of the Korean War are still a subject of research for many political scientists and historians who claim various reasons are responsible for the outbreak. It is confirmed that North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung was responsible for the start of the Korean War as he commanded the invasion across the 38th parallel on June 25th, 1950. The Korean Peninsula comprises of two nations the communist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the capitalist Republic of Korea (South Korea). The division took place in 1945 when the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel where the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (USSR) agreed on the surrender of the Japanese forces in Korea …show more content…
They each provoked each other multiple times for an all-out war. Both Kim and Rhee had personalities which were driven by war to bring the other Korea under their command. However, Kim’s extreme desire for war and unification is brought out with his constant pressuring of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese leader Mao Zedong to back him. The personalities argument is similar to the U.S. War in Iraq which was driven by the ideologies of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld whose ultimate goal was to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein and did whatever necessary to achieve it; whether it was lie to Congress or falsify intelligence reports.
Additionally, this paper will examine how the escalation of war was due to the growing international conflict between the competing ideologies of the capitalist U.S. and the communist Soviet Union who were both backers of South Korea and North Korea. It is argued that the splitting of the Korean Peninsula may have been for both superpowers to show the other the success of capitalism and communism. After all Stalin did successfully invade the Korean Peninsula and later did the U.S. show up and ask for the division of the …show more content…
Therefore, the rational response for states are to ramp up their power to ensure their survival. This will lead to balancing of power.
With the balance of power theory war is one of the strategies adopted by great powers to maximize their power and ensure their survival. However, the possibility for great powers to make miscalculations are high when they fear other states are making strides in harnessing power for their own survival which may put the great powers on a countermove on a path to war.
Liberalism
Liberalism is a competing view on international relations and war, the main idea behind liberalism is that the security dilemma that most states suffer from in an anarchic system can be alleviated under three guiding principles.
Bruce Russett and John Oneal identify these principles as follows:
1. the state’s regime type and if it is a democracy;
2. the interdependence of free trade between states; and
3. participation in international institutions which can foster co-operation and acceptable
Introduction
The origins of the Korean War are still a subject of research for many political scientists and historians who claim various reasons are responsible for the outbreak. It is confirmed that North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung was responsible for the start of the Korean War as he commanded the invasion across the 38th parallel on June 25th, 1950. The Korean Peninsula comprises of two nations the communist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the capitalist Republic of Korea (South Korea). The division took place in 1945 when the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel where the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (USSR) agreed on the surrender of the Japanese forces in Korea …show more content…
They each provoked each other multiple times for an all-out war. Both Kim and Rhee had personalities which were driven by war to bring the other Korea under their command. However, Kim’s extreme desire for war and unification is brought out with his constant pressuring of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese leader Mao Zedong to back him. The personalities argument is similar to the U.S. War in Iraq which was driven by the ideologies of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld whose ultimate goal was to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein and did whatever necessary to achieve it; whether it was lie to Congress or falsify intelligence reports.
Additionally, this paper will examine how the escalation of war was due to the growing international conflict between the competing ideologies of the capitalist U.S. and the communist Soviet Union who were both backers of South Korea and North Korea. It is argued that the splitting of the Korean Peninsula may have been for both superpowers to show the other the success of capitalism and communism. After all Stalin did successfully invade the Korean Peninsula and later did the U.S. show up and ask for the division of the …show more content…
Therefore, the rational response for states are to ramp up their power to ensure their survival. This will lead to balancing of power.
With the balance of power theory war is one of the strategies adopted by great powers to maximize their power and ensure their survival. However, the possibility for great powers to make miscalculations are high when they fear other states are making strides in harnessing power for their own survival which may put the great powers on a countermove on a path to war.
Liberalism
Liberalism is a competing view on international relations and war, the main idea behind liberalism is that the security dilemma that most states suffer from in an anarchic system can be alleviated under three guiding principles.
Bruce Russett and John Oneal identify these principles as follows:
1. the state’s regime type and if it is a democracy;
2. the interdependence of free trade between states; and
3. participation in international institutions which can foster co-operation and acceptable