THe Korean War
The Korean War started on June 25, 1950. This was the day that 75,000 North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. The Soviet Union backed the North Koreans and the Americans supported the South Koreans. This was the first military action of the Cold War. The US decided to enter the war to support the South Koreans because they wanted to stop the spread of the communism in the world. The US strategy at the beginning was a defensive one. This was unsuccessful for the Americans. At the end of the summer president Truman and general Douglas MacArthur decided to change the strategy to an offensive one. It started out as a success as the Americans pushed the North Koreans back and eventually back onto their side of the 38th parallel. Once they did this though the Chinese threatened the Americans by saying that if the Americans were to invade the Yalu boundary they would have a full scale war. President Truman wanted to avoid war with the Chinese while on the other hand general MacArthur wanted a war and was provoking one too. That's why when MacArthur wrote the letter "no substitute for victory" he was fired by president Truman on April 11, 1951. The war ended in July 1953. Overall the Korean War was relatively short but many people died during it. Nearly 5 million people died including 40,000 Americans. America also had over 100,000 more wounded. Many Korean civilians were killed during this bloody war. The impact of the war was significant with a high number of deaths occurring, and the Korean Peninsula is still divided today.
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