On June 25th, 1950, 75,000 soldiers from the
North Korean People's Army rushed across the 38th parallel, a boundary drawn up between
the United States and the Soviet Union which separated Korea into north and south, with
the north communist and firmly aligned with the Soviet Union and the south democratic
and aligned with the United States. One month later the US would enter the war,
anxious to achieve a quick armistice with the North out of fear of dragging in the Soviet
Union or China and launching World War III. But how did a war that would last to this
day begin? Hello and welcome to another episode of The
Infographics Show, today we're telling the story of the Korean War. Korea was seized as part of the Japanese empire
early on in the 20th century. After a stunning defeat of Russia, the world
was forced to accept that Japan was a new world power, and Japan itself was eager to
add to its territories. Unfortunately for the people of Korea, this
meant that the Japanese army would occupy the nation until the end of World War II. Upon Japan's defeat however, something needed
to be done about its former imperial holdings. As part of its unconditional surrender, Japan
was forced to recall its armies in Asia back to its home island, and to give up most of
its overseas territories. Yet while Manchuria would be returned to the
Chinese, nobody had any idea about what to do with Korea. Ultimately the nation was divided along the
38th parallel, and in a bid to seek to pacify the Soviet Union, Soviet forces were allowed
to take control of the north, and the Americans would take control of the south. Nobody by the way had bothered to ask the
Koreans what they themselves wanted. By 1950 the south was controlled by anti-communist
dictator Syngman Rhee, which the US very reluctantly supported. The north however was enthusiastically supported
by the Soviet Union, who had installed Kim Il Sung as leader. Both men wanted to reunify Korea under their
own rule, and border skirmishes between the two nations were common, with almost 10,000
troops killed in battle before the war officially began. Then came the major offensive from the North
in the summer of 1950. For the United States, the conflict was not
a border dispute between two rival nations, but rather part of a larger and growing struggle
between the forces of communism and democracy. The United States considered noninterference
an impossibility, and a secret national security council report even recommended that the United
States use military force to contain communist expansionism anywhere in the world, regardless
of the intrinsic strategic or economic value of the lands in question. For the US, the die was cast, and what was
quickly seen as a war of aggression backed by the Soviet Union was met with US troops. President Harry Truman would go on to say,
“If we let Korea down the Soviets will keep right on going and swallow up one place after
another.” This anti-communist sentiment would in later
years lead to the 'domino effect' theory, which claimed that if one nation was allowed
to fall to communism, it would pave the way for many others to do the same. While the anti-communist fervor of the US
would come to be derided by later generations, the truth is that the Soviet Union very much
wanted a unified, communist Korea, also believing that an ultimate confrontation between democracy
and communism was inevitable, and if that fight was to come then the only way for any
side to survive was to have the most allies. In short, everyone believed that World War
III was inevitable. Despite the intervention of the United States
and its allies, the war initially went very badly for the democratic forces. North Korean forces were backed with Soviet
equipment and had received extensive training from Soviet military advisers. In fact, many of North Korea's operations
were being actively planned by Soviet generals, who put their vast experience combating the
Japanese in Manchuria and the Germans in eastern Europe to great effect. North Korean forces were numerous, well disciplined,
well equipped, and had high morale. By contrast, South Korean forces had not received
much training and suffered from very poor morale. US soldiers would often find their South Korean
allies fleeing from battle at the slightest provocation, and desertion was a common problem
for South Korean military leaders. While the US was initially supposed to supplement
South Korean forces and fight a defensive battle to push the North out of the South,
they soon found themselves carrying the brunt of the battle. The extreme heat also worked against the American
soldiers, who suffered from logistic and supply problems and were often forced to refill their
drinking canteens from rice paddies which had been fertilized with human waste. This led to outbreaks of disease and illness
which further decreased US strength. The US desperately needed to relieve pressure
on its forces, and it was decided that an amphibious invasion behind North Korean forces
would be launched. The plan was extremely risky, if the landings
went poorly then American forces would be destroyed on the beaches, overwhelmed by superior
North Korean firepower- yet if it was successful then North Korean forces would be cut off
from their supply lines and forced to fight on two fronts at the same time. Kim Il Sung, leader of North Korea, was completely
aware of the vulnerability of his forces to being flanked by landings at his rear, and
had even received some intel from the Soviets that American landings at Inchon were possible-
yet Kim Il Sun did not believe that the Americans would attempt such a landing, as Inchon's
beaches were notoriously treacherous and difficult terrain and its dangerous tides only afforded
a few hours of safety for landing craft. On September 15th, 40,000 American troops
and 8,600 South Korean troops forced a landing at Inchon, fully 100 miles (160 km) behind
the North's lines. The attack was a complete surprise to the
North, and the landing force met with relatively light resistance. From the east, American tank battalions rushed
to encircle the North Korean forces, threatening to trap the bulk of the North Korean army
in the south. North Korean forces rapidly retreated back
to Seoul, the South's capital which they had seized early on in the war. A vicious battle levelled much of Seoul and
saw the North's forces in full retreat, with only 30,000 North Korean soldiers making it
back to the north. The way to Pyongyang was now clear, and an
end to the war was in sight. Back in the Soviet Union, Stalin berated several
of his military commanders for the poor performance of the North Korean military and held them
personally responsible. Some of them would not survive their failures. President Truman however warned that advances
into North Korea should be careful not to provoke China, as he feared that it would
lead to China's entry into the war and prompt the Soviets to initiate attacks in Europe,
launching the much feared democracy versus communism World War III. China's Mao Zedong had in fact warned the
UN that in the case of safeguarding Chinese national security, they would intervene if
necessary against UN forces in Korea. American General Douglas McArthur, commander
of UN forces in Korea, however was sure that China wouldn't dare risk full-out war against
the US, specially given the fact that the nation still lacked any serious military hardware
and relied on mass infantry formations. He also resented what he thought of as President
Truman's appeasement of the Chinese, and thus while President Truman tried to prevent war
with the Chinese, General McArthur actively tried to provoke it. Unbeknownst to McArthur, he was about to get
his wish, as for weeks now Chinese military forces had been moving into North Korea. While UN forces had encountered various Chinese
military units, these were small in size and thought to be nothing more than volunteers,
thus General McArthur ignored intelligence that said a growing Chinese force was massing
in the mountains, believing that any Chinese in North Korea were volunteer fighters and
not actual troops. Meanwhile, Stalin had been secretly communicating
with Mao Zedong, telling him to send several infantry divisions into North Korea, but warning
that Soviet forces would not intercede in the fight. Diplomatic discussions between Mao and Stalin
led to Stalin agreeing to lend some material support, but no combat troops, and that he
would offer the support of the Soviet air force but only over Chinese air space. This would be of little use to Chinese forces
as none of the fighting was taking place in China itself. Still, some Soviet pilots did fly missions
against UN forces, though they were careful to always remain near the Chinese border in
case they were shot down. China immediately supplemented its forces
in North Korea with a force of 200,000 troops, which incredibly completely evaded detection
by UN aerial reconnaissance. This was achieved by marching only at night
time and setting up elaborate camouflage while resting during the day. Strict discipline was enforced, and soldiers
were to immediately duck for cover and remain motionless if any aircraft were spotted overhead. Chinese officers were authorized to shoot
any security violators, and the measures, while draconian, allowed three divisions of
Chinese infantry to completely surprise South Korean and UN forces. Deep in North Korea, Chinese forces routed
a South korean army, and then completely encircled the US's 8th Cavalry Regiment, launching attacks
from the north, northwest, and west. UN forces were forced to retreat, but despite
the huge success of their attack, the Chinese mysteriously retreated to mountain hideouts
instead of pushing the attack and capitalizing on their victory. Because of the sudden withdrawal though, UN
command did not believe that China had truly committed to the war, and thus continued to
push north. This would result in another series of deadly
Chinese ambushes, the most famous of being the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in which 30,000
UN troops, mostly Americans from the US's X Corps, were surrounded by 120,000 Chinese
troops. The Chinese were ordered to completely destroy
the UN forces, however for seventeen days UN forces held their own under a brutal wintertime
assault. Eventually the encircled forces were able
to break through the Chinese lines, and with the aid of American Marines and the US Army's
Task Force Faith, were able to retreat. The battle would see 1,000 UN soldiers killed
with 20,000 Chinese killed, mostly due to the superior equipment and tactics of the
Americans and their British and South Korean allies. The battle however marked the end of offensive
operations into North Korea. With China fully committed, President Truman
desperately wanted to avoid a third world war and thus ordered UN forces to move back
to the 38th parallel. As negotiations took place, fighting continued
along the 38th parallel, until finally after two years of negotiations, an armistice was
signed on July 27th, 1953. A cease fire which lasts to this day was immediately
put into effect, but a satisfactory end to the Korean war was never achieved. Sadly, hostilities between north and south
are still at an all time high, and the continued backing of Russia and China allow North Korea,
impoverished as it is, to survive. Should President Truman have risked a wider
war with China in order to defeat the communist North? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
How Do North Koreans See America?. Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t
forget to like, share and subscribe. See you next time.
