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  • Essay / The Korean War – a conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States

    During 1950, a new tension emerged. Eventually, the conflict escalated so much that it led to war. This happened in Korea, but many countries ended up getting involved. This war would have a huge impact on the world and help determine how to handle tensions and wars in the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Shortly before this conflict, there was the Cold War, between the Soviet Union and America. The Soviets wanted to expand, but the United States was unable to do so and implemented a policy of containment. A product of this was NSC-68, a document declaring that more efforts would be made to contain communism. This applied to the spread of communism all over the world, out of fear that the Soviets would not be able to develop everything they needed to destroy the United States. So when the Soviet Union came to Korea, it posed a problem. Korea was divided by the 38th parallel, which divided it into North Korea and South Korea. The Soviets took control of the North, while the United States occupied the South. They both formed separate governments and everything sort of calmed down, so they both withdrew. In June 1950, President Truman received a call about North Korea's attack on South Korea, and that's when the war began. This call led Truman to believe that the invasion had something to do with the Soviet Union, and he was right. The President then decides to declare war and the United Nations supports it. This would make the Korean War "the first military action authorized by the United Nations", rather than being approved by Congress. Truman did this because he thought Congress was taking too long to make a decision and he wanted to act as quickly as possible. The Security Council made official on June 27 American aid to the war in Korea. Shortly thereafter, President Truman ordered all U.S. military forces into action. Although he was approved by some, not everyone in the country, including the Truman administration, agreed with him. Mainly because the president had violated the Constitution by failing to obtain a declaration of war from Congress. Additionally, early in the war, South Korea was not doing as well with United Nations assistance. Truman defended himself, but people remained skeptical. This is why the war can also be known as "Mr. Truman's War". As the war continues, things change and South Korea and the UN forces don't fare as badly. The general of the UN forces at the time was Douglas MacArthur and one of his plans is why the roles changed during the war. He was planning an attack on the port city of Seoul. This took the North by surprise, leading South Korea to retake Seoul. After that, General MacArthur felt really good about himself and thought it would be a good idea to invade the North, and Truman agreed. Instead of simply containing communism, MacArthur wanted to get rid of it completely. The plan worked well for the South and the UN until October. They were about to capture North Korea's capital when China started sending threats. The general had ignored them and headed towards the Chinese border. When they arrived there, the Chinese were waiting to attack them, which caught MacArthur off guard. This led to the withdrawal of the South Koreans and the United States,.