The Spread Of Communism In East Asia

Following WWII, the Allied powers split up the Korean peninsula similarly to how Germany had been divided, with the Soviets controlling the North and the US controlling the South. This led to a communist North Korea and non-communist South Korea, and when these two wanted to unify, both wanted to do so on their premises. The North, then attacked the South to take over as a way to unify, leading to a war between the two. The US, as well as other countries, entered the conflict between the nations in order to combat or advocate for the spread of communism. The United States, one of the countries opposing communism under was led at this time by President Harry Truman.

South Korea didn’t want to be a contribution to communism, where North Korea believed that communism was the solution to all problems. This invasion caused and all out war the involved many other countries like Russia and the US. As stated in “Document C”, Russia’s job was to help North Korea and promote their communists government, where the US was there to help South Korea promote their capitalism. Several years after continuously fighting on whether Korea should have a communist or capitalists government, the war finally ended. The country is still divided today and North Korea still remains communists leaving the US failing to stop communism.

Korea’s history already determined it was a weak country, having been a pawn for Far Eastern powers, so Cold War had left it nearly destroyed with epidemics, poverty, limited education, and authoritarian rulers (LaFeber, 2008). In this state, Korea was left vulnerable to communism. In 1945, the 38th parallel marked the ally agreement of disarming the occupying Japanese military, however by the end of the Korean War, it would be the indivisible line that divided the country between communism and democracy (LaFeber, 2008). In June 1950, when North Korean troops passed the 38th parallel, President Truman gave the order for American air and naval units to move into action to aid South Korea and to show the United States’ opponents that “the United States was no longer content with mere “containment” but now aimed for liberation (LaFeber, 2008, p. 114). LaFeber (2008) explains President Truman’s intent, “

Following WWII, in 1945, the division of Korea was initiated. The Soviet Union established a pro-communist government on the Northside of Korea and Americans created a pro-democratic government on the Southside of Korea. After the division, known as the 38th parallel, occurred, North Korea began to attack again. This attack consisted of both the South and North pushing each other farther from the 38th parallel until the Chinese troops drove them back to the 38th parallel. The United States and The Soviet Union knew the war was not going anywhere but still persisted to continue.

The Korean War began after the end of the Second World War in 1950. Initially, the Korean peninsula was part of the Japanese Empire. After the Empire’s defeat, it forced them to split into North and South Korea. Soviet forces settled in North Korea while American troops moved to the south of the Korean peninsula. The United States on the side of South Korea decided to establish a democratic republic commission that was meant to oversee the election scheduled in 1948.

The U.S forced capitalist democracy on South Korea, led to the formation of the Republic of Korea in

World War II was a global war that lasted six years, involving the majority of the world’s nations. The war introduced some of the most frightening and highly developed weaponry in history and resulted in an estimated 80 million fatalities. During the last stages of the war, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 180,000 civilians lost their lives (American Yawp). This massacre left many people questioning America’s motivation for using such a destructive weapon.

The French surprisingly suffered a defeat and were forced to retreat from the country. Vietnam, now independent, became a communist

While North Vietnam practiced Communism and was led by Ho Chi Minh, South Vietnam was a mainly Catholic country under Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was firm against anyone who posed a threat to the unity of his country, and Ho Chi Minh realized he would have to take action in order to make South Vietnam fall to Communism. Thus, Ho Chi Minh formed the National Liberation Front, a group of Communists who pretended to be South Vietnamese citizens that were unhappy under Diem’s rule. Furthermore, the Communists waged a war of terror, kidnapping and killing village leaders.

In 1930 the Indo Chinese communist party was founded by Ho Chi Minh. The party got independence after the World War II. French were not happy with this independence as they did not want to renounce Vietnam. Vietnam was rich in minerals, and it was a definite asset for French Empire. However, the people of Vietnam did not want any longer association with the French Empire.

The communist party start to spread quickly because of people believing this is the only way to change the world for the good. To try and escape the financial difficulties and the lack of food supply in their countries the people pulled from capitalism and pushed to communism. Truman said “The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world - and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation.” (VIDEO #1 and Truman Doctrine)

South Korea was modernized post-war with the help of the US. The North Korean economy was able to recover of being supported and dependent on Russia post-war, but when the Soviet Union collapsed, the country went into crisis. A ceasefire was signed, without the South Korean president, and consequently, both countries are still at war.

In the 1950’s the Koreas were going back and forth. North Korea didn’t like the way South Korea was living, so they invaded and almost started bossing them around. In a late-night vote on June 27 the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution asking for military aid to repel the North Korean invasion. On September 26 1950 the United States of America went into South Korea to get rid of the North Koreans. When they did that the North Korean army crumbled and all the survivors retreated to the North (United States).

According to History.com, the beginnings of the Vietnam War began during World War II. During the world war the Japanese had invaded Vietnam, and to resist this action the French Colonial Administration, led by Ho Chi Minh, formed the league for the independence of Vietnam. After the allies defeat in 1945, Japan retreated and gave up its control in Vietnam. Ho saw this as an opportunity and seized control of Hanoi and then declared a democratic republic of Vietnam, naming himself president.

After the war, in 1948, Korea was split in two. The Republic of Korea, controlled by the Allies, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, ruled by the Soviets. Both considering themselves the ruling government there was tension which led to North Korea’s invasion of the South on June 25th, 1950. This sparked the Korean war between the American and the Vietnamese. In 1953 the war was over and Korea was still split in two with a De militarized zone in between.