Quick questions on Cold War in Asia, China and Korea 1949-1953: VCE Modern History Unit 4

The CCP and the Nationalists (Guomindang, GMD) under Chiang Kai-shek had fought each other intermittently since 1927. A Second United Front against Japan (1937 to 1945) suspended the civil war. After Japan's surrender (15 August 1945), the war resumed.

Mao travelled to Moscow on 16 December 1949 and stayed two months. The Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance was signed on 14 February 1950. The USSR provided a 300 million dollar low-interest loan (1 per cent over five years), around 10,000 industrial and military advisers, and machinery for 50 major plants. Stalin returned Soviet rights in Manchuria (Port Arthur naval base, the Chinese Eastern Railway) by 1955.

The US National Security Council document NSC-68 (April 1950) was the foundational American Cold War strategy paper. It argued for a global military build-up to contain Soviet expansion: tripling the defence budget, modernising nuclear weapons, and supporting allies worldwide. President Truman approved NSC-68 after the Korean War broke out in June 1950.

Korea had been divided in August 1945 along the 38th parallel between Soviet (north) and American (south) occupation zones. The Republic of Korea (Syngman Rhee, 15 August 1948) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Kim Il-sung, 9 September 1948) emerged as rival regimes. Both leaders sought reunification on their own terms.

The North Korean People's Army (KPA) crossed the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950 with around 135,000 troops, T-34 tanks, and Soviet air cover. Seoul fell on 28 June. UN Security Council Resolution 82 (25 June 1950), passed in the absence of the boycotting Soviet delegate, condemned the invasion. Resolution 83 (27 June 1950) authorised member states to assist South Korea.

Militarisation. US defence spending rose from 13 billion dollars (1950) to 50 billion (1953), implementing NSC-68. The US permanently stationed troops in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Western Europe (the European Defence Community proposals followed).

Odd Arne Westad (Restless Empire, 2012; The Global Cold War, 2005) treats China's revolution and the Korean War as central to the Cold War, not Asian sideshows. He emphasises ideology as a shared American and Soviet vice.

General Douglas MacArthur's amphibious landing at Inchon, far behind North Korean lines, was the operational masterstroke of the war. Seoul was recaptured on 28 September. The KPA collapsed; UN forces crossed the 38th parallel on 7 October 1950 (UN Resolution 376, 7 October, endorsed unification) and entered Pyongyang on 19 October.

As UN forces approached the Yalu River, China entered the war. Chinese People's Volunteers under Peng Dehuai crossed the Yalu on 19 October 1950 with around 300,000 troops. The Eighth Army was driven from North Korea by January 1951; Seoul fell again on 4 January 1951.

General Matthew Ridgway stabilised the front along the 38th parallel by March 1951. MacArthur publicly demanded escalation including nuclear strikes against China. Truman dismissed MacArthur on 11 April 1951.

Talks opened at Kaesong on 10 July 1951 and moved to Panmunjom. The main sticking point was prisoner repatriation: of around 132,000 North Korean and Chinese prisoners, around half refused to return. Stalin's death on 5 March 1953 unblocked the negotiations.

US defence spending rose from 13 billion dollars (1950) to 50 billion (1953), implementing NSC-68. The US permanently stationed troops in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Western Europe (the European Defence Community proposals followed).

The US-Japan Security Treaty (8 September 1951) and the Treaty of San Francisco (8 September 1951) ended the occupation of Japan and tied it to the US bloc. ANZUS (1 September 1951) committed the US to defend Australia and New Zealand. SEATO (8 September 1954) extended Cold War alliance-building to Southeast Asia.

A unified command was created (December 1950) with Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952. West German rearmament moved up the agenda, prompting the Soviet creation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

The People's Republic of China and the United States had no diplomatic relations until 1979. Taiwan, defended by the US Seventh Fleet from 27 June 1950, became a permanent flashpoint.