Leaders+and+Generals-+Communist+and+Democratic-+Period+5

=Mitch= =**Leaders and Generals of the Korean War-Period 5**= Some leaders in this war were already distinguished generals or politicians in the end of their careers, like Douglas MacArthur and Harry Truman. For others, the Korean War was their training ground to go on to bigger things, like Park Chung Hee of South Korea. Both sides, democratic and communist, featured major international players that would effect history throughout the middle part of the century. =Democratic= The United Nations was the organization that came to South Korea's aid, siding with the democratic majority of its members. The bulk of the United Nations troops were native to South Korea, but the majority of the rest came from America. The United States also equipped the South Korean forces and provided most of the supplies for the entire UN force, making the United States the biggest democratic power involved.

United States Leaders
The most important political leaders of this time were Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The most important military leader was General Douglas MacArthur.



Douglas MacArthur
MacArthur was chosen by Harry Truman to be put in command of the UN troops, a decision the United Nations upheld. MacArthur then formed his headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, from where he decided on strategy for the war. MacArthur appointed Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker as his field commander. At one of the major turning points of the war, the Landing at Inchon, MacArthur personally directed an amphibious invasion of the South Korean port city that was behind North Korean lines. The surprise landing allowed the United Nations troops trapped in the southeastern corner of Korea to fight their way out because it diverted the North Korean's attention. It also allowed the United Nations troops to retake Seoul, the capital. After this invasion, the North Koreans were divided, and MacArthur was able to take the offensive and push on into North Korea. He began to demand surrender from the enemies, but they refused and eventually the fighting stabilized around the 38th parallel once North Korea received reinforcements from China. Frustrated at the conservative tactics he was forced to use, MacArthur began criticizing the military policy of the Truman administration. MacArthur wanted an all-out war, using all of the weapons in the United States arsenal, including nuclear weapons, which he planned to drop on China. He did not care that these actions might result in another global conflict, something that Truman deeply feared. Because of their disagreement, Truman removed MacArthur from the command of the UN troops in April of 1951.



Harry Truman
Harry Truman was the president when the Korean War began on June 25, 1950 with North Korean troops crossing the 38th Parallel, the border between South Korea and North Korea. He held a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the military and his Cabinet, prominent among which was Dean Acheson, the Secretary of State. Acheson and the other advisers helped Truman decide to aid South Korea, but ultimately it was Truman's decision. The first actions of the United States were announced on June 27, 1950. Truman was sending air and naval units to South Korea along with military supplies. He had yet to declare war with North Korea, however. A formal war declaration was never made, just as a formal peace was never reached, just a lasting ceasefire. US planes were used to protect the evacuation of American civilians from South Korea to Japan. Truman then sent troops on June 30th. The president would later state that this was the hardest decision of his career. The UN had also decided to support South Korea. With the consent of the United Nations, Harry Truman appointed Douglas MacArthur the commander of the UN forces in Korea. Truman was adamant in his belief that the fighting should be constricted to Korea in order to avoid a global war, which would be the equivalent of World War 3. However, MacArthur was eager to attack China. As MacArthur began to disobey orders and start making comments made to the media regarding policy, which he was forbidden to do, Truman decided to remove him from the command, replacing MacArthur with Matthew B. Ridgway, who had been the field commander of the 8th Army, the main body of US troops in Korea. Truman did this in April of 1951. This move was very unpopular at first, but as the Senate began to investigate the reasons for MacArthur's removal, public support for the general died away. Truman's term ran out in 1952, midway through the war, and he determined not to run again. The eventual ceasefire that ended the fighting would be the job of his successor, Dwight D. Eisenhower.



Dwight D. Eisenhower
A career soldier, at first Eisenhower believed he would not be suited to the presidency. He was first drawn into politics by the conflict in Korea. He thought that the United States needed to be involved to stop the spread of communism. However, he also did not want the war to drag on forever, so proposed that a favorable truce be signed. As Eisenhower began to become more vocal in politics, politicians from both parties began to pressure him to run for election. He decided to do so when he learned that Harry Truman would not be running for reelection. Dismayed that the Democrats had controled the White House for more than two decades, Eisenhower determined to run for the Republicans in the election of 1952. At the Republican Convention, he won the Republican nomination and Richard Nixon was appointed as his runningmate. As part of his campaign, Eisenhower vowed to travel to Korea in order to see a truce signed. When all of the votes were totaled, Eisenhower had been elected with nearly 34 million popular votes, which was 55% of the votes cast. The party also won both houses in Congress, giving Eisenhower more power to get what he wanted done. President Eisenhower visited Korea after roughly a month in office. His initial visit failed to get a truce signed, but his promise was fulfilled on July 27, 1953 when a lasting ceasefire was signed.

Other United States Political Leaders
Dean Acheson and Omar N. Bradley advised Truman as to his course of action at the breakout of the Korean War and throughout the course of Truman's second term. Richard Nixon spoke out strongly against communism, which gave him popularity during Cold War times. He was nominated to be Eisenhower's vice president at the Republican Convention. He would later become president.
 * Dean Acheson, Secretary of State under Harry Truman
 * Omar N. Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Military under Harry Truman
 * Richard Nixon, California senator and vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower

Other United States Military Leaders
Walker was the one in charge during the fighting at the Pusan Perimeter, where the North Koreans had forced the UN troops back to the southeastern corner of South Korea. He used his superior numbers to counter every advance of the enemy, and eventually broke out of the cornering to rendezvous on September 28 with troops landed at Inchon. Ridgway used a new strategy that called for slower and more thorough advances in order to eliminate all enemy forces in an area. His predecessor had used quicker advances that left pockets of enemy troops which could then be used to attack the Allies from the sides and the rear.
 * Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker, head of U.S. Eighth Army and field commander of UN troops until his death in a jeep accident on December 27, 1950
 * Major General Edward M. Almond, commander of X (ten) Corps, which was landed at Inchon, and capturer of Seoul on September 26, 1950
 * Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway, who took over field command of the UN forces after Walker's death, and field command of the U.S. Eighth Army. Ridgway captured Seoul again on March 14, 1951, after the Allies had been pushed back again. Ridgway became outright commander of UN forces when Douglas MacArthur was removed.
 * James A. Fleet, who became field commander when Ridgway assumed total command
 * General Mark Wayne Clark, who replaced Ridgway as commander of UN forces in May 1952 until the end of the war in 1953, when he participated in signing the armistice that ended fighting in Korea.
 * Maxwell Davenport Taylor, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army in 1953
 * Major General William Frische Dean was courageously leading his troops on the front lines when he was captured. Despite torture he did not reveal precious U.S. military secrets

United Nations Leaders
Trygve Lie was the United Nations secretary-general at the beginning of the war. He was also the first secretary-general of the United Nations. Lie resigned in 1952 and Dag Hammarsjold replaced him.

South Korean Leaders
The president of South Korea during the Korean War was Syngman Rhee.



Syngman Rhee
The president of South Korea during the war, Syngman Rhee, desired to see Korea united under one government, like his North Korean counterpart, Kim Il Sung. However, each wanted himself in control. Rhee envisioned a democratic Korea, and showed his disdain for the communists when he claimed he could rout their government within two weeks if given proper supplies by the United States. Such belligerence did not sit well with the United States, who determined not to give Rhee any weapons. This changed once the war started, of course. Even though Rhee ran a democratic republic, he was very dictatorial in doing so, as his supporters controlled most everything, guaranteeing him reelection after reelection.

Other South Korean Leaders
South Korean generals did not play a major part independently, as most of those in positions of major power over troops were American. Both the field commander and the total commander of UN troops were American, even though most of the democratic forces involved were of South Korean descent.
 * Park Chung Hee was a general by the end of the Korean War and was later president of South Korea.

=Communist= The biggest communist power involved in the war was China, who sided with North Korea. Chinese troops reinforced North Korea by the thousands. They also helped train North Korean troops. The Soviet Union was indirectly involved, as they trained North Korean troops. The Soviets also supplied North Korea with weapons, provisions, and other military necessities.

China
China was controlled by Mao Zedong, a communist who established the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, and served as its first chairman.



Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong quickly organized the people under the communist system after his army defeated the Chinese Nationalists and forced them to Taiwan. He also quickly allied himself with the Soviet Union, another communist nation. Mao, as Chairman of People's Republic, ordered soldiers from the People's Volunteer Army to aid the North Koreans. Mao also did not want to fight a major war with the United States, so though the soldiers deployed were truly regulars from the army, they were called volunteers in order to seem less threatening. He also encouraged the Soviets to aid the North Koreans with soldiers, but the Soviets only agreed to reinforce the regular Chinese Army while most soldiers served in Korea. The USSR also offered air support, but did not want their planes to go too close to the battlefields.

North Korea
Also communist, the North Korean government was led by Premier Kim Il Sung, the founder of the North Korean Communist Party and eventual chairman of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Even though the name included democratic, the government was still communist.



Kim Il Sung
Gaining power from the support of Soviet Union occupation authorities, Kim Il Sung helped establish the North Korean Communist Party in October of 1945. He was appointed official leader of Soviet Union occupation authorities, which put him in favor with the Soviet Union and gave him power from an important source. After a short time, this party merged with the New Democratic Party to form the Worker's Party of Korea. Though KIm Il Sung was not appointed chairman but vice chairman, the Soviets still supported him as the total leader. With their support, he soon took over. When Korea was officially divided, Kim Il Sung was against the idea. He allowed South Korea to establish the first government before following suit as a way of protesting the division. Kim established the Democratic People's Republic and assumed the position of its first Premier. Kim, like Syngman Rhee, believed in a unified Korea, but under a communist banner. Also like Rhee, he believed the choice method of unification was the military overthrow of the other's government. To achieve this goal, Kim Il Sung started developing a very strong military by enlisting 40,000 men for the Korean People's Army. These recruits were sent off to the Soviet Union and China for training. After the Soviet Union and the United States removed all of their military personnel from Korea, leaving Kim in control, Kim Il Sung thought the time had come to attempt his reunification. United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson had also just declared that South Korea was outside the line of U.S. interest in Asia. That meant the U.S. might not support South Korea should the North Koreans invade. Armed with superior numbers and better weapons, including tanks, North Koreans marched across the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950. Contrary to the belief of the North Koreans, the United States responded quickly to the invasion by sending air and naval units on June 27. After fighting lasting roughly three years, a peace was agreed upon and the border between North and South was again set at the 38th parallel. Though the invasion eventually accomplished no gain of territory, Kim Il Sung continued to be belligerent to South Korea after the war even though his attempt at reunification failed.

Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was still being ruled by the iron fist of longtime communist dictator Joseph Stalin. Stalin aided the other communists in the Korean War and turned its influence against its former ally, the United States.



Joseph Stalin
As one of the major players of World War II and leader of the only world power other than the United States not economically ruined by the war, Stalin was charged with occupying North Korea after the war until the area could be stabilized. These Soviet troops that were situated in North Korea created a very pro-communist situation there, which resulted in North Korea forming a communist government. Soon after the government was established, North Korean troops arrived in the USSR to receive training. Because of this, Stalin had aided Kim Il Sung and North Korea in creating a force to begin the Korean War. Once the Korean War began, Stalin was eager to protect this new branch of his governmental system, and therefore an extension of his influence, Stalin came to the aid of North Korea by giving them supplies such as ammunition, weapons, and provisions. He also had Soviet planes provide air support and other services so long as they did not have to get within 60 miles of the battlefield. Russian-produced tanks were an extreme advantage to the North Koreans during their initial invasion, as the tanks were able to crush every South Korean stronghold with their armor and ammunition. Even though providing aid to the North Koreans was an action against the Soviet Union's former ally, the U.S., Stalin was all to eager to defeat the Soviet Union's new rival. He hoped to show communism's superiority to democracy for the first time on the battlefield.

Other Communist Leaders
Jacob Malik was absent due to a protest against Nationalist China being a member in the United Nations. The USSR's Communist allies in China had forced the Chinese Nationalists out of the country after defeating the in battle and the USSR was protesting against the Nationalist government still being recognized as controlling the country. General Chai Ung Jun was able to quickly force back the South Koreans due to his superiority in equipment, numbers, and training. He used a three prong strike, with most of the forces going against Seoul in order to make South Korea capitulate faster by taking its capital. The tanks General Chai Ung Jun had in his command was impervious to the out-dated South Korean artillery and enabled the North Koreans to advance with little effort.
 * Jacob Malik, USSR delegate to the United Nations who could have prevented the UN from taking action against North Korea had he not been absent.
 * General Chai Ung Jun, North Korean general who oversaw the invasion of South Korea

Why It Matters Now
The Korean War was the defining military conflict of the Cold War. These men decided not only its outcome, but also the future of Korea and the world. These men fought for a country, but also for supremacy between the systems of communism and democracy, testing which had more power. The impact that each of the leaders' actions had on the outcome of the war, and therefore on the ensuing history of the world, makes them important.

=Works Cited=

Images Courtesy Of:
[|http ://www.nndb.com/people/451/000111118/] [|http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/de34. html] images.encarta.msn.com/.../ pho/t011/T011644A.jsm [|http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html] img.infoplease.com/ images/tung.jpg www.dictatorofthemonth.com/ Sung/kimilsung.jpeg www.infoukes.com/history/ images/ww2/figure09.jpg

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