Korean War Lessons

Read Korean War (gdocs) and answer the prompt below. (Also, if you want to read about the Korean War in your Americans textbook, it is 26-2)

Prompt:
It is 1952. A new president, Eisenhower, has been elected in the US. Your task is to write a report for him on what lessons the United States can learn from the war. Your report should advise the President on:

the US aims in Korea
how the support of the UN helped
how far the US achieved its aims
whether MacArthur should have been allowed to invade North Korea
why MacArthur was removed
the military and civilian cost of war



The goals of the United States in Korea were to drive the communists out of South Korea and restore power to the South Korean government. The United Nations supported and helped the United States with this goal. The US was successful in driving the communists back into North Korea. Then, they had a bigger goal-to drive communism out of Korea entirely, so they advanced to the Chinese border. The Chinese built up an army to help North Korea gain back their land and they pushed the UN forces down past the 38th parallel. At this point, Truman wanted to stop fighting but MacArthur wanted to take on China and North Korea and continue fighting, possibly using nuclear weapons. The UN was against MacArthur's idea, but MacArthur threatened to invade China. Truman took him out of power because he disagreed with MacArthur's aggressive policy towards communism.
In my opinion, MacArthur should not have been allowed to invade China and North Korea because the Chinese military was very strong and the United Nations forces would have faced many more casualties. If he had used nuclear weapons, there would have been a lot more destruction and lives lost.
The United States can look back on these events and learn many things. If at first the UN forces settled with their original goal of getting to the 38th parallel, there would have been fewer casualties. If the UN had stuck to the policy of containment, the conflict would have been shorter with less destruction and casualties.

War in the Pacific

Read Chapter 25-3, The War in the Pacific (Stop at the end of page 790)

1. What was the importance of the Battle of Midway?
The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the pacific war, the Allies won their territory back from the Japanese island by island. The Allies were moving closer to Japan.

2. What strategy did the United States adopt in fighting Japan?
Getting their territory back by "island hopping."

3. Why did the Japanese fight so hard on Iwo Jima?

If the U.S. took Iwo Jima it would be critical as a base so the U.S. bombers could easily reach Japan. The Japanese wanted to fight and win this battle especially to prevent this from happening.

4. Why did the Allies believe Okinawa was a foretaste of an invasion of Japan?
Because the Allies now saw how the Japanese fought using kamikazes and withstanding many casualties.

5. What was the Manhattan Project?
The development of the atomic bomb.

6. Ultimately, why did President Truman decide to drop atomic bombs on Japan?

President Truman thought it would end the war.