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.

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

War in Pacific. It is .pdf file in the WWII file folder.

1. What factors have affected viewpoints on Truman's decision?
Truman had many things to consider when he was faced with the decision of using nuclear weapons on Japan or not. Many people were against and with his decision to use them. Some people who were on the Allies' side thought that the nuclear weapons were unnecessary. Some people thought that the war was already over and the bomb served no military purpose, it was dropped to scare the Soviet Union and to test the bomb in real warfare. Other people believe that the bomb was truly dropped because Truman thought it would cost fewer lives than a conventional war.

2. Do you think he made the right decision? Give your reasons.

I am undecided about if I believe it was the right decision or not to use the Nuclear bomb. There are pieces of evidence that support each side. On one hand, this bomb ultimately ended the war. But on the other hand, it killed at least 75,000 people instantly and many more were killed gradually from the radiation poisoning(Source 33). Truman believed that a bomb would kill less people than if they had kept fighting normally, but I think this was a little over the top for war. Other than the thousands killed, it affected the whole environment and had many long-term effects. I think this was war on a totally different level; an extremely intense level. Overall, I don't think that this was justified.

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.

War for Europe and North Africa - Part II

Read the remainder of Chapter 25-2 (pages 779 onward) (War for Europe and North Africa)
6. What was D-Day?
On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy in northern France. Three divisions parachuted down behind German lines. They were followed by thousands of soldiers from the sea.

7. What happened at the Battle of the Bulge?
After the U.S. captured their first German town, Hitler wanted to retaliate. Germans broke through weak American defenses. Hitler hoped that a victory would split American and British forces and break up Allied supply lines. When the German tanks drove into the Allied territory, it created a bulge in the lines, and that's why it's called the Battle of the Bulge. This battle went on for a month. The Germans had pushed back and it seemed too look the way it had before the battle, but really the Germans had lots a lot of soldiers and machinery so they were not able to fight anymore.

8. What did Allied troops find in Germany?
Allied troops found Nazi death camps in July 1944 when they were pushing eastward into Germany. They found many dead bodies and many starving, emaciated prisoners.

9. What happened to Hitler? What happened to F.D. Roosevelt? Who became U.S. President?

Hitler killed himself. F.D.R. died on April 12, 2945 and Vice President Harry Truman became president.