Korean War - Adrian C.
On June 25, 1950 North Korea crossed over the 38th parallel that divided North and South Korea and attacked. Their goal was to unify South Korea under their government, but the attempt failed and they only managed to occupy a small part. With South Korea being backed by the U.N., Great Britain, and the United States, it is no surprise that the Soviet Union supported the communist North Korea. Initially, the United Nations were just trying to defend their ally, but then President Truman decided that it was important to rid the North of its communist ways. This makes sense, considering the Unites States’ strong hatred toward the idea of communism. At the battle of Inchon, General Douglas MacArthur of the U.S. attacked and reclaimed the city of Seoul. He also forced the enemy back up to the border. However, China was not happy with this success, because they felt threatened by the aggression of the United States and they entered the war on the side of North Korea.
Once China had entered the war, General Matthew Ridgeway replaced MacArthur and he secured the border between the two countries. The rest of the battle was fought at the 38th parallel. and eventually a treaty was signed on July 17, 1953. Not much had changed because of the war, since Korea was still broken up into two separate areas, but a 2 mile zone at the border was created that allowed no military weapons or soldiers, which was created to prevent any more wars.
The importance of this event was that it was the first “Hot War” during the Cold War, meaning that it was the first war with shooting and casualties. This definitely heated things up between the Soviet Union and the United States, and brought them even closer to waging a nuclear war. Also, the war forced countries to take sides, thus creating global tension among countries.