Seminar English

Sept. 23, 2001

The Korean War changed the way in which a variety of people from different backgrounds thought and felt about war and changed the methods used to fight wars. One of the major forces behind the Korean War was the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization set up shortly after WWII to provide a collective security for its members. The United Nations allowed and allotted troops to aid South Korea in its struggle to maintain its power and legitimacy. The ruling made by the UN allowed troops from member countries including America to help out. It was called a police action. Much controversy surrounded the use of this term and its regulations. Although troops from many different countries were sent in to South Korea throughout the war, over 90% were American (Danzer et al. 775). Thousands of American lives were lost in this great war as well as billions of American dollars. The conflict on which this war was based is that of communism versus non-communism. South Korea was a non- communist state while North Korea was communist. The spread of communism was a th

The US did have several tools with which to combat this problem. A. Mitchell Palmer was the Attorney General at the time and decided to take action against this new party. He believed that radicals were undermining American values and needed to be stopped. In response to the attempted revolution by the communist party, Palmer used strong words and harsh actions. He is quoted as saying:

The fear of the spread of communism was felt in many countries during and following the Korean War. It was a most powerful force, driving many Americans to be overly suspicious of "communistic" actions and a loss of the feeling of security in America. During this time, Americans became suspicious of everyone, even their neighbors; this turned into a nationwide search for spies.

Truman's democratic influence on the outcome of the Korean War pushed many Americans to reject the Democratic Party; thus leading to the election of a Republican, Dwight Eisenhower in the presidential election of 1952.

During the Korean War, new tactics such as limited war and the use of the, then new, United Nations, changed the way in which both the American public and their government fought war. The way that the Korean War was fought brought many people to the realization that war did not have a definable process, nor was its outcome always predictable. The allotment of troops for South Korea's aid drastically changed the outcome of the war and in the end assisted in creation of an armistice to be agreed upon by both Koreas. Although the tolls on America were deeply felt, the United States' efforts proved to help stop the spread of communism into South Korea. While the threat of communism may not seem real to Americans today, it was very real and very scary to those living in America in the mid-50's (Downs).

The people of America as well

Some common words found in the essay are:
South Korea, UN American, Palmer Attorney, Korean War, Workers World, China Americans, North Korea, United Nations, Harry Truman, Scare Fear, south korea, korean war, spread communism, united nations, danzer et al, american people, danzer et, communist party, et al, limited war, north korea, lives lost war, war united nations, fear spread communism, sent south korea,
Approximate Word count = 1230
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)