DOCUMENT PROJECT 24

The Korean War

In the late 1940s Asia became an increasingly important arena in the Cold War. The Truman administration hoped China would be a stabilizing force in the region, but its hopes were dashed when Mao Zedong’s Communist troops defeated Chinese Nationalists in the fall of 1949. Truman responded by sending aid to anti-Communist forces in Burma, French Indochina, Indonesia, and other Asian nations. In South Korea the United States lent its support to anti-Communist Syngman Rhee, while the Soviets and Chinese backed Communists in North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Il-sung.

The Korean War began when Kim’s forces attacked South Korea in June 1950. The Cold War’s first “hot war,” the conflict would prove to be a difficult test for President Truman. General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. and United Nations forces, frequently clashed with the president on their competing visions of the conflict. The five-star general was frustrated with Truman’s limited war approach. Truman, on the other hand, worried the conflict would become another world war, especially after Mao sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops into Korea. MacArthur’s airing of those frustrations prompted Truman to forbid him from making public statements. In early April 1951, MacArthur sent a letter expressing his opinions to Congressman Joseph Martin, who then read the letter on the floor of Congress. Five days later Truman replaced MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway. Ridgway, however, wasn’t any more successful than MacArthur had been. By 1952 the war’s stalemate had created such a crisis for Truman that he decided not to seek reelection.

The documents in this project reveal escalating tensions in Korea and also the crisis surrounding MacArthur’s public airing of his differences with Truman. As you read them, consider what they reveal about the different views of the early Cold War.