The Korean War And Its Origins Essay -- The Korean War, 1945-1953

Russia and the United States began their relationship as allies when Russia disregarded the non aggression pact they signed with Germany in 1939, effectively sealing Germany’s fate in World War II. Korea, like Germany, had been occupied by Soviet and United States forces at the end of World War II. Korea was split in half via the 38th parallel after the Japanese Empire fell near the end of the conflict. The soviets occupied the north side of the line and the Americans occupied the south. â€Å"By the end of the decade, two new states had formed on the peninsula. In the south, the anti- communist dictator Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) enjoyed the reluctant support of the American government; in the north, the communist dictator Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) enjoyed the slightly more enthusiastic support of the soviets.† (http://www.history.com/topics/korean-war) Many top decision makers in the US believed that the USSR was trying to spread communism throughout the world. In April 1950, a National Security Council report recommended that the U.S. use military force to â€Å"contain† communist expansionism anywhere it seemed to be occurring. â€Å"The NSC-68 called for significant peacetime military spending, in which the U.S. possessed "superior overall power" and "in dependable combination with other like-minded nations." It calls for a military capable of: Defending the Western Hemisphere and essential allied areas in order that their war-making capabilities can be developed; providing and protecting a mobilization base while the offensive forces required for victory were being built up; conducting offensive operations to destroy vital elements of the Soviet war-making capacity, and to keep... ...ut to find us the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war the unanimous choice would have been Korea.† (Dean Acheson, U.S. Secretary of State (1893-1971) Works Cited Evanhoe, Ed. "The Korean War." The Korean War. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. . Hickey, Michael. "BBC - History - World Wars: The Korean War: An Overview." BBC - Homepage. N.p., 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. . "Korean War à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  History Made Every Day à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  American & World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. . "NSC-68 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. .