The Korean War was an armed conflict spanning from June 1950 – July 1953 and involved two opposing sides, North Korea and South Korea. Each side was backed up by the Soviet Union and United States, respectively, and was part of the larger, long-term Cold War. The stage was set for a South Korean-U.S. victory with the allied forces pushing back the communists north of the 38th parallel and to the Yalu River in North Korea. However, victory could not be seized as the South Korean troops were met and ambushed by the Chinese. This instance marked the entrance of the People’s Republic of China into the Korean War and raised questions concerning China’s reasons for doing so. The analysis of two documents exchanged during the war will show that China
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Stalin told Enlai that “he [considers] it corrects to concentrate immediately 9 Chinese divisions on the Chinese-Korean border” (digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org). Stalin’s main purpose for creating and sending this message was to confirm China’s support of the North Korean troops. This is due to the dire situation the Northern forces were in at the time. With the cooperation of U.S. troops, South Korea would soon push the communist forces near Chinese-Korean border and possibly win the war. The Soviet Union knew these implications and signed the Sino-Soviet Alliance treaty with Mao Zedong, which “symbolized a significant level of cooperation” (Yun-sik) between China and the Soviet Union. This treaty affirmed the partnership between the two countries and allowed the Soviet Union to call upon China when needed. Due to meticulous and careful negotiations, China joined the war as requested by the USSR due to their communist …show more content…
Another document, by the Secretary of Defense, was created for the National Security Council in order to set guidelines and courses of actions regarding Communist China and Korea on January 12,1951. The United States wanted to be thoroughly prepared for the Chinese, who became a threat in the war not too long ago. Within this document states, “continue and intensify now an economic blockade of trade with China” (trumanlibrary.org). This statement shows that the U.S. and China already had an unstable relationship before and has now escalated due to their sudden involvement in the war. A possible reason for the United States blockading Chinese trade beforehand can be attributed to the communist regime of China. Despite the document being written by the American side, China’s motivation for entering the war is very visible. A secondary source states that Mao emphasized China’s entrance into the war as it “would [maintain] and [enhance] the momentum of the Chinese communist revolution” (Yun-sik). In order to enhance its momentum, China needed to remove any obstacles in the way of the country, including the U.S., who had ignored China’s many attempts at political and economic venture. If China were to successfully settle its differences with the United States, the People’s Republic could have had an overwhelming amount of power and
Stalin told Enlai that “he [considers] it corrects to concentrate immediately 9 Chinese divisions on the Chinese-Korean border” (digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org). Stalin’s main purpose for creating and sending this message was to confirm China’s support of the North Korean troops. This is due to the dire situation the Northern forces were in at the time. With the cooperation of U.S. troops, South Korea would soon push the communist forces near Chinese-Korean border and possibly win the war. The Soviet Union knew these implications and signed the Sino-Soviet Alliance treaty with Mao Zedong, which “symbolized a significant level of cooperation” (Yun-sik) between China and the Soviet Union. This treaty affirmed the partnership between the two countries and allowed the Soviet Union to call upon China when needed. Due to meticulous and careful negotiations, China joined the war as requested by the USSR due to their communist …show more content…
Another document, by the Secretary of Defense, was created for the National Security Council in order to set guidelines and courses of actions regarding Communist China and Korea on January 12,1951. The United States wanted to be thoroughly prepared for the Chinese, who became a threat in the war not too long ago. Within this document states, “continue and intensify now an economic blockade of trade with China” (trumanlibrary.org). This statement shows that the U.S. and China already had an unstable relationship before and has now escalated due to their sudden involvement in the war. A possible reason for the United States blockading Chinese trade beforehand can be attributed to the communist regime of China. Despite the document being written by the American side, China’s motivation for entering the war is very visible. A secondary source states that Mao emphasized China’s entrance into the war as it “would [maintain] and [enhance] the momentum of the Chinese communist revolution” (Yun-sik). In order to enhance its momentum, China needed to remove any obstacles in the way of the country, including the U.S., who had ignored China’s many attempts at political and economic venture. If China were to successfully settle its differences with the United States, the People’s Republic could have had an overwhelming amount of power and