Honors Government IA Paper
Section 1, Part 1
Why did North Korea invade South Korea in June 1950? The source I used the most was the book called Uncertain Partners written by David Halberstam. This source is considered a secondary source because it contains commentary on or discussion about a primary source. This source offered an interpretation of information gathered from primary sources. This is relevant to my paper because it provided information that went in depth the topic. It talked about how the Korean War sparked and the behind the scenes actions that took place. Also, it included what went through each leader’s mind and their plans. Lastly, it analyzed the decisions made by Stalin and Mao and how both of them made miscalculations
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During he war, there were a lot of “miscalculations” by both sides. Since Mao and Stalin didn’t think that the Americans wouldn’t come in, the Soviets gave a green light to Kim Il Sung to invade the South according to the book Uncertain Partners. On the other side, the United States really underestimated the skills of their enemy. The North Koreans ended up being over prepared for the war. The last miscalculation that happened during the war was that Americans disregarded the Chinese warnings and drove north of the 38th parallel. After that, MacArthur decided to go all the way to the Yalu because he thought that the Chinese wouldn't come in, so he made his troops infinitely more vulnerable (Goncharov, …show more content…
"Korean War." Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Ed. David Levinson and Karen Christensen. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 397-399. Global Issues In Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. Cumings, Bruce. "Korean War." Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Ed. David Levinson and Karen Christensen. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 397-399. Global Issues In Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
Goncharov, S. N., and John Wilson Lewis. Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1993. Print.
Halberstam, David. "The Coldest Winter." The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. 2007. Print.
Pierpaoli, Paul, Jr. "Korean War." World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 14 Apr.