Korean War Dbq Essay

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea, and the Republic of Korea, South Korea. This has reached international proportions since the spark of war. Concerned that the Soviet Union and Communist China may have encouraged this invasion, the United States became involved. The United States fought in the Korean War to contain communism. The United States was successful in fighting this war for the reason that they succeeded in preventing communism from overtaking and spreading while benefiting from war efforts.

The United States fought in the Korean War for the sole purpose of preventing and containing communism. For starters, the United States feared a domino effect as President Truman

National interests were at risk if no one was to act as South Korea would fall to the communists and when reminiscing past events, this wasn’t to stop communism from spreading. Previous attacks including Manchuria, Ethiopia, and Austria were all part of failing democracies, but this didn’t prevent communism from moving forward (Document 1). Not only was communism to spread through conquering independent nations but it was going to be used for armed invasion and war. Truman argued that "communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use armed invasion and war," (Document 4). In other words, Truman suggests that the attack made by North Korea was part of a larger plan by communist China and, through extension, the Soviet Union. Truman believed that the Korean situation was similar to that of Greece in 1947. It was also clear that communism was a direct threat to the security of the Pacific area and to the United States performing its lawful and necessary functions. Preventing war or attack on the country was crucial in awaiting the restoration of security in the Pacific. Communist aggression was also a rising concern during

Not only was communism prevented but America also saw benefits in regard to their U.S. Military and intelligence agencies which gave them more reason for success. Document 8 covers that within a year of the international conflict in Korea, America’s armed forces doubled with 3.2 million people, army divisions increased, Navy ships increased, Air Force plans grew in number, etc. It not only pointed at the military building up but also the mushrooming of the CIA. It states that personnel massively increased and foreign CIA stations rapidly grew. The Korean war strengthened diplomacy for the states while ensuring greater freedom for our country and around the world. Having a higher sense of security and stability made our country stronger as communism was