The Korean War Summary

The Unforgotten Historiography of the Korean War

Isabel Shea

By 1950, the Cold War had become pervasive both at home and abroad. In foreign policy terms the United States had proclaimed itself as the only major protection against communist expansion. In 1947 the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan confirmed the US commitment to keeping Europe free from communism. Then the United States signed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreement in April 1949 confirming American willingness to go to war if necessary to protect democracy from communist challenges. The events of 1949, when the Chinese communists emerged victorious from their civil war and the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, seemed to confirm to the United States

Pearlman’s, Truman & MacArthur Policy, Politics, and the Hunger for Honor and Renown, written in 2008, reflects on the relationship of President Truman and General MacArthur during the Korean War. Pearlman reexamines their public confrontation, discovering the political and military perspectives, and the decisions that were made that impacted the role of the presidential administration. Pearlman provides insight into the different ideologies and methods that were used that determined the outcome of the war. Pearlman gives an objective and comprehensive account of events that occurred with the Korean War. He reflects on the partisan competition in Washington and the political power of military officers. Pearlman makes the point that both Truman and MacArthur did not meet their objectives and by 1953 both men were out of power. Pearlman relies on archival material that was available since the fall of the Soviet Union to clarify the conflict between Truman and MacArthur. His focus is on military, political analysis, and diplomatic history. The historical significance is that is revealed the internal domestic conflict between the president and its military

Navy and the National Security Affairs 1945-1955, written in 2009, Jeffrey G. Barlow identifies the role of the U.S. Navy and the national security structure during the Cold War. Barlow provides an examination on a variety of important issues of the period such as that of the Korean War. It emphasizes the role of General John Hodge and reflects on the resentment that developed from the U.S. occupation of Korea and how it refused to incorporate the people of Korea in the decision making process. Barlow analyses the perspectives of the Americans and the Soviets. For the Americans, the goal was to set up a provisional Korean government. As for the Soviets, the goal was to avoid a unification of Korea. Korea became known as an “ideological battleground.” With the creation of two Korean governments it led to the partition of the peninsula. The historical significance of the Korean War is that until this day the Korean peninsula remains a watchful concern for the U.S.

In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation: The Americans Who Fought the Korean War, written in 2012, Melinda L. Pash mentions the effect of the conflict on soldiers when they returned. Pash argues Americans were too busy with their lives to even care about the conflict or the soldiers that were gradually making their way back home. Pash acknowledges that even academic scholars had been reluctant to challenge the initial hot war of the Cold War. The historical significance