Korean War Lessons

It is 1952. A new president, Eisenhower, has been elected in the US. Your task is to write a report for him on what lessons the United States can learn from the war. Your report should advise the President on:

the US aims in Korea
how the support of the UN helped
how far the US achieved its aims
whether MacArthur should have been allowed to invade North Korea
why MacArthur was removed
the military and civilian cost of war

Finally, make up your own mind as to whether, on balance, the policy of containment succeeded and then write up your ideas as a balanced report.

The United States partially succeeded on its policy of containment. In the years after WWII, many countries fell to Communism, the most important being China. China's fall to Communism was a great blow to the U.S and its policy of containment; it had always thought that China was one of its major supporters in Asia. The spread of Communism was contained in North Korea however. It was able to push North Korea out of South Korea, which were its goals as stated in the UN. However, MacArther did not follow the strategy, and continued into North Korea against warnings from the UN, and U.S officials. He caused China to enter the war, and caused many civilian and military casualties that were not necessary, as well as loosing all of North Korea again to the Communists anyway. The decision to remove him was a good one, but could have been better if he had been removed after he secured South Korea, and not have been allowed to invade North Korea. This caused casualties that were much larger than one would expect for the actual size of the war; 1.4 million. Granted, the majority of these were Communist casualties (both civilian and military), but the fact remains that the conflict should not have been allowed to reach this level, but was necessary up to the point of attacking North Korea. The lesson to be learned from this is not to trust that enemy militaries are lesser than our own, because the Soviet Union will help them gain modern militaries very quickly. Just as important as the U.S meeting its goal to push North Korea out of South Korea, the U.S also was able to gain support from the UN, and have an American lead the UN forces against North Korea. The U.S was able to do this because it supported the attacked nation, not the attacker. This also proved that the U.S had the support of other Nations in its fight against Communism, which was very important. However, even though the UN forces did help the Americans, the Americans still bore the brunt of the burden in fighting North Korea.

War in the Pacific

1. What was the importance of the Battle of Midway?
At the Battle of Midway the American's turned back the Japanese assault there, destroying over 200 Japanese planes, 4 aircraft carriers, and a cursor. Moreover, it marked a turning point in the war in the Pacific because afterwards the Allies, mostly Americans with some Australians, began a campaign of island hoping towards Japan.
2. What strategy did the United States adopt in fighting Japan?
The United States adopted the strategy or island hopping. They would advance island by island, slowly pushing the Japanese back towards mainland Japan.
3. Why did the Japanese fight so hard on Iwo Jima?
Th Japanese fought so hard on Iwo Jima because it was the only thing that prevented the U.S from attacking the island of Okanawa, the last obstacle before mainland Japan. Also, there were the most defenders on the island than almost anywhere else on Earth, making it very difficult fighting for the Americans.
4. Why did the Allies believe Okinawa was a foretaste of an invasion of Japan?
The Allies believed that Okinawa was a foretaste of an invasion of Japan because the if fighting for that island was so intense, and the enemy would rather die than surrender there, the fighting for their homeland would be even fiercer.

5. What was the Manhattan Project?
The Manhattan Project was the project to build the Atomic Bomb, and was done in order to avoid an invasion of Japan.

6. Ultimately, why did President Truman decide to drop atomic bombs on Japan?
President Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan so that millions of Americans would not need to die assaulting Japan.

War for Europe and North Africa - Part II

6. What was D-Day?
D-Day was an invasion by the Allies accross the English Channel. They specificaly attacked three beaches at Normandy with aroung 3 million troops.There were also paratroopers that attacked the night before as well as a large navel bombardment. This wa the largest land-sea-air operation in recorded history.
7. What happened at the Battle of the Bulge?
At the Battle of the Bulge Hitler tried one last offensive to try and defeat the Allies. His attack formed a bulge into the Allied lines, trying to split the Americans from the British. It lasted for a month and eventualy the Germans were defeted and pushed back. They would never have the resources or men to mount an attack again.
8. What did Allied troops find in Germany?
The Allied troops found the Death Camps in Germany, where thousands of people were kille din each.
9. What happened to Hitler? What happened to F.D. Roosevelt? Who became U.S. President?
Hitler commited suicide after giving one last speach in which he blamed every one else for the war and its failure. F.D.R died shortly into his fourth term as president from a stroke before V-E Day. Harry S. Truman became the next President.