ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR ★^915
MacArthur demanded the right to push north again and possibly even invade
China and use nuclear weapons against it. But Truman, fearing an all- out war
on the Asian mainland, refused. MacArthur did not fully accept the principle
of civilian control of the military. When he went public with criticism of the
president, Truman removed him from command. The war then settled into a
stalemate around the thirty- eighth parallel, the original boundary between
the two Koreas. Not until 1953 was an armistice agreed to, essentially restoring
the prewar status quo. There has never been a formal peace treaty ending the
Korean War.
More than 33,000 Americans died in Korea. The Asian death toll reached
an estimated 1 million Korean soldiers and 2 million civilians (many of them
Pyongyang
Seoul
Pusan
Hungnam
Wonsan
Chongjin
Chorwon Kumhwa
Kaesong Panmunjom Chunchon
Wonju
Osan
Inchon
Taejon
38 th Parallel^
Inchon^ Landing^
September^1
5 , 1950
ArmisticJune 27, 1953e Line
FaNorthest UN advvember 1950ance
FaSeptember 1950rthest North Korean advance
JAPAN
NORTH
KOREA
SOUTH
KOREA
CHINA
U.S.S.R.
Sea of Japan
Yellow
Sea
Kor
ea^
St
rait
0
0
50
50
100 miles
100 kilometers
North UN offensive, September–November 1950Korean offensive, June–September 1950
Communist Chinese counteroffensive, November 1950–January 1951
THE KOREAN WAR, 1950–1953
As this map indicates, when General Douglas MacArthur launched his surprise landing at
Inchon, North Korean forces controlled nearly the entire Korean peninsula.
What series of events and ideological conflicts prompted the Cold War?