Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
War and Conflict- Assessment - Coggle Diagram
War and Conflict- Assessment
Overview of War (Korean War)
Major Players/Leaders
North Korea (Kim II- Sung)
South Korea (President Syngman Rhee)
Where
Korea, Korean Peninsula, demilitarized zone in Korea
When/How Long
June 25th, 1950 - July 27th, 2953 (3 years)
Death Toll
5 million
Outcome
Neither parties won, a peace treaty was never signed
Definition of War
"A conflict carried on between at least two parties, a period of time where nations/people are fighting and defending themselves over something there is disagreement or conflict over."
My definition is not 100% accurate. It gives a basic overview of what we think of war. However, war has so many factors going into it that it's impossible to narrow it down to one definition.
My definition is too broad because sometimes there are no clear two parties due to allies and enemies. For example, it was technically a war between North and South Korea, however Japan and the U.S eventually got involved which additionally caused collective and individual problems. Also, sometimes people aren't defending themselves, they are simply just being forced into war. For example, when the Koreas got split due to Japan and the U.S liberating them.
Causes of War
Statism
The Soviet Union supported the spread of communism, while most were against it. Communism is a big social system, and it was being forced upon the people. Therefore, communism was spreading.
Rationality
It comes into question when it's rational to get involved in a war. For example, did the United States take the right guide to action? Why did they have to get involved in the first place? The United States thought communism was on the rise, when it really wasn't.
Egoism
Russia wanted their form of economy to prosper. It was kind of like them saying, "my way is the best way," and proving it by going to war instead of just letting other economies stay the way they were.
Evasion
The United States thought that Korea was metaphorically a seed that was bound to turn into an evasive species. However, it wasn't. Korea was not some unstoppable force that was going to get out of control. This is evasion because the U.S was convinced that reality was something other than what it actually was.
Impacts of War
Economic
North and South Korea remained divided.
3-5 million people either dead, wounded, or missing after the war. This meant that the population decreased dramatically.
The war destroyed most of Korea, including it's industry. Meaning that a lot of people lost jobs, buildings, and homes.
South Korea was doing well and had a fast-paced economy, but North Korea was falling into poverty and failed to keep up.
There was pressure on the relationship between the countries involved because US soldiers were still stationed in South Korea.
The U.S was still convinced communism was spreading, meaning their foreign policy decisions were affected.
America's defense budget eventually went up to $60 billion
$389.81 billion and 36,000 lives- what the US lost
New alliances were made and broken (for example- the US allied with the Phillipines, and made deals with Australia and New Zealand, China and the Soviet Union broke their alliance.)
Social
Families were broken up and lived on the opposite sides of the demilitarized zone, meaning they were unable to communicate or visit each other.
People dealt with fighting during and after the war, built up tension, living in constant fear, and essentially life getting dsetroyed
War destroys families and communities and the development of economic and social structures.
. Symptoms resulting from war- Depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, like insomnia, back and stomach aches, behavior problems, PTSD
Their morale was most likely low due to fighting in a high tensity war for so long.
Comparing wars
Deaths/Casualities
17 million people dead in WWI. Only 5 million in the Korean War. This is because WWI lasted a whole year longer than the Korean War. There were a lot more countries involved, meaning more people, more weapons, meaning a higher chance of death.
Causes
WWI- Nationalism, Militarism, Imperialism, and Mutual Defense Alliances.
Korean War- Statism, Rationality, Egoism, and Evasion
The alliances within WWI are kind of similar to the idea of rationality in the Korean War. For example, the countries that ended up involved in WWI probably wouldn't have gotten involved if it weren't for the alliance. They had no rational reason other than they were in a loyal alliance. In both wars, countries that didn't need to get involved...did.
The wars are very different when we look at it from a more emotional perspective. This is because in the Korean War we had causes like egoism and evasion and rationality, when in WWI we had more political and nationalist reasons. While both stemmed from a government issue, the Korean War blew up because of the United States being over-dramatic. WWI expanded because of alliances with other countries.
Also in both wars, countries got involved because they didn't want 1 country having control over another. For example, Austria-Hungary had control over Russia and Serbia didn't like that. In the Korean War, The Soviet Union had control over the Koreas, and that's when Japan and the US liberated them.
Impacts
The US had a lot more trade occur after WWI. They were kind of stuck in recession, but their economy kind of thrived afterwards, just like South Korea. Countries gained land during WWI, and the Koreas were now both under their own control. New alliances were made and broken in both wars.
North Korea was stuck in poverty so their economy sucked afterwards.