Tweet
by Davis_Chan
One well-received Western viewpoint has it that the korean war was the conspiracy of the communists and well-planned in advanced.Is it the truth? Not really.
It is difficult for historians to trace back to identify who shot the first bullet,but a well known fact is both the North and South prepared for the coming war within a period of time in advanced.At its initial stage, the Korean War was a typical civil war aimed at reunifying the divided peninsula.
After successful landing in Inchon in Sep.15, 1950, US forces and its vassal troops gain the battle predominance in Korea. However, when US vanguards arrived at the 38th parallel in Sep.29,1950, there erupted an aboil dispute inside the US and UN Security Council. Several days after the war took place, US government explained the reason to involve in Korea in UNSC was to: "drive DPRK out of South Korea". So if the troops across the border between North and South and continues to smash DPRK forces, the nature of the war would be totally changed from civil war to internationalized war due to the purpose of the war turn to conquer the DPRK.
Sept. 27, 1950.The British intelligence learned of a Chinese military council decision to intervene in Korea. US ignored this information. Simultaneously Chou En Lai announced publicly that "China will send troops across the frontier to participate in defense of North Korea." The questions are: Did China really prepare for the upcoming war? If the answer is negative, then why china still participated it?
The answer in allusion to the first question is China was unready. Evidences shows that there was no consensus on the Korean issue among leaders of the socialist countries before the outbreak of the war. Take the aspect of China for example, even only one month before the war broke out, did Mao know the North Korea's military plan. At that time, China did not have any embassy in DPRK. Moreover, China had decided to demobilize 1 million of its troops in the hope of reducing military expenditure to buttress its economic recovery program in early 1950. After the war broke out. Mao Zedung reportedly learnt of the war from Western news broadcast.
The outcome of the war would have been entirely different if it were well planned beforehand. Obviously, such communist conspiracy theory is a groundless exaggeration. Personally i think it reflects the ideological bias of the western world. The following question is: were communist China so warlike that run a risk in an unpredictable war?
There had a great bifurcation among china's leadership on the issue of sending troops to Korea, because China's economy was extreme weakness after World war 2 and followed three-years civil war. The newly-borned PRC had a behindhand industry, the army equiped with poor weapons and without any air cover at the beginning by facing the opponent armies armed to the teeth.
At a certain moment in history, war has become the only choice for a country, if the country cherishes its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its people's peaceful life.
Perhaps Mao zedung's opinion typically represents China's motive of the intervention: "If we do not send troops, the enemy will control all the way up to the environs of the Yalu River, and, as far as the boasts of the reactionary forces within China are concerned. they would gradually grow higher and it would be disadvantageous for us in various respects. The whole of the Northeast Defense forces would be pinned down on the front line and the military forces in southern Manchuria would be completely dominated. For this reason, we came to the following conclusion. We must participate in the war. The benefits from participating in the war would be very great. The damage from not participating in war would be very great."
To make a long story short, China needed a buffer area in the northeast. It seems China has achieved this target.
China view this war is a victory since its forces had successfully pressed the battlefront from Yalu river to as far as 37th parallel. Although there had some setbacks which caused the retreat, China had finally stabilized the battlefront in the 38th parallel.
On October 25, 1953, the Associated Press reported that a total of 1.47 million so called "UN troops" had been killed in the war. A Japanese magazine, recorded a figure of 1.16 million. According to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army record, the Chinese and North Korean sides jointly wiped out 1.09 million enemy troops (136,000 by the People's Republic of Korea), broken down into 390,000 US troops, 660,000 troops of the Republic of Korea, and 20,000 vassal troops.
The China paid a high price for its victory. The overall casualty rate was 360,000, including 115,000 war dead and 221,000 wounded, plus a further 25,000 victims of accidents and illness. A total of 29,000 soldiers were reported missing or captured.
The comments of the war and its significance from the two top commanders in both sides are different. The general commander of the UN forces, General Clark, said, “This is the first time in United States history for a US general to sign his name on a cease-fire document of a war without victory.” CPV commander Peng Dehuai, said, "the days in the past several centuries when Western invaders could occupy a country by simply erecting a few canons on an Oriental coast are gone for ever."
Indeed, without the Korean war, the PRC would be viewed internationally as a third-rate country consisted of a great amount of sick men. The result of world war 2 shows that Japan was defeated by US and USSR basically rather than China and the outcome of communist forces against the Kuomintang's army armed by US weapons didn't prove anything in american's eyes. Only by passing the world's most strictly war test, did China be recognize as one of the world powers.
One well-received Western viewpoint has it that the korean war was the conspiracy of the communists and well-planned in advanced.Is it the truth? Not really.
It is difficult for historians to trace back to identify who shot the first bullet,but a well known fact is both the North and South prepared for the coming war within a period of time in advanced.At its initial stage, the Korean War was a typical civil war aimed at reunifying the divided peninsula.
After successful landing in Inchon in Sep.15, 1950, US forces and its vassal troops gain the battle predominance in Korea. However, when US vanguards arrived at the 38th parallel in Sep.29,1950, there erupted an aboil dispute inside the US and UN Security Council. Several days after the war took place, US government explained the reason to involve in Korea in UNSC was to: "drive DPRK out of South Korea". So if the troops across the border between North and South and continues to smash DPRK forces, the nature of the war would be totally changed from civil war to internationalized war due to the purpose of the war turn to conquer the DPRK.
Sept. 27, 1950.The British intelligence learned of a Chinese military council decision to intervene in Korea. US ignored this information. Simultaneously Chou En Lai announced publicly that "China will send troops across the frontier to participate in defense of North Korea." The questions are: Did China really prepare for the upcoming war? If the answer is negative, then why china still participated it?
The answer in allusion to the first question is China was unready. Evidences shows that there was no consensus on the Korean issue among leaders of the socialist countries before the outbreak of the war. Take the aspect of China for example, even only one month before the war broke out, did Mao know the North Korea's military plan. At that time, China did not have any embassy in DPRK. Moreover, China had decided to demobilize 1 million of its troops in the hope of reducing military expenditure to buttress its economic recovery program in early 1950. After the war broke out. Mao Zedung reportedly learnt of the war from Western news broadcast.
The outcome of the war would have been entirely different if it were well planned beforehand. Obviously, such communist conspiracy theory is a groundless exaggeration. Personally i think it reflects the ideological bias of the western world. The following question is: were communist China so warlike that run a risk in an unpredictable war?
There had a great bifurcation among china's leadership on the issue of sending troops to Korea, because China's economy was extreme weakness after World war 2 and followed three-years civil war. The newly-borned PRC had a behindhand industry, the army equiped with poor weapons and without any air cover at the beginning by facing the opponent armies armed to the teeth.
At a certain moment in history, war has become the only choice for a country, if the country cherishes its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its people's peaceful life.
Perhaps Mao zedung's opinion typically represents China's motive of the intervention: "If we do not send troops, the enemy will control all the way up to the environs of the Yalu River, and, as far as the boasts of the reactionary forces within China are concerned. they would gradually grow higher and it would be disadvantageous for us in various respects. The whole of the Northeast Defense forces would be pinned down on the front line and the military forces in southern Manchuria would be completely dominated. For this reason, we came to the following conclusion. We must participate in the war. The benefits from participating in the war would be very great. The damage from not participating in war would be very great."
To make a long story short, China needed a buffer area in the northeast. It seems China has achieved this target.
China view this war is a victory since its forces had successfully pressed the battlefront from Yalu river to as far as 37th parallel. Although there had some setbacks which caused the retreat, China had finally stabilized the battlefront in the 38th parallel.
On October 25, 1953, the Associated Press reported that a total of 1.47 million so called "UN troops" had been killed in the war. A Japanese magazine, recorded a figure of 1.16 million. According to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army record, the Chinese and North Korean sides jointly wiped out 1.09 million enemy troops (136,000 by the People's Republic of Korea), broken down into 390,000 US troops, 660,000 troops of the Republic of Korea, and 20,000 vassal troops.
The China paid a high price for its victory. The overall casualty rate was 360,000, including 115,000 war dead and 221,000 wounded, plus a further 25,000 victims of accidents and illness. A total of 29,000 soldiers were reported missing or captured.
The comments of the war and its significance from the two top commanders in both sides are different. The general commander of the UN forces, General Clark, said, “This is the first time in United States history for a US general to sign his name on a cease-fire document of a war without victory.” CPV commander Peng Dehuai, said, "the days in the past several centuries when Western invaders could occupy a country by simply erecting a few canons on an Oriental coast are gone for ever."
Indeed, without the Korean war, the PRC would be viewed internationally as a third-rate country consisted of a great amount of sick men. The result of world war 2 shows that Japan was defeated by US and USSR basically rather than China and the outcome of communist forces against the Kuomintang's army armed by US weapons didn't prove anything in american's eyes. Only by passing the world's most strictly war test, did China be recognize as one of the world powers.
Comment