The Cold War was a struggle process between the two major world powers: the United States backed by Western nations and the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc, including China, Vietnam and Eastern European countries. Since then the struggle remained principally between the United States and the Soviet Union. China, despite being a communist, was kept in a forward position to the Soviet Union, there was no formal process of integration between them for their involvement in the Cold War, which had its episodes could say “ hot”, the first was the Korean War, which confronted the two Koreas, North Korea and South Korea in 1952 when North Korea violates the limits existing border between the two countries, thus sparking the conflict, which the United States were active, then second episode as war is the Vietnam War and most other wars that ended up in, but that did not deal directly with the major powers, although the United States openly participated in almost all of them, always under the cover of which was representing United Nations (Kim, 1973).
During the cold war era, an important sector of the nationalist movements was influenced by communism. The order criticized the colony, the exaltation of popular struggle and resistance to the colonial powers were opposed by nationalists elements used by the Soviet Union to undermine U. S. global power bloc. Since 1945, and especially after the triumph of the revolution in China, the communist guerrillas became a constant in the life of Southeast Asia (Choon-ho, 1993). The Chinese Civil War (1945-49) was the first conflict between the two dominating superpowers in East Asia. Although this contest, in which the Americans turned uselessly in support of the Kuomintang, should not be considered, in property, horn a typical episode of the Cold War, was the first defeat of the U. S. strategy in the war. It was a fact of incalculable consequences for the peoples of Asia and opened a new era in U. S. foreign policy.
In the eyes of the world, the Soviet Union emerged as the big winner of the war. Although Stalin speaks to maintain his alliance with Chiang Kachek until the last moment and had refused any help to his fellows, who made a public profession of adherence to the Soviet leadership and stood openly in the socialist camp. The traditional balance of power has since experienced a transformation in the Far East. Convinced that the Russians would try to enlarge the gap in China to the Western bloc, Americans began to acquire military commitments in the Far East just started the Korean War and when the decolonizing process had not yet been closed (Goulden, 1983). In April 1951 the Philippines signed an agreement of mutual defense revalued important that Washington kept bases in the archipelago. In September of that same year was concluded in San Fran-cisco (California) a tripartite pact between Australia, New Zealand and United States (ANZUS), which included in its scope to almost all the South Pacific.
Thesis Statement
The history tells us that there are two events in the cold war era, the Korean war and Cuban Missile Crisis, when both the super powers, United States and USSR, were directly confronted each other and brought the world at the brink of a nuclear war. This paper tries to shed light on the issue that China has essentially in a defensive position before the start of the war, posture changes radically when the Chinese government decides to show its military force in Korea.
The Korean War
The output of the Communist bloc Yugoslavia (1948) was soon counterbalanced by the rise of Mao Tse-tung to the headquarters of China (1949). The Japanese withdrawal of Chinese territory after World War II led to a civil war (1945-1949), which pitted the Liberal Party Chinese Tang Kuo-Ming Chiang Kai-Check, with Mao’s communist. After the failed attempts of a coalition government, saw the first armed confrontation. The support of the Soviet Union since 1947 was critical for Mao′s success. Chiang Kai-Check, defeated established a new state on the island of Formosa (Taiwan): Nationalist China, before the Republic of China was proclaimed on October 1, 1949.
In 1950 the Soviet Union and China signed a dual economic and political pact. In the first, Mao returned Port Arthur Manchuria Railway to the Soviets and in return received financial and technical help, especially military. In the second they agreed with the nationalist movements in Korea and Indochina. The 38th parallel divided the Korean peninsula into two zones occupied by the Soviet Union on North and South America, after evicting the Japanese in 1945. The Soviets refused free elections, based on the unification of Korea. The occupant troops withdrew from both areas (Chen, 1994).
The irreconcilability of these two schemes, led the Northern army’s invasion the South in June 1950. Immediately, the Security Council of the UN condemned the attack and suggested sending a multinational force that would act under the banner of this organization. The North Korean invasion seemed unstoppable and Truman ordered U. S. forces displacing from Japan. Along with an army of fourteen countries landed near Seoul on September 15. The North Koreans forces began to retreat to the Chinese border. Mao seized the moment to intervene, claiming the defense and survival of their state, not recognized by the UN (1996).
The Chinese had already come to the rescue of the remains of a North Korean Army which was put into crumbs, but observing their massive concentrations in Manchuria had been rendered impossible by their camouflage and dark nights, mainly because the unwillingness of politicians to allow UN reconnaissance flights over the Chinese territory. The UN forces which were pressing Manchurian border and Soviet turn incur the same risk of surprise attack that the North Koreans had known the side of PUSAN due to supply lines distended. But Mac Arthur made a report to Washington that he thought that the Chinese would not dare to risk a world war by intervening force in Korea. On the night of November 25 to 26, 1950, they convinced him that he was quite wrong in violently attacking the positions of the United Nations forces in the western mountains and those of X Corps in the east, with myriads of combatants. These soldiers armed with light equipment, sneaking through the deep forests, overflowed and easily overwhelmed positions of UN forces. In a flash, the program MacArthur issued was reversed. It was all the UN system he had to save now. He was forbidden to unleash an air strike on the bases of Chinese he called “ the Manchurian sanctuary,” Truman did not want to take the risk of extending the conflict, even though China had already spread to his place. .. MacArthur ordered a retreat. More than 100, 000 veterans of the United Nations from the East Coast to the South ebbed towards the ports of Wonsan and Hungnam with horrific loss of life and property. Their rescue by the U. S. Navy was among the most important and best executed of evacuation by sea of massive military history (Malkasian, 2001).
The popular Chinese military intervention pushed back the international forces, to the point that MacArthur proposed to Truman the atomic bombing of Manchurian strategic enclaves. MacArthur was dismissed. The Korean conflict had to be kept within the framework of a localized war (Lee, 1986).
Peace negotiations began in 1951 but an armistice was not signed until 1953. The war left an overall balance of a million dead. The 38th parallel was again became the dividing line of two states today maintain a latent conflict. After the armistice in Korea’, the efforts for the establishment of a regional defense system accelerated, encouraged also by the French disaster in Indochina (Reese, 1998). In October 1953, the South Korean government was linked to their protectors by a bilateral pact. A year later, in December 1954, was signed the Treaty of Manila, which was created by the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), which joined the United States, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand.
Consequences of Korean War on China
The in-depth analysis of Korean War revealed that the Chinese have actually warned Kim Il-sung against an American landing at Inchon because China did not want to be indulged in that war (Becker, 2005); but Kim II administration did not take into account the warning. It has been usually claimed that China used bacteriological weapons in Korea because United States has threatened to use atomic bomb but it was not true. However, the research depicted that it was primarily a propaganda tool. The Chinese had never really taken seriously the U. S. threat to use nuclear weapons. It is above all the fear of American amphibious operation in the Chinese territory which led Beijing to make concessions in Panmunjom talks (Zhang, 1995).
In the context of rising of the Cold War, the United States was the main threat to the security of the two communist states. Also, the Sino-Soviet treaty of February 1950 intends to put in place a politico-military system implicitly turned against the United States. However, such an approach is less determined by the common fear of encirclement by American suspicions about Stalin’s policy led by Mao balance between the USSR and the United States. Anxious to preserve certain independence, the Chinese leadership was trying indeed to establish relations with the West. On December 31st 1950, Washington decided to “ unleash” Chiang Kai-shek and to change its policy toward Communist China. The prospect of a Sino-American rapprochement heralding the rise of a pro-American China has anything to scare Stalin so he decided to proceed with the integration of China into the socialist bloc, agreeing to revise the old Sino- Soviet treaty of 1945.
However, the signing of this defensive treaty proved that China’s inclusion in communist bloc, was only one aspect of Soviet policy toward the People’s Republic at the time (Stalin also considered as a mere “ formality”) . To obtain total allegiance to Beijing by breaking all ties with the United States, the Soviet power exploited other cards also, i. e. the crisis created from scratch in Korea, while the treaty with China was still under negotiation. Since 1947, Kim Il Sung, driven by the desire to unify Korea and was keen to convince Moscow to maintain an action against South Korea’s Syngman Rhee. However, this project had so far not received the backing of the Soviet leadership, fearing widespread conflict with the United States.
In December 1949, the North Korean leader secretly visited Moscow for the unification of Korea. At the same time, Mao was also negotiating to the Soviet leadership. In light of new strategic considerations, resulting from the formalization of alliance with China, Soviet Union was eyeing a significant opportunity to expand the safe zones to the east coast. Indeed, the division of areas accepted in July 1948 provided China with the responsibility of promoting revolution in Asia. Therefore, when the Korean War was launched on 25 June and a few days later, the United States decided to intervene and threatened to reach the Chinese border, Beijing had no choice but to send its troops on October 15, 1950. Soviets Union had withdrawn from the beginning of the crisis. The Chinese intervention transformed the war into a Sino-American crisis and sealed irreversibly the dispute between Beijing and Washington. Of the war of resistance, China was isolated from the Western world: it then had no choice but to approach more closely to Moscow for its development.
The alliance was established in February 1950 between the Soviet Union and Communist China which connected two protagonists who were not at the same level of development. Upon his arrival in Moscow, Mao had a delicate mission to household Soviet assistance while maintaining independence for China. Anxious to put an end to relationships governed by far the unequal treaties that China had signed with Imperial abroad, the goal of Mao over the long term was to initiate, through the signing of a alliance with the Soviet Union on “ new foundation” the revision of treaties with the West. Aware of its own financial, material and technical resources, to deal with the post-war needs of Stalin for its part intends to exploit the issue of assistance to, on the one hand, to benefit from the Chinese resources and secondly, to limit the Chinese desire for independence and thus ensured the total allegiance of its leaders.
In this sense, the Sino-Soviet treaty and more signed agreements and secret protocols in March and April 1950 were tilting largely in favor of the USSR and Soviet demonstrated their desire to pursue a policy of expansion in China and the inability of Chinese leaders to address it. The Korean War has only systematized these practices. Indeed, the outbreak of war in Korea has increased isolation and thus the vulnerability of China systematizing Western sanctions against it. These immediate consequences of the war had compelled China for the total dependence of China to the Communist bloc for its war effort. Far from providing assistance sought for the war effort of the Chinese volunteers in Korea, Stalin forced Chinese leaders to participate in the reconstruction of the Soviet Union by providing rubber. Aware of the power of the element in their economic relationship with China, the Soviet leaders worked to maintain the stalled Korean crisis.
