Cold War

Reviewing the Cold War Era

During the Cold War Era the United States and the Soviet Union illustrated two opposing government systems, which had made the United States a target.The United States, which had occupied South Korea as part of the post-war administration of former Japanese colonies, became immediately involved in the war. Critics of American foreign policy claimed that when the Truman administration adopted its containment policy, the theoretical line drawn around areas that would be protected against communist aggression failed to include Korea. In addition, because the U.S. was preoccupied with affairs in Europe as well as rebuilding Japan on a democratic footing, North Korea’s Kim Il-sung and his Chinese and Soviet counterparts felt that the United States would not defend Korea (Chung, TK. "Cold War.").

President Truman, however, contradictory to what others might have believed, decided immediately that, in keeping with his containment policy, the United States would come to the aid of South Korea. He appealed immediately to the United Nations for support, and was rewarded with a unanimous vote in the UN Security Council calling for a military defense of the Republic of Korea. For the first time, an international body voted to oppose aggression by force.

President Truman then ordered American naval and air forces to begin supporting the South Korean army. When it became apparent that the North Korean army could not be stopped by naval and air support alone, the President made the decision to commit ground forces to Korea (Chung, TK. "Cold War.”).

During the years of the Cold War, the American people were living in fear of Communist takeover.   Almost every American family believed that the threat of worldwide control by the Russians was real.   Russian influence was being spread across the countries of Europe and into Cuba, the people of the Unites States felt that this was getting too close to home and felt that the only way to prevent Russian...