SHELF 9780435183127 HISTORY PAPER 3 THE COLD WAR AND THE AMERICAS (1945-1981) STUDENT 60p

Stalin deliberately did not send the UN Soviet delegation back when the resolution
was debated. In a message to Klement Gottwald, the President of Czechoslovakia,
Stalin stated that the absence ofthe Soviet Union and, therefore, the passage ofthis
resolution had been intentional, to ' . . . get the uS entangled in the military intervention
in Korea' , in which the US would ' . . . squander its military prestige and its moral authoist'
(Zubok).
Why do you think it was so
important to use the phrase
'police action' here? What did
this actually mean? How was it
different from saying'war'? Can
you think of other words that
have a very emotive impact and
so must be used very carefully
by diplomats and politicians?
(Hint: One example couid be
genocide'- do some research
into when and how this was
used, most recently in Rwanda
and Kosovo.)
This interpretation is supported by Gaddis, who argues that although Andrei
Gromyko, the Soviet Foreign Minister, wanted Malik to go back to the UNSC, Stalin
believed that if it got involved as part of a UN force, this would nor be a solely US
action and so the risk of a direct conflict berween the US and the USSR would be
reduced. Also, the UN called this a'police action' andso the US was not officially at war
with anycountry.
One of the most conspiratorial interpretations explain ing the Soviet absence from the U NSC is mentioned
by Lowe. Based on the account given by the Yugoslav representative on the UNSC, Mallk did not return
to the Security Council because Stalin wanted relations between the US and the Chinese Communists
to deteriorate to the point that they would never get their seat in the UN. This rather complex scenario
suggests that Stalin was not eager for the PRC to be given representation in the UN, possibly because he
wanted the Soviet Union to be its only'voice' of communism. Given that by the end of the I 950s, the
Sino-Soviet split was already evident, this interpretation may not be so far from the truth.
Go back over the causes ofthe Korean War and divide them into long- and short-term causes. Then,
using a table ike the one below, compare and contrast the long-term causes with another war you have
studied. Some possible themes, such as economic and ideological, have been inserted here, perhaps you
can think of some others. When you have completed this, do the same for the short-term causes. This is a
usefu I exercise for Topic 1 1 of Paper 2, where you may be asked to tom pare and contrast' various aspects
ofthe causes and effects ofwars.
Long-term causes of the
Korean War and (another war)
Economic
ldeological
Comparisons
Contrasts
Key concepts:
Causation and consequence
The war
Stage 1: The invasion of South Korea
As they moved south across the 38th parallel, the North Korean troops (the Korean
People's A*y,KPA) had many advantages over the South Korean forces (the Republic
of Korea armed forces, ROK).
. They were equipped with 120 Soviet T-34 tanks (Carter Malkasian).
. North Korea had an air force consisting of f AO Vak fighter jets and Ilyushin bombers
(Malkasian).