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Aftermath of 1945
The end of the Second World War (1939- 1945) gave rise to the era of the cold war in the Korean Peninsula, which actually left it divided into two countries, North Korea and South Korea. The history of the Korean peninsula is one of the most critical because it got affected by the major enemies of the Second World War, who wanted to establish their control in the region. The Japanese, Chinese, Soviet nation and American forces were influencing the dynamics of the two parts of the country. It was the perfect example of the proxy war between Soviet nation and the United States of America, on the issue of spread of communism in the western world, which was fought on the Korean ground, between the forces of North and South Korea, backed by the military aid of Soviet Union and United States respectively. The collapse of the Japanese imperialism, as well as the national division after the Second World War, gave rise to the Korean civil war, which was actually revolutionary in character. Korea war which erupted in 1945, was initially fought through the means of political rebellion, which then turned into an unconventional guerrilla war in 1948 and finally took the shape of conventional military assaults, which involved the forces of North and South Korea, along with their aiding forces of the international world. The major aftermath of 1945 may have been the division of the Korean peninsula into North and South Korea due to the involvement of the international forces; however, it also resulted in the cold war between the two new countries which continues till date.
The immediate aftermath of 1945 was specifically influenced by the surrender of the Japanese forces in the war. The Second World War ended in 1945 when Japan surrendered to the allied forces of the war. It was an unconditional surrender prompted by the nuclear attack of the United States of America on the Japanese cities, in response to the attack on the Pearl Harbor. The Korean region was under the imperial control of Japan since 1910 and it was the time for the Korean people to declare their independence; however, the history developed quite critically. Japan had been quite cruel towards the Koreans as the Korean me was forcefully recruited in the army to fight with the enemy forces and the young Korean women were sent to the military units to provide the sexual services to the army personnel, without their will. The turn of the event at the end of the Second World War ignited hope of peace and prosperity for the Koreans as the Japanese forces and command were not in a position to keep the control of the imperial states. So, Korea became an independent state without any complication; however, the peace and prosperity of the region did not last long due to the different political and economic ideologies of the two parts of the country. So the immediate aftermath of 1945, which was actually the end of the Second World War, was the powerless state of Japan and the sudden independence of Korea (Armstrong, 180).
The smooth and uncomplicated independence of Korea did not last long because the two parts of the region fell under the manipulation and influence of the enemy forces, who actually divided the country without any second thoughts. With the disinvolvement of Japan from Korea, the Soviet Union established its control in North Korea and the United States of America strengthened its influence on South Korea. Korea was not a well-developed and strong country at that time, which is the main reason that it was not able to emerge as a greater unified force against the influence of the two major enemies of the Second World War. The Soviet Union and the United States of America divided the country along the 38 north latitude, which was also called the thirty-eighth parallel and the became the borderline between the two parts of Korea, now the two countries, North Korea and South Korea. The thirty-eighth parallel was established soon after the end of the Second World War (Suh, 163).
The end of the war had not fully stabilized the social and political conditions of the world. The Soviet Union had emerged as the greater communist force which started making the efforts of spreading the communist rule and take over the western world. Jana had suffered the greatest economic loss in the war and a huge number of the general population also lost life due to the nuclear attacks of the United States of America on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which refrained japan from taking part in any political or social agenda of the allied forces. China had established the communist system and played the role of the ally of the Soviet Union. Due to this support, the Soviet Union influenced the establishment of the communist rule and economic system in North Korea. On the other hand, the United States of America helped the South Korean leadership in establishing a democratic rule in the region. North and South Korea were not officially two countries on the map of the world and the influence of enemy forces laid the foundation of the cold war in the region. North and South Korea made the efforts of unification and establishing a common rule. The unification became a dream for the two sides due to the political ideologies of the leaders of both sides, which were not only supported by the general public but by also their international supporters. After the thirty-eighth parallel division of north and south, Syngman Rhee, who was an anti-communist dictator, became the ruler of the south with the aid of the United States of America. On the other hand, Kim Il Sung, who was the communist dictator, became the ruler of North Korea with the support of the soviet union. Both of the dictators kept making the efforts of establishing their control across the thirty-eighth parallel by allowing the troops to attack. Both the sides did not succeed in their attempts and the constant attacks resulted in the killing of more than ten thousand soldiers from both sides during the cold war. The cold war between the north and South Korea was the major event which clarified the emergence of two regimes in the Korean peninsula in 1948. The conflict over the establishment of communist rule in two parts of the rule was being fought by political means and the use of rebellion till that time which not only cost the loss of human lives to both sides but also resulted in economic imbalance and insecurity (Armstrong, 185).
The direct involvement of the United States of America and the Soviet Union in the Korean peninsula started at the end of the cold war, which had finally taken the form of an unconventional guerrilla war. The motive of the influence of the two countries was quite clear as the Soviet Union supported and desired the communist rule in the region and the American leadership was strictly against it. The reason of the American opposition was not only for the sake of the South Korean establishment and stability; however, it was because of the fact that if the Soviet Union would succeed in establishing a communist rule in South Korea, it would not stay limited to it, but would spread to the western world. The American leadership feared that the Soviet Union would try to increase its control over the western world, which would result in the third world war and destroy the whole world. So, they considered it the best solution to fight the war in the Korean peninsula and defeat the North Korean and Soviet forces. The gruella war started between the north and south, in which the south faced more causalities than the north due to the well-trained troops. When the soviet union and Chinese forces extended their support to the North Korean forces in terms of ammunition and military forces, the United States of America was not left with any other option but sending their troops to the battlefield. The Chinese troops as well as the Soviet Union forces which were well-trained and had the well-developed warfare supported the troops of the north which attacked the south in the efforts of establishing the communist rule. The United States of America which was the only ally of South Korea at that moment was clearly aware of the fact that it was the war to restore the evil against the good. The American, as well as the Korean forces, were also aware of the fact that their defeat in the war would result in the worst conditions for the whole world.
The military assaults between the north and south were quite drastic for both sides. At first, the South Korean side along with the support of the American troops fought the defensive war in order to save themselves from the forces of the north. The weather conditions were also against the southern side as it was too hot and the American also became the victim of intestinal diseases. On the other hand, the northern forces who had got the support of well-developed war equipment of the Soviet and Chinese forces emerged as greater power as they do not have to fight with the weather condition due to the modern warfare. The initial defeat motivated the American troops to adopt the offensive war strategy and liberate the North Koreans from the rule of the communists, in which they succeeded to some extent as well, as the north forces had to move back to their area. The Chinese forces threatened the large scale war in the case of the American invasion and the American forces stopped as it did not want war in the world or in its own region. The two countries, North and South Korea started the negotiations for the ceasefire, with the support of America, China, and the Soviet Union, while the troops were still fighting on the border. An armistice was finally signed in 1953, which ended the war between North and South Korea (Min-suk, Fulton, and Fulton, 93).
The Korean War was one of the deadliest wars in the region, which not only divided a country into two parts but also resulted in millions of casualties. It affected the political, social and economic structure of the two countries which are north and South Korea and divide the families who lived in the two parts. The marking of the demilitarized zone separated the families for life, as it is one of the most crucial borders in the world and not complying with the laws can result in a new war between the two countries. The Soviet Union could not spread its control to other parts of the world but North Korea is a communist country. On the other hand, America is also an ally of the South Korean leadership which is supporting a democratic rule in the region.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Charles K. "The Myth of North Korea." Chicago Occasional Papers on Korea. Chicago: The Center for East Asian Studies, the University of Chicago (1991).
Min-suk, Kim, Bruce Fulton, and Ju-Chan Fulton. "Scarlet Fingernails." Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton (Seattle: Women in Translation, 1997) (1996): 79-114.
Suh, Ji-moon. The rainy spell and other Korean stories. Routledge, 2015.
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