The Korean War

Ziff, John. The Korean War. 2016. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4222-3356-6. Available at 951.9 ZIF on the library shelves.

Less famous and deadly than the Second World War, the Korean war ignited what had become a cold war into a bloody conflict that spanned the Korean peninsula and lasted three years. First occupied by the Japanese in the early 1900s, Korea was divided into a temporary Soviet-occupied side and an American-occupied side at the end of the Second World War with the eventual goal of unified elections that would hand the entire country to an elected government. But both communists and anti-communist forces opposed this settlement, and election were never held.

Communist North Korea launched a surprise attack against the Republic of Korea on June 25, 1950 and quickly pushed the South Korean forces to the tip of the peninsula. American forces intervened to stop the North Korean advance but struggled with ill-prepared troops and equipment. General MacArthur, who had led the Allied forces to victory in the Pacific, reorganized the forces and as reinforcements poured in Allied forces pushed the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel and went to the Chinese border.

Communist China intervened and fought the Americans to a stalemate in a series of bloody battles around the 38th parallel, however, and by 1951 both sides were exhausted and could not expect to win a military victory. A ceasefire was negotiated to allow for further negotiations, but these failed, and the two Koreas technically remain at war.

This book describes the events that happened in a war most of us are not familiar with. Readers interested in military history or strategy will find enough material in this book to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Korean War.