The Korean War 1950-1953 4219-SA119-OG

The Korean conflict of early 1950s was the first confrontation of regular armies of both sides of the Cold War. Almost three years of fighting did not bring about victory of either the United Nations or Communist forces. The truce of 1953 did not solve the Korean problem as well. That conflict had, however, a strong impact on the politics of both the USA and Soviet Union up to the end of Cold War era. The very concept of local or limited war, sometimes called a war by proxies, was born of the struggles for Korea. We will discuss the most important aspects of what was not even legally a war in that country between 1950 and 1953. Among them were, for instance, the role of the United States in post-World War II world politics, the place of the UN in American foreign policy of that period, danger and possibility of a nuclear war, problem of the Japanese Peace Treaty as well as the crucial problem of the civilian-military relation in American political system. Finally, the results and lessons of "the war before Vietnam" for both the USA and the world will be analyzed. The American diplomatic documents, statements and correspondence as well as press articles and the memoirs will provide us with source materials.

Type of course

general courses
foreign languages

Mode

Classroom

Course coordinators

Zbigniew Kwiecień

Learning outcomes

Understanding by the students of specifics of local conflicts in the Cold War era. The better understanding of American policy of that period in the Far East, including the post-World War II approach to Japan and China.

Assessment criteria

Active participation in the classes, and presence at most of them (60%); presentation or paper on one of the subjects discussed, chosen by student and approved by teacher (20%); a 5-page end of semester essay on a subject accepted by teacher (20 %) and a short interview with teacher before the deadline for graduation.

Bibliography

Margueritte Higgins: War in Korea. The Report of a Woman Combat Correspondent. Garden City, NY 1951;
Mark W. Clark: From the Danube to the Yalu. NY 1954;
Douglas MacArthur: Reminiscences. NY 1964;
I. F. Stone: The Hidden History of the Korean War. NY 1952;
Harry S. Truman: Memoirs. NY 1966;
Korea: Cold War and Limited War (documents) ed. by Allen Guttman, Lexington, Mass. 1972;
Matthew Ridgway: The Korean War. NY 1967

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

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Description of 4219-SA119-OG in USOSweb