10 facts about the Korean War

• Korea, a former colony of Japan until they surrended it to the Allies, was split between the US and the USSR at the 38th parallel. The USSR had the north, and America had the south.
• In June of 1950, Joseph Stalin, the communist leader of the USSR, ordered North Korea to unite all of Korea under communism. North Korea invaded South Korea.
• President Truman, fearing that the invasion of South Korea was only the beginning of the spread of communism, appealed to the United Nations to support South Korea.
• Sixteen nation from the United Nations gave soldiers to fight in Korea.
• The US gave the most, and the army was put under command of Douglas MacArthur, the WWII hero with the famous line "I will return."
• During the beginning of the war, the North Koreans had pushed the South Koreans back to Pusan, a city on the southeastern tip of Korea. MacArthur turned the situation into his favor by landing behind the North Korea line.
• The North Koreans were being pressed from both sides, so they retreated across the 38th parallel. MacArthur was allowed to pursue the enemy.
• Because of America's advance into North Korea, China became worried that America was threatening China's safety. On November 25, 1950, Chinese Communist forces attacked American troops. This forced MacArthur to retreat to South Korea.
• Because of China's involvement in the war, MacArthur wanted to bomb China with atomic bombs and blockade China's coast. However, Truman refused, thinking that this would make the USSR get involved as well.
• MacArthur kept trying to win support for his idea, but Truman thought that MacArthur was undermining civilian military control. Because of this, MacArthur was fired despite his support from many Americans.