Development of the Cold War

Significance of Asia

• China -
• Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party came from small beginnings in 1921
• A divided China, and invasion from Japan in 1937, created the conditions for a successful revolution
• Mao was preoccupied with the question of the rural population in China, the issues of national liberation and trying to end foreign dominance
• By 1945 - the war against Japan was won, at the cost of 14 million lives
• With no common enemy, a civil war broke out between Nationalists (supported by the West) and the Communists (supported by USSR)
• With greater public support, Mao’s communist revolution was successful
• 1949 - Mao signed the Treaty of Friendship with USSR, which sent aid and loans
• People's Republic of China declared in 1949
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• Legenda: Mao Zedong (1893-1976)

Korea - North vs South

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• The Korean War was the incident that made the Cold War a global conflict
• US president at the time, Harry Truman, was interested in the Far East
• He was in competition with the USSR for world domination
• The Chinese Communist Party won the Civil War in China and Mao Zedong became leader of the most populous country in the world
• Truman was worried in the end Communists would capture Japan
• Kim Il Sung (leader of North Korea) visited Stalin - in 1949 he persuaded Stalin that he could conquer South Korea
• Stalin was worried America might get involved, but gave his agreement
• Kim Il Sung also went to Mao Zedong, the leader of China, to get his agreement
• With USSR and China's support, Kim Il Sung invaded Korea

Korean War 1950-1953

• Korean War
• Communist North Korea invaded the democratic South Korea in 1950
• South Korea was a US ally and the US, concerned about the 'domino effect', became involved in the war
• 'Domino effect' was the belief if South Korea fell, communism would spread to other Asian countries
• North Korea was backed by China and USSR
• US became involved in a costly war, that ended in a stalemate
• The war demonstrated that the US and USSR would fight each other but not directly
• The war lasted three years and led to 1.4 million deaths
• Truman sacked General Douglas MacArthur for requesting that nuclear weapons be used against China
• Stalin passed away at the end of the Korean War and the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev criticised many of Stalin's actions and called for peaceful co-existence with the West.