This is not to suggest that either the United States or the Soviet Union were necessarily desiring this conflict, because "based on the scattered evidence now available from Soviet archives," Stalin was "wary and reluctant" in his support of the North, and only finally agreed to offer military equipment and advice when it became clear that China would intervene should the Soviet Union fail to offer support (Cumings 144). Likewise, the United States was hesitant in the face of South Korean entreaties to assist with a proactive invasion of the North, definitively stating that "Washington would not come to the aid of [the South] unless it were attacked without provocation" (Cumings 145). Recognizing this reveals that although the Korean War was a proxy war in the sense that either side was supported and partially controlled by external actors, there were serious internal divisions between the North and South which made the Korean War not a rapid and unexpected event, but rather "a culmination, a denouement, that took the internal struggles to a new a decisive level" (Cumings 146).
However, this should not diminish the sense that the course of the Korean War itself was the result of the United States' and Soviet Union's intervention and assistance, because although the war was motivated by longstanding differences between the North and South, it seems almost impossible that the war would have played itself out the way it did, let alone occurred, without the shadows of these two world superpowers looming over the peninsula. That this is undoubtedly the case is evident when one considers that both the North and the South were only confident enough to increase their respective provocations because they knew their respective benefactors would intervene. As discussed above, both the United States and the Soviet Union were reluctant to assist short of an unprovoked attack, creating a kind of perverse incentive for both the North and South to antagonize the other into attacking. Thus, both North and South were emboldened by the support they expected from their benefactors, and so actually had little incentive to downplay their respective animosities.
In a sense one can view the United States' and Soviet Union's interest in the Korean peninsula as focused not on Korea itself, but rather China. For the United States, South Korea (along with Japan) represented an important foothold in the far East, and following China's Communist revolution, the country was likely wary of Communism gaining any more ground. Similarly, the Soviet Union was wary of China's influence, even though they ostensibly shared the same organizing philosophy. Far from expressing excitement at the idea of a second Communist power, Stalin was wary Chinese assistance to the North might represent a power shift from which the Soviet Union could not recover, and as such agreed to help when Kim Il Sung intimated that if the Soviet Union did not offer assistance, "Mao Zedong […] will always help Korea" (Cumings 144). In some respects the consequences of the Korean War proved the apprehensions of both the United States and the Soviet Union correct, because Chinese intervention in the latter years of the war cemented a close relationship between North Korea and China that continues to this day, a relationship that represents a continual thorn in the side of both American and Russian foreign policy (although in the latter case to a much lesser extent).
Although the casualty figures from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are shocking, especially in terms of civilian deaths, they appear miniscule compared to the Korean War. According to most accounts, "the countries involved in the three-year conflict suffered a total of more than 4 million casualties, of which at least 2 million were civilians" (Cumings 35). Of the total number of casualties, 36,940 Americans died, 415,004 South Koreans died, an estimated 2 million North Koreans were injured or killed, and around "900,000 Chinese soldiers lost their lives in combat" (Cumings 35). Of course, this does not take into account the millions which have perished as a result of the war, largely due to North Korea's depressed economy, political repression, and devastating food shortages.
One reason it is important to consider the Korean War alongside contemporary conflicts is the fact that the Korean War has been so misunderstood, and in some cases, forgotten. At the time, it was regarded in the West as a civil war, but "a civil conflict purely among Koreans might have resolved the extraordinary tensions generated by
Capital Punishment Like abortion, the institution of capital punishment is a very divisive topic. The line dividing the supporters and opponents of capital punishment is variably drawn across political philosophies, race, sex and religion. The Governor of Illinois, not long ago, declared a moratorium on death penalty cases in his state. This essay is dedicated to a presentation of facts about capital punishment, without delving into personal opinions in support or
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