0 1 internal cause: the Korean war was essentially a civil war, and the division between the north and the south was the main reason. North Korea is surrounded by water on three sides and borders the mainland on the north. It is a "natural bridge" between Japan and the Asian continent, and its strategic position is very important. 19 10 In August, Japan openly annexed Korea, and the Korean people were ravaged under Japanese rule for 35 years. However, the Korean people's struggle for the recovery of Japan has never stopped.
In the Second World War, China, the United States and Britain clearly stipulated in the Cairo Declaration that "North Korea will be independent in a considerable period of time". 1945, the Potsdam Proclamation urging Japan to surrender also reiterated that "the conditions of the Cairo Declaration will be implemented". However, the post-war developments violated the above principles, and North Korea has been placed in the sphere of influence of the United States and the Soviet Union and split in two.
This historical ending is unacceptable to the Korean people. Therefore, when Soviet troops and American troops occupied the north and south of Korea respectively, it was naturally unpopular. In this regard, the commander of the American occupation army also admitted that in the south occupied by the US military, "people blame the United States for the separatist situation" and "hate all Americans more and more".
1In February, 945, when the news came that the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain reached an agreement in Moscow, it caused great dissatisfaction among the Korean people. Mass rallies have been held in various parts of South Korea to protest against the Moscow Agreement, and organizations such as the Committee for the Realization of National Independence and the Anti-Trusteeship Committee have been spontaneously established to advocate the early independence of North Korea.
South Korea's "anti-trusteeship" and "seeking independence" movements forced Li Chengwan to promise that he would make efforts to make North Korea "not conquered or divided". What's more, the provisional South Korean House of Representatives supported by the United States passed a resolution accusing the US military government of "ignoring the strong opposition of the Korean people to trusteeship" and "distorting public opinion and imposing trusteeship on the Korean people", which made the US military stationed in South Korea in a very embarrassing situation.
Later, the United States had to use the police to suppress the mass movement of the south Korean people against trusteeship and partition. Compared with the unstable political situation in South Korea, Suzhan District in the north of Korea has implemented a series of popular reform measures because of its good foundation of communism among the people, and its society is relatively stable.
However, regardless of the south or north of Korea, the desire to abolish the 38-degree north latitude dividing line and realize national and ethnic reunification at an early date is common. Since then, due to the obstruction of the United States, the Soviet-American Committee for the settlement of the Korean issue has suspended its work and announced its dissolution. Both the North and the South have established "one-sided" governments with ideological lines.
Since then, the Korean people's strong consciousness and struggle for national independence and national reunification has been reflected in the absolute irreconcilable between the two hostile governments of the North and the South. Its essence is to fight for who is the only legitimate government on the divided land of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, from the day they were established, the two governments of the North and the South took overthrowing each other, reunifying Korea and establishing their dominant position in the country as their lofty and supreme mission. By June 1949, after the Soviet Union and the United States withdrew their troops from the north and the south respectively, the struggle reached a white-hot level.
While consolidating their political status, North Korea and South Korea actively launched diplomatic and political offensives to win the support of international public opinion. On the other hand, actively build their own armed forces to prepare for the reunification of the armed forces.
For example, in March of 1949, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense formulated a plan to expand the existing 65,000 troops to 654.38+10,000 in the army, 654.38+10,000 in the navy, 300 in the air force and 50,000 in the reserve. By the end of the year, the military expansion plan was basically completed.
At the same time, in 1950 and 1, defense mutual assistance agreements were signed with the United States, which greatly improved the offensive capability of the Korean army. 1949 10, Li Chengwan threatened that "the North-South division must be solved by war", believing that the South Korean army occupied Pyongyang in three days, and claimed to realize the reunification of the North and the South by force on 1950. 1950 in may, the United States economic aid agency director Johnson said:
"South Korea's 654.38 million+officers and men, equipped with American weapons and trained by Americans, are fully prepared and ready to fight at any time."
At that time, North Korea also believed that the liberation of North Korea was an internal matter solved by the Korean people themselves, and that North Korea could unify the Korean Peninsula without external support.
In this situation of confrontation between the north and the south, since the spring of 1949, armed conflicts have occurred frequently, and their scale has developed from the regimental level of Wengjin Peninsula to the divisional level of Kaesong, which has pushed the whole Korean Peninsula to the brink of war and become "a pot of boiling porridge". In this regard, South Korea's public historical data said: "There have been more than 30 wars, including 6 wars." As for border disputes, "in 1949 and 1 year, the south crossed the border to the north 1836 times."
Therefore, the outbreak of the Korean War is a historical necessity and reflects the irresistible will and desire of the Korean nation. It's just a matter of time and opportunity. It can be seen that the Korean War, which broke out on June 25, 1950, was originally a civil war in which the Korean nation demanded independence and reunification, and it was an inevitable trend for the Korean people to oppose partition. However, the role played by external factors in the Korean War cannot be underestimated.
External cause: the cold war policy pursued by the United States and the Soviet Union inevitably led to the outbreak of the Korean War, which was largely related to the international environment at that time. The Cold War first started in Europe and gradually spread to Northeast Asia. However, the real trouble for the United States is not Europe, but Northeast Asia.
After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union mainly negotiated and struggled around the implementation of the Yalta system in Northeast Asia. According to the Yalta system, the Soviet Union controlled the Kuril Islands, Mongolia, northeastern China and northern Korea; The United States monopolized Japan and controlled the vast areas ruled by the Kuomintang in China and southern South Korea.
Although there were contradictions in the early days of the United States and the Soviet Union, they were not so intense. However, with the intensification of the Cold War in Europe and the victory of China's War of Liberation, the confrontation and struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union became increasingly acute. After World War II, the United States has always regarded China as a pillar to contain the Soviet Union's expansion in East Asia, so the United States fully supported Chiang Kai-shek in the civil war at all costs. However, the defeat of the Kuomintang army led to the total collapse of the Chiang family dynasty, which made the American containment policy in East Asia encounter great difficulties and caused great shock in the United States.
In the eyes of Americans, China is not only a tool of Moscow, but also aggressive. At the same time, in the United States, "Who lost China?" Attacking presidents, secretaries of state and ordinary diplomats has become a curse. Republicans criticized the Truman administration for pushing China into the arms of the Soviet Union. Even Democratic Senator William Fubout and others suggested:
If Truman takes the blame and resigns, it will be his greatest contribution to America.
In this case, Truman Administration adjusted its Northeast Asia policy, suddenly raised North Korea's status, and made it an "anti-Communist line in the Far East" to curb the expansion of communist forces in the north and block new China. Truman publicly stated that North Korea is an "ideological battlefield" that directly affects the success or failure of the United States in the Far East. MacArthur also said that North Korea is an "outpost of infinite value". Since then, the contest between the United States and the Soviet Union on the peninsula has intensified.
Power politics is the bane of the Korean War. In the late World War II, the United States considered monopolizing North Korea. However, due to limited strength, it is impossible to occupy the whole of Korea militarily. So Truman, at MacArthur's request, suggested to the Soviet Union that 38 degrees north latitude should be the dividing line for the two countries to jointly disarm Japan, and Stalin agreed. Although there were contradictions and conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union at that time, they were still allies. But just as the two countries were preparing to solve the North Korean issue according to relevant agreements, they began to be different.
Due to the influence of the Cold War system and the increasingly tense situation in Northeast Asia, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union has gradually changed from an alliance to a hostile relationship. With the escalation of the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union want to bring North Korea into their sphere of influence. Therefore, the United States and the Soviet Union lack a common language and position when solving the North Korean issue, and they have no desire and enthusiasm to solve the problem. All suggestions and counter-suggestions are aimed at improving their status and influence, and at the same time doing everything possible to weaken each other's strength. As a result, trusteeship has become partition, and there is no hope of forming a unified national Coalition government. They each established a "one-sided" government that was beneficial to them and prepared to expand their territory.
Since then, the 38th parallel has become an insurmountable dividing line between the United States and the Soviet Union. Any attempt to move the 38th parallel, no matter where it comes from, means a serious challenge to the other side. This is the "fire of division" planted by the United States and the Soviet Union in North Korea.
With the aftermath of the Cold War spreading rapidly to Northeast Asia, it is difficult for the United States and the Soviet Union to completely curb the ignition and spread of this "kindling". When encountering dry firewood, it will inevitably spread to the Korean peninsula and become a prairie fire. The outbreak of the Korean War is inevitable.
The internal causes of the Korean War are basic. At the beginning, the war was essentially a civil war, and external factors were the main factors for the outbreak of the Korean War. The cold war policy pursued by the United States and the Soviet Union will inevitably lead to armed confrontation. Unfortunately, North Korea, located in Northeast Asia, became the scene of the first military confrontation between the two camps after the war.
When the United States intervened in the Korean War, the Korean people fought an arduous defense war with the China Volunteers, and finally defeated the United States and forced it to sign the Korean Military Armistice Agreement. In this regard, Americans call the Korean War "the first war without a victorious division" and "the most unpopular war" in American history.
Generally speaking, the Korean War is a partial and limited war, but its significance and influence are incomparable with other modern wars except World War II. It was the first hot war in the formation of the cold war, which in turn promoted the development of the post-war cold war pattern and led to the further deterioration of the situation in Northeast Asia.