The Korean War and Yalu River
-AS the U.N. troops got close to the Yalu River China sends almost 1 million troops
-They drive the UN troops almost off the peninsula
-Protect Communism in the North of Korea which remains to this day
-They drive the UN troops almost off the peninsula
-Protect Communism in the North of Korea which remains to this day
summary
The Korean War began when soldiers from the North Korean Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. After some early back-and-forth across the 38th parallel, the fighting stalled and casualties mounted with nothing to show for them. Meanwhile, American officials worked anxiously to fashion some sort of armistice with the North Koreans. The alternative, they feared, would be a wider war with Russia and China–or even, as some warned, World War III. Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end. In all, some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the war. The Korean peninsula is still divided today.