China and the Korean War

When did China join the Korean War?

October 1950

Why did China join the Korean War?

Initially Mao was reluctant to get involved but he was worried that the American victory would leave China vulnerable to attack from the US borders operating from North Korea. Therefore he intervened when the UN/US force crossed into the North.

Benefits- National unity/patriotic fervour

What did the party orchestrate?

• The party orchestrated a concerted propaganda campaign against the USA calling on people to ‘Resist America, Aid Korea, Preserve Our Homes, Defend The Nation’

• Mass meetings were organised in workplaces and schools

Benefits- National unity/patriotic fervour

What did Zhou Enlai organise?

Zhou Enlai organised student demonstrations and patriotic parades where anti american slogans were chanted. Those who didn’t attend were persecuted which ensured mass participation in rallies. The rallies were also used by Party officials as a means of applying pressure on people to volunteer for the PLA.

Benefits- National unity/patriotic fervour

What were people pressurised by the party into doing?

Donating their money and goods to help finance the war. Forced donations of anything up to 3 month’s salary were collected from professionals in the city. Farmers in the countryside saw their crops being compulsorily requisitioned. Taxes were raised to new levels

Benefits- National unity/patriotic fervour

When and what was the germ warfare scare?

In February 1952 Beijing launched a germ warfare scare. They claimed American planes were dropping cylinders packed with germ-infested insects in North Korea and Manchuria. Also they claimed they were releasing rats and frogs contaminated with the plague. The campaign continued until April 1953 when its credibility was undermined by the Russians who declared it to be false.

Benefits- How the war boosted China’s international prestige

• The armies had held those of the USA at bay for 3 years

• The PRC could now claim to be the most powerful communist nation because it defended communism while Russia stood back

• It gave China greater security from attacks in the future as they befriended Korea

Costs- Political effects at home/the war time terror

What happened to foreigners living in China?

They were forced to register with their local security Bureau and were soon forced to leave the country once stripped of their assets.

Costs- Political effects at home/the war time terror

What campaign’s did Mao launch? When? and why?

• The Great Terror against counter-revolutionaries in October 1950

• The ‘three anti’ (1951) and ‘five anti’ (1952) movement

• Using these campaigns Mao was able to destroy remnants of Nationalist opposition and remove future opponents

Costs- Human and financial costs

How many lives were lost in the Korean War? What were they mainly

One million lives lost most of which were conscripts who were officially labelled ‘volunteers’ to make it harder for the Americans to blame to Chinese government

Costs- Human and financial costs

Where was the Chinese economy focused?

China’s economy was entirely refocused to support the military. Over ½ the government spending in 1951 went on the military. The annual budget for the military that year was 75% higher than 1950.

Costs- Human and financial costs

What happened to food supplies and foreign trade?

• Food supplies were kept up by forced food requisitioning from the country side which badly affected living standards

• There was a 30% fall in foreign trade in the first 6 months of 1951

Costs- How the war affected Chinese relations with the USSR and the West

Impact on relations with the USA?

China now considered the US the enemy and American resolve to prevent dominoes falling to communism in the Far East (domino theory) had been hardened.

The CIA began plotting to undermine Chinese control of Tibet

What is the domino theory?

When one nation falls to communism the impact is such to weaken the resistance of other countries and facilitate, if not cause, their fall to communism

Costs- How the war affected Chinese relations with the USSR and the West

What did the Americans pledge to do? What were they successful in?

Keep Taiwan out of Chinese hands and they succeeded in making sure the PRC was refused admission to the UN until 1972