China 1.4 The Korean War

Give a statistic about executions

800,000 counter-revolutionaries were executed in the first half of 1951

How did the war promote national unity?

China people united under a common cause

Propaganda campaign: 'Resist America, Aid Korea'

Americans denounced as 'bandits, murderers and savages'

Patriotic parades and spirit meetings

How did the PLA relate to patriotism?

PLA bravery against the combined forces of the United Nations

People pledged to donate their wages to the PLA

How did the Korean War strain the economy?

1951 - half of government spending went to the military

Overall the war cost $10 billion

Little money to invest in education, healthcare

Delayed development of industry

How did the Korean War put strain on agriculture?

Grain requisitioning to feed army

Peasants were conscripted

Standard of living declined

Famine in some areas

How did the Korean War enhance China's international prestige?

PLA had held back the USA's military for 3 years

China could claim to be the most powerful communist nation

China was no longer the 'sick man of Asia'

How did the USA respond to China's involvement in the Korean War?

When China entered the war, the USA imposed a trade embargo on Chinese goods

30% fall in foreign trade in first 6 months of 1951

CIA plotted to undermine Chinese control of Tibet

Mao said the USA used Japan as 'unsinkable aircraft carrier'

How did the Korean War affect China's relations with the USSR?

//Relations suffered

Mao resented that Russia didn't get directly involved in the fighting

China had to pay for military hardware and expertise from the USSR

China was now dependent on the USSR - the West would not open diplomatic relations with China now

Marked a change from only 'leaning to the communist side'

When did China get involved in the Korean War?

October 1950 - Chinese troops entered North Korea

What were the human costs of China's involvement in the Korean War?

UN and Russian estimates put the number of Chinese deaths at 1 million

Death of Mao's son, Mao Anying