Cold War Heats up in Asia

1. Who was Chiang Kai-shek?         
Chiang Kia- shek was the leader of the nationalist party in China, who was trying to fight the communist party. The United States supported the nationalist government but the US officials that worked with him thought that his ideas were inefficient and hopelessly corrupt.

2. Who was Mao Zedong?      
Mao Zedong was the leader of the communist party in China.


3. How were the Communist able to take over China?     

The Communists were able to take over China by getting the support of the peasants. They did this by encouraging them to learn how to read they helped them to improve their food productions. After World War II ended the fighting between the nationalists and the communist broke up. The poor favored the Communist party and the nationalist had a weak military power and they were corrupt; therefore the communists won.

4. How did the State Department respond to critics that Truman's "Containment" policy didn't extend to Asia?               
The State Department was questioning why containment of the Communists party wasn't as important in Europe as it was in Asia. They believed that they should have given more aid to Chiang Kai-shek and helped him keep his supporters. If the United States gave more aid it would have causes a war that the United States was not prepared to fight; the State Department thought that was a lame excuse.


5. How did Korea become a divided nation after World War II?      
At the end of World War II the Japanese troops in North Korea surrendered to the Soviet Union, while the Japanese troops in Southern Korea surrendered to the United States therefore North Korea turned communist and south Korea turned democratic.


6. What is the importance of the Yalu River and what prompted the Chinese to enter the Korean War?     
The Yalu River was the river that divided Korea from China. the Chinese entered the Korean War because they wanted to keep North Korea communist so that there was a buffer zone between China and the democratic Southern Korea. Another reason that they fought back was becasue they felt threatened by the American fleet that was right off their coast.


7. Who is General Douglas MacArthur and what did he want to do against China?     
General Douglas MacArthur was the one who controlled the combined troops who were fighting with South Korea, and he was a World War II hero in the Pacific. MacArthur wanted to invade China and thought that it was necessary to drop a nuclear weapon on the Chinese capital.


8. Why did Truman relieve MacArthur from duty?       
Truman relieved MacArthur from duty because MacArthur felt too strongly about invading China and would not listen to Truman. Instead MacArthur went behind the presidents back and tried to promote the invasion of China therefore he relieved him from duty.


9. How did the war end?       
The war ended by the Soviet Union ceasing fire unexpectedly on June 23rd 1951. Truce talks started in July 1951 and they decided on a few things, which includes the location of the cease fire line at the existing battle line and a demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. For the next couple of year the countries were negotiating on exchanging prisoners and in July 1953 the two sides signed an armistice which officially ended the war.


10. He is the current leader of North Korea and was also named the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2012.      
Kim Dae-jung.