Further Study On Several Issues Of The Korean War

The large-scale civil war erupted in the Korean Peninsula on June25,1950. Twodays later, the United States military intervened in the dispute under the banner of theUnited Nations. On October19th, China sent troops to North Korea. The War in thelater history is called the Korean War. In the past60years, the Korean War is alwaysthe research focus of the Korean War history and the Asian cold war history. Manyresearch works about this question were published. Especially since late1990s, as theSoviet archives about the Korean war had been gradually declassified, Chinesescholars based on Chinese historical documents began to make full use of theseRussian files. Great advances have been made in the study of the Korean War.However, due to different political system and ideology, there are great differences inresearch methods, study angle and the use of archives and documents betweenChinese and Western scholars. In addition, there is still forbidden area in the study ofthe Korean War and many secret files about the War in the belligerent states are notdeclassified. So, the further study of the Korean War still has a long way to go.The author consulted and collected a large number of English originaldocuments during the one-year study in America, and combed these documentsseriously. Taking these documents as a basis and at the same time combining with theresearch achievements at home and abroad, the author attempts to clarify the processof the Korean War and draw a conclusion close to the historical facts through thefurther study of significant problems and questions under debate in the research fieldof the Korean War. The purpose of studying history is to "mentoring politics", in thecurrent society, peace and development have become the main melody of the world.“Regarding history as a mirror" and remembering the Korean War experience andlessons is a good reference for solving local conflicts, international disputes andhelpful to safeguard world peace.According to the development process of the Korean War, this thesis is dividedinto5chapters.Chapter1is introduction. This chapter elaborates the research reason and significance of this thesis, introduces the research survey of the contemporaryAmerican scholars. This chapter also put forward the research methods, difficultpoints and innovations.Chapter2is the cause and the decision-making process of the Korean War. Thischapter mainly talks about the leaders’ different political and strategic considerationsas well as the war decision-making processes of China, Russia, and America (Mao，Stalin, Truman). In the discussion of Mao Zedong’s decision to send troops to NorthKorea, this paper analyses it from China-DPRK relations, the Sino-Soviet Alliance,the escalation of the Sino-America conflict, as well as Mao Zedong personal factors.In this way, the paper corrects the past study biased viewpoint and makes up the lackof the research. In the discussion of Truman’s decision-making process, this paperfocuses on analyzing the reason why American government changed the policytoward Korea and Taiwan before and after the outbreak of the Korean War in order tobetter understand the motive and purpose of America’s involvement in the KoreanWar. In the exposition of Stalin’s decision-making process, the author reviewed theformer Russian declassified files and made full use of the newly-found evidences toanalyze the reason of the Soviet Union’s involvement, which refuted the foreignscholars "Conspiracy Theory".Chapter3is the study of several controversial problems during the Korean War.This chapter mainly discusses the more controversy questions about whether U.S.army used germ warfare in the war, the Soviet air force effects and screening andrepatriation of prisoners of war. Especially in the study on Sino-US debate aboutgerm warfare, this paper quoted a lot of the United States State Department and theCIA declassified files. Using the evidence found in American archives, the authorexposed the implementation of germ warfare by US forces in the Korean War. Thereason why the Korean Armistice negotiations were dragged is because of thedifferent opinion on repatriation of POW between China and US. This paper clarifiesthe process of armistice eventually reached and the main reason through the studyabout Sino-US differences of POW repatriation principle and political considerationas well as the Soviet influences leading to China’s compromise in the negotiation ofPOW repatriation. Also based on newly discovered American documents, this paper discusses the reasons that cause a large number of Chinese POW to Taiwan in orderto draw a conclusion closer to the historical facts. And this paper also investigates theair force strategy and action of US and Soviet in the Korean War through the studyabout the background and reason of Soviet air force’s involvement in order to betterunderstand the role of the Soviet air force in the war. In the last part of this chapter,the casualty figures of China and U.S were put to textual research. And this paperanalyzed the reason why there were differences on casualty figures between Chinaand U.S from three different respects of statistical method, the political influence andthe view of casualty.Chapter4is the result and reflection of the Korean War. This chapter mainlydiscusses how to evaluate the gain and loss of China in the Korean War. At the sametime it also discusses the impact of the Korean War on U.S and the Soviet Union aswell as the Northeast Asia under the Cold War pattern. There is no absolute winner ina war, the Korean War brought to China the not only the positive influences andvaluable historical experiences but also many negative factors and historical bloodlessons. We should conscientiously and profoundly summarize the experience andlessons of the Korean War, so as to enable us to understand more clearly therelationship between the internal forces and external forces in Korean Peninsula andaccurately grasp the political situation and trend in Northeast Asia to play a greaterrole in the peaceful settlement of the Korean Peninsula issues.Chapter5is the conclusion. The Korean War has past60years. However, theinfluences of the Korean War still remain in our country and even the world.Historical proof tells us that countries that are trying to force their beliefs and politicalsystem on others will be futile. The purpose of War always serves for a political goal.Under the threat of nuclear war, another world war is unlikely to happen. Seeking tolimit the size of the local war and making efforts to safeguard peace will becomemore and more important. The elimination of war and keeping peace is the mosturgent pursue and the most profound desire for Chinese people. We fight stronglyagainst war, but never fear war. As the ancients said "negligence makes danger,belligerent will perish", this is the main dialectical essence of "war" and "peace".Only by understanding clearly the dialectical law of the development, can we truly achieve peace. In short, further study of the Korean War is not only the historicalinspiration but also the realistic need.