Hi. Welcome back.
What I want to do in this presentation is talk about how the Korean War intensified
so it felt like World War III was about to begin.
Remember back when we talked about World War II?
How it seemed like you had these regional wars in Europe and in Asia?
And then by the end of '41, they combined into being an all out global war.
People in 1950 remembered all of that. They remembered how a regional war, a war
over Poland, turned fairly quickly into a much, much larger war.
They thought that was happening again. Let's look at what happened.
In September of 1950, the Americans get enough forces in that they can turn the
tide. They have a huge advantage.
They control the air and the sea. They launch an invasion, actually an
incredibly high risk invasion right here, behind North Korean lines.
The North Korean resistence collapses. You can see with all these blue arrows,
the US, UN forces. By the way, the British, the French, the
Turks, are all sending troop contingents to fight alongside the Americans and the
South Koreans. They begin driving the North Korean
forces and are overrunning the country. You'll encounter an argument in some of
the history books. That's that the United States and UN
forces should have stopped right here and not kept going North.
That's a bit of a hindsight point of view.
There are a handful of people who made that argument at the time.
There was no chance that that argument would prevail at the top of the United
States government. They had just come out of a war where
when dictators committed aggression against you, you had to utterly defeat
the dictators rather than push them back to the start line and then wait for them
to try again. So at the top of the US government,
there's just no question that North Korea having committed aggression.
North Korea will be destroyed the same way that Hitler's Germany was destroyed
or Japan had to submit to unconditional surrender.
They're going to unify the penisula and organize it along the lines preferred by
the United Nations. They drive North.
So now, the issue is this. From the point of view of the North
Korean leaders and their Chinese and Soviet allies, what do you do?
Do you allow North Korea to be defeated? You'll remember that when Stalin
authorized this invasion he'd estimated the US would not interfere.
That gamble had been proven wrong. But he also counted on the Chinese being
able to help in case things turned bad. And that's exactly what he does now, is
he argues that the Chinese need to go to war against the United States and the
United Nations. There are critical deliberations among
the Chinese leaders about this. Actually, a pretty sizable fraction of
the Chinese communist leadership. Does not want the larger war, they want
to concentrate on building the new People's Republic.
Above all the leading advocate for a larger war is Mao Zedong himself.
Seen here conferring with his key general, Peng Dehuai.
In the back and forth, Mao's asking Stalin for assurances of equipment,
supplies, air cover, if Mao is willing to bring China into the war against the
United States. Which of course obviously threatens a
wider war with China with whom the Soviet Union is allied.
You can just very quickly see how this could turn into World War III.
Stalin sees that too. So if you want to get a glimpse into how
they're working through this problem. Take a look at this exchange in which
Stalin is making his argument to Mao why China should go to war against America
even at the risk of World War Three. You see his reasoning in this written
communication. The USA not ready for a big war.
Japan not capable of giving much help to the Americans.
The USA will be compelled to yield to China behind which stands the Soviet
Union. For the same reason, the USA will not
only have to abandon Taiwan, which is what China really wants to take care of,
but also reject the idea of a separate peace with the Japanese reactionaries.
Because the Americans are moving towards signing a peace treaty settling the
issues of the war with Japan. Of course, Stalin writes, I took into
account also the possibility that the USA, despite its unreadiness for a big
war, could still be drawn into a big war out of prestige, which, in turn, would
drag China into the war. And along with this draw into the war the
Soviet Union, which is bound with China By their mutual assistance pact.
In other words, World War III. Should we fear this?
In my opinion, we should not, because together, we will be stronger than USA
and England. While the other European capitalist
states, with the exception of Germany, which is unable to provide any assistance
to the United States now. Do not present serious military forces.
If a war is inevitable then let it be waged now and not in a few years when
Japanese militarisim will be restored as an ally of the USA.
Mao accepts this reasoning and decides to bring China into the fight.
A critical enabler for his success are decisions though made by the United
States and the United Nations in October and November.
The Chinese are willing to amass hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a massive
offensive, but they, in theory, ought to be beaten in this offensive.
Because the United States and it's allies have complete control of the skies and
air power. They have control of the seas.
They have much better fire power, heavy artillary, that can be used.
The Chinese forces are relatively lightly equipped.
So how is it possible that a Chinese offensive could succeed?
It can work if the US and UN forces are scattered over a mountainous countryside.
They're not in prepared positions, where their firepower can be brought up with
the necessary supplies to provide all the needed support.
That's exactly what the US and UN forces allowed to have happen in October and
November. Even though the Chinese launched some
startling attacks in October of 1950 that are probing attacks.
That they then stop and pull back from. Douglas MacArthur, commanding the US and
UN forces, continues to scatter his forces across the mountains of North
Korea. The thing to notice in this map is, his
forces are here, along a thin line here. This is all open space.
Another position here, another position here, here, here.
The Chinese, lightly armed, position themselves to infiltrate in all the areas
around these forces. In and through their lines, cutting them
off and then ambushing them as they try to retreat along narrow, mountainous
valleys, fighting at night, in the winter, in the mountains.
Instead, what MacArthur could have done, especially once he realized that there
was a significant risk the Chinese might come in.
Is he could've prepared his forces along this line right here, the Wonson neck.
This was actually considered by military planners at the time.
You'd have held Pyongyang. You'd have a lot of the key area of North
Korea. You could consolidate your position,
bringing up your forces, and hedge against the risk of a Chinese attack.
Instead of scattering forces to the countryside in the hope of winning the
war and having the troops home by Christmas.
But McArthur, overconfident, did not hedge against that risk.
When the Chinese hit hard just before Thanksgiving in 1950, the American, the
South Korean US UN lines break, collapse and there's a headlong retreat.
The United States find itself an entirely new war.
Not only are they now fighting China. They're now fighting China with their
forces fleeing in retreat. And with the United States contemplating
a wider war against China that can bring in the Soviet Union, World War III.
This map readily shows the gains the Chinese made.
By the beginning of 1951, again invading Seoul, pushing down past the 38th
parallel, Mao hopes to completely overrun South Korea.
And push the US and UN forces entirely off the peninsula.
The United States, thoroughly alarmed, calls up reserves.
Engages in a national mobilization, declares a national emergency, triples
the defense budget virtually overnight, just as it did at the outbreak of World
War II. They're able to hold the line in Korea
through the determined fighting of American, South Korean, British, French,
and other allied forces. Holding the line under the leadership,
especially of this general, Matthew Ridgway.
He's the fellow with the hand grenade attached to his shoulder strap.
This map shows how line stabilized. Ignore the fact that they've misspelled
the word Armistice. That a should be an i.
The battle in Korea turns into years. Of trench warfare in the mud and in the
cold mountains. As you can see from these scattered
images, the Chinese lose hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
The South Koreans, Americans and their allies hang on.
American combat forces are now integrated, black and white, as this
photograph shows. But another way that the United States
held the line, it decided not to widen the war into World War III.
General MacArthur argued expressly for involving nationalist Chinese in the War,
and for expanding the War to mainland China itself.
President Truman Egged on by the worried British Prime Minister, decides not to
widen the war. That tension finally leads to Truman
having to fire his commanding General, Douglas MacArthur, in April 1951.
MacArthur comes home, he gets ticker tape parades He's celebrated as the conquering
hero come back to confront his timid civilian bosses.
But in months of hearings, Americans hear from their generals that they had reached
the conclusion that having World War III start in Korea.
Would have been the wrong war at the wrong time, and against the wrong enemy.
What I want to emphasize now and is what the general sense that World War III was
coming did to political culture. You have a sense of overwhelming national
mobilization and a profound insecurity that general war could come at any time.
And that it could touch any community in the United States in the age of the atom
bomb. This Time magazine cover in February
1951, shows the head of the new office of Defense Mobilization.
Mobilizer Charles Wilson, Americans don't know their own strength.
Look at this tree of liberty, girded by the sword and shield.
You see all the industries, factories down here.
And the tree is sprouting all kinds of weapons.
That captures a little bit of the image of how Americans were seeing themselves
in early 1951. Meanwhile, in 1950 and 1951.
The Americans decide they're going to have to keep Korea from happening again
in Germany. Their forces are going to have to move to
Germany in strength. A commitment of ground forces to defend
the German frontier dates from this period.
It will last for more than 40 years. And that defense is going to have to be a
forward defense. Setting up an American tripwire, where
any move against that frontier is going to engage Americans in war from the first
hours. And with it, the possible threat of the
use of nuclear weapons. What's happened then in 1950, 51, is a
real change in the character of the Cold War.
Even at the beginning of 1950. For almost all Americans, and indeed
citizens of many countries, the Cold War was a foreign policy thing.
It was kind of an abstraction. It was both far away countries and
geopolitical chess games. Now, there was a danger of World War III.
And that war could come to any American, or Russian, or European community,
perhaps with very little notice. The reserves had been called up.
Thousands of Americans are fighting and dying in a war against the most populous
country on earth. In other words, as the historian Lisle
Rose has put it, the Cold War comes to Main Street.
I'd like you to look now at a film clip. This was an educational film made by
American civil defense agencies shown to American school children all over the
country. Beginning in 1951, and then continuing
for years after that. It was telling them how to get ready to
survive the sudden onset of World War III.
Take a look at this for a few minutes and then I'll talk to you about it some more.
>> [MUSIC] There was a turtle by the name of
Burt. And Burt the turtle was very alert.
When danger threatened him he never got hurt.
He knew just what to do. He'd duck and cover, duck and cover.
He did what we all must learn to do. You, and you, and you, and you [SOUND]
duck and cover.
>> Be sure and remember what Bert the turtle just did, friends.
Because every one of us must remember to do the same thing.
That's what this film is all about, Duck and Cover.
This is an official civil defense film produced in cooperation with the Federal
Civil Defense Administration. And in consultation with the Safety
Commission of the National Education Association.
Produced by Archer Productions, Incorporated.
Hey Bert, come on out and meet all these nice people?
Please? Oh alright, we really can't blame you.
You see, Bert is a very, very careful fellow.
When there's danger, this is the way he keeps from being hurt.
Sometimes it even saves his life. That's why these children are practicing
to duck and cover just as you do in your school.
We all know the atomic bomb is very dangerous.
Since it may be used against us, we must get ready for it, just as we are ready
for many other dangers that are around us all the time.
Fire is a danger. It can burn whole buildingsi if someone
is careless. But we are ready for fires.
We have a fine fire department to put out the fire, and to have fire drills in your
school so you know what to do. Automobiles can be dangerous too.
They sometimes cause bad accidents, but we are ready.
We have safety rules that car drivers and people who are walking must obey.
Now we must be ready for a new danger. The atomic bomb.
First, you have to know what happens when an atomic bomb explodes.
You will know when it comes. We hope it never comes, but we must get
ready. It looks something like this: there's a
bright flash, brighter than the sun, brighter than anything you've ever seen.
If you are not ready, and did not know what to do, It could hurt you in
different ways. It could knock you down hard or throw you
against a tree or a wall. It is such a big explosion, it can smash
in buildings and knock sign boards over and break windows all over town.
But, if you duck and cover, like Bert, you will be much safer.
You know how bad sunburns can feel. The atomic bomb flash could burn you
worse than a terrible sunburn, especially where you are not covered.
Now, you and I don't have shells to crawl into like Bert the turtle, so we have to
cover up in our own way. First, you duck and then, you cover.
And very tightly, you cover the back of your neck and your face.
Duck and cover underneath a table or desk or anything else close by.
In Betty's school, they are talking about the atomic bomb too.
Betty is asking her teacher, how can we tell when the atomic bomb may explode?
And her teacher is explaining that there are two kinds of attack, with warning,
and without any warning. We think that most of the time we will be
warned before the bomb explodes. So there will be time for us to get into
our homes, schools, or some other safe place.
Our Civil Defense workers and our men in uniform will do everything they can to
warn us before enemy planes can bring a bomb near us.
You may be in your schoolyard playing when the signal comes.
[SOUND] That signal means to stop whatever you're doing and get to the
nearest safe place fast. Always remember, the flash of an atomic
bomb can come at any time no matter where you may be.
You might be out playing at home when the warning comes.
Then be sure to get in the house fast, where your parents have fixed a safe
place for you to go. If you are not close to home when you
hear the warning, go to the nearest safe cover.
No where you are to go, or ask an older person to help you.
You know the places marked with the S sign?
They're safe places to go when you hear the alarm.
If there is a warning, you will hear it before the bomb explodes.
But sometimes, and this is very, very important.
Sometimes the bomb might explode without any warning.
Then, the first thing we would know about it would be the flash.
And that means duck and cover fast, wherever you are.
There's no time to look around or wait. Be like Bert.
When there is a flash, duck and cover, and do it fast.
Here are some older boys showing what to do if the flash comes when you are not in
the classroom. This is what to do if you should be in a
corridor. You duck and cover tight against the wall
this way. Remember to keep your face and the back
of your neck covered tightly. Try to fall away from windows or doors
with glass in them. Then if the glass breaks and flies
through the air it won't cut you. You might be eating your lunch when the
flash comes, duck and cover under the table.
Then, if the explosion makes anything in the room fall down, it can't fall on you.
Getting ready means we will all have to be able to take care of ourselves.
The bomb might explode when there are no grown ups near.
Paul and Patty know this and they are always ready to take care of themselves.
Here they are on their way to school on a beautiful spring day.
But no matter where they go or what they do, they always try to remember what to
do if the atom bomb explodes right then. It's a bomb, duck and cover.
Paul and Patty know what to do. Paul covered the back of his head so that
he wouldn't be burned. And Patty covered herself with the coat
she was carrying. They knew how to duck and cover.
They acted right away when the flash came.
If they had been at this doorway when the bomb flashed Paul and Patty would have
ducked and covered this way, like this girl.
Heavy doorways are a good place to duck and cover.
She will be safer too. Here's Tony, going to his cub scout
meeting. Tony knows the bomb could explode any
time of year, day or night. He is ready for it.
Duck and cover. That'a boy Tony, that flash means act
fast. Tony knows that it helps to get to any
kind of cover. This wall was close by, so that's where
he ducked and covered. Tony knew what to do.
Notice how he keeps from moving or getting up and running.
He stays down until he is sure the danger is over.
The man helping Tony is a Civil Defense worker.
His job is to help protect us when there is danger of the atomic bomb.
We must obey the Civil Defense worker. We must know how to duck and cover in the
schoolbus or in any other bus or streetcar.
Duck and cover. Don't wait.
Duck away from the windows, fast. The glass may break and fly through the
air and cut you. Sundays, holidays, vacation time.
We must be ready every day, all the time, to do the right thing if the atomic bomb
explodes. Duck and cover.
This family knows what to do, just as your own family should.
They know that even a thin cloth helps protect them.
Even a newspaper can save you from a bad burn.
But the most important thing of all is to duck and cover yourself, especially where
your clothes do not cover you. No matter where we live in the city or
the country, we must be ready all the time for the atomic bomb.
Duck and cover, that's the first thing to do, duck and cover.
The next important thing to do after that is to stay covered until the danger is
over. Yes, we must all get ready now so we know
how to save ourselves if the atomic bomb ever explodes near us.
If you do not know just what to do, ask your teacher when this film is over.
Discuss what you could do in different places if a bomb explodes.
Older people will help us as they always do, but there might not be any grown ups
around when the bomb explodes. Then, you're on your own.
>> [MUSIC] Remember what to do friends.
Now, tell me right out loud. What are you supposed to do when you see
the flash?
>> Duck and cover.
[MUSIC].
>> A few reflections on this film. First, think about why people made this
film. They made this film, and they showed in
classrooms all over the United States, because they're trying to save the lives
of some of their children. They're imagining that there could be a
nuclear war that could start at any moment.
But in that nuclear war, for sure, millions of people may die.
But if you're presented with a calculation that says, if they take no
precautions, we could lose five or ten million people.
But if I showed this film and millions of people take elementary precautions, let's
suppose they judge, I might reduce my death or casualty rates by 20% at the
margin, with these precautions. If I make this film and scare school
children with it all over the country. If I save that 20%, maybe I've saved two
million lives. You do that cost benefit analysis.
And what decision do you make. But that's the kind of reasoning that's
going through people's heads in 1951 when they're deciding to make a movie like
that. Second, notice the apparatus of defense
that has to be in every American community.
The shelters, the civil defense employees, all of that.
That's everywhere. In Arkansas, in Montana, in Texas, in
Florida, you get a sense of national mobilization.
Think too about how that movie is telling you, war may come at any time, and you
may be anywhere when it comes. And no one will be safe, no matter where
you live or no matter what they're doing. This is a very different kind of
insecurity than people had experienced. Certainly people living, living in the
United States of America which used to believe that it was sheltered by its
oceans. If you understand the world underneath a
movie like that. You can understand so much about the
world of the 1950s, which we'll explore some more in my next presentation.
See you then.