| Dates |
Policy maker and Documents |
Commitments Made |
Inconsistencies |
| 1945 |
President Roosevelt
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Multilateral trusteeship on Korea at the Yalta Conference (February 4-11), July 17 at Potsdam Conference (US successful test of nuclear weapons in the New Mexico on July 16) , international alliance of Wilsonian concept of collective security embracing Soviet Union for their commitment for ending WWII; April 12 Roosevelt died.
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| 1945 |
Surrender of Germany and Japan (May 8 & August 14)
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August 8, Soviet Union enters the Pacific war. August 6th and 9th nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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| February 22, 1946 |
George Kennan
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"A Long Telegram" calling for containment of Soviet expansionism
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| March 12, 1947 |
President Truman
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Truman Doctrine providing economic and military support for Greece and Turkey preventing them from falling into Soviet sphere
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| April 4, 1947 |
Robert Patterson, Secretary of War
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The U.S. should withdraw from South Korea at an early date since occupation was a great drain on War Department funds and to meet greater needs for our shrinking military resources and the Congress was not likely to provide $600 million for Korea (Acheson, 1971: 2; Cumings, 1983: 20)
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| 1947 |
Dean Acheson, Undersecretary of State in a secret hearing
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We have drawn the line in Korea meaning containment of Russian influence had to be applied into Korea (Cumings, 1983: 21)
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| June 1947 |
George Kennan, the head of Policy Planning Staff (PPS)
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Japan and Korea are the areas outside Europe requiring large-scale economic assistance. Later he dropped Korea after China. (Cumings, 1983: 21)
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| June 5, 1947 |
Marshall Plan (for European reconstruction after WWII)
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| June 7-24, 1947 |
Blockade of Berlin
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| September 24, 1947 |
George Kennan
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"Our policy should be to cut our losses and get out of there as gracefully but promptly as possible." (Cumings, 1983: 24)
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| August 15, 1948 |
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American military government ended in South Korea
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| November 2, 1948 |
Republican losses in both Presidential and Congressional elections
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| June 10, 1949 |
Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson
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Johnson stimulated the NSC 48 deliberations by recommending that the American objective should be to contain communism in Asia. (Cumings, 1983: 32)
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NSC 68
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Calling for an end to demobilization and for increased military force
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| June 30, 1949 |
NSC
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Final withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea
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| September, 1949 |
Soviet Union conducts a successful in nuclear test
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| 1949 |
President Truman setting a limit on the military budget of roughly 15 billion dollars for FY-1950. Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson was committed to cut defense spending, “demobilization” (Pelz, 1983: 115). The military planners’ struggle over budgets, roles, and missions became public in 1949. (Pelz, 1983: 117)
During the first five months of 1950, the Russians gave the North Koreans an offensive force-tactical aircraft, armor, trucks, and artillery. However, Truman and Acheson did not reinforce the South Korean armed forces with tanks, antitank guns, artillery, and planes. Truman had enough funds $75 million for aid to the general area of China, approved by the Congress in 1950. However, Korea was not in the aid list. (Pelz, 1983: 118)
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| December 1949 |
Fall of Chiang K’ai shek and withdrawal to Formosa
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| January 12, 1950 |
Dean Acheson, Secretary of State
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Acheson declared that Aleutians from Japan and Okinawa to the Philippines. Formosa, Korea, Indochina, and Indonesia were excluded from American defense lines.
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| January 19, 1950 |
Dean Acheson, Secretary of State
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Acheson wrote to his daughter, “This has been a tough day not so much by way of work, but by way of troubles. We took a defeat in the House on Korea, which seems to be to have been our own fault. One should not lose by one vote. [The vote was 193 to 192.]
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| April 1950 |
NSC 68
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Calling for an end to demobilization and for increased military force, and the U.S. needed to apply force to counteract Soviet’s expansionism.
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