The last war of Stalin
The wreckage of a B-29 that was shot down by an 9 on November 1950 by the Soviet MiG-15
Seventy years ago, the Korean War began. The last successful war of Stalin. It was a fair and positive war for Russia. In it, the Russians inflicted a serious defeat on America in the air war and buried the hopes of the US military-political elite for a successful air and nuclear war against Russia.
In the West and in the USA, they saw that in the land war with the Russians, the newly created NATO has no chance of victory. The Russians have an advantage in the ground forces and the air force (apart from the strategic aviation) During the atomic attack of the West, the Soviet armies will sweep out weak American forces in Western Europe with one blow, take strategic footholds in Asia and North Africa, destroying western military bases there. At the same time, the USSR, in extremely limited terms and on the limited resources of the country devastated after the Great Patriotic War, raised the economy from ruins in record time and created the most advanced nuclear, electronic and aviation-reactive industries. Deployed powerful tank army and air divisions. Soviet Russia after the terrible war committed a new military-economic miracle. The West, led by the United States, had to temporarily retreat.
Korean question
In the years 1910-1945. Korea was occupied by the Japanese. In August 1945, the Soviet Union defeated the Japanese Empire in the Far East. Soviet troops liberated Korea from the Japanese invaders. According to Japan's surrender, Korea was divided into the Soviet and American zones of occupation along the 38th parallel. In the northern part of the Korean Peninsula in February 1946, the Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea was formed, headed by Kim Il Sung. This was the interim government of North Korea.
By a decree of September 9, 1948, a new state was established in the Soviet zone of occupation - the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The power in the DPRK belonged to the North Korean Labor Party (TPSK). TPSK introduced a planned economy, nationalized industry and trade, the land was redistributed in favor of small and medium-sized peasant farms. The first chairman of the Central Committee of the Labor Party was Kim Doo Bon. He held the positions of the head of the legislative branch and the formal head of state. The DPRK government was led by Kim Il Sung. In 1948, Soviet troops left the peninsula. In 1949, Kim Il Sung pushed Kim Doo Bon from power over the party. Pyongyang in its policy focused on the USSR and China.
In September 1945, the Americans landed in South Korea. They did not recognize the interim government created in Seoul, considering it too left-wing. The Americans established a military administration based on local officials (including at first the Japanese, then they were deported to Japan). The USA supported the local anti-communist movement. In 1948, its leader, Lee Seung Man, became president of the Republic of Korea, and American troops were withdrawn from the peninsula.
Lee Son Man studied and lived in the USA, in fact, he was trained for the role of the pro-Western leader of Korea. He immediately launched a campaign against the communists. Many leftist politicians and activists were thrown into jail and killed. In fact, an authoritarian regime was established in South Korea. South Korean security forces terrorized and repressed the left-wing communist movement in the south of the peninsula. Thousands of people were killed during the massacres and suppression of the uprisings. Lee Son Man’s regime sought to unify all of Korea under its rule.
“Campaign to the North” and “advance to the South”
Both Seoul and Pyongyang considered themselves the legitimate authority on the peninsula and prepared for a war for the unification of the country. South Korean politicians explicitly declared a "campaign to the North." Seoul claimed a "reunion strike" on North Korea. Pyongyang hoped for a quick victory over the South. First, the army of the North, which was armed with the USSR and China, was stronger than the South Korean. After the victory of communism in China, thousands of fighters who fought along with the Chinese comrades returned to Korea.
Secondly, the domestic political situation in the South seemed unstable. A partisan movement was expanding in South Korea against the regime of Lee Seung Man. Most of the population in the southern part of the country opposed the regime in Seoul, supported by the Americans. The case went to the collapse of the regime of Lee Son Man. After the parliamentary elections in May 1950, most deputies did not support the president. Pyongyang hoped that as soon as the DPRK army launched an offensive, a massive uprising would begin in the South. The war will be lightning fast.
Moscow pursued a balanced policy. Direct confrontation with the West could not be allowed. Therefore, the participation of the Soviet Army in the war in Korea was not planned. North Korea itself had to solve the problem of unifying the country. Only the help of a limited number of military advisers was allowed. It was also necessary to provide support for China. In early 1950, Kim Il Sung began to insistently ask Moscow to approve the plan of "attack on the South." In April 1950, the North Korean leader visited Moscow. Stalin supported Pyongyang's plans.
However, Moscow continued to exercise caution and put forward several preconditions: full confidence was needed that the United States would not intervene in the war; support for China is needed; urgent strengthening of the fighting ability of the North Korean forces, the war should be lightning fast, until the West intervened. On May 13-15, 1950, Kim Il Sung received the support of Mao Zedong during his visit to China. Only after that did Stalin give the go-ahead.
The West, led by the United States at that moment, was in a difficult situation. The former colonial system, allowing the West to parasitize on the human and material resources of the planet, collapsed. The main reason for the destruction of colonialism was the victory of the USSR in World War II, the existence of an alternative to the Western world order. In 1946, the Philippines became independent. In 1947, Britain lost control of India. In 1949, Holland recognized the independence of Indonesia. However, the West did not want to voluntarily give up power over a significant part of the planet. The colonies of England and France were still preserved, there was a people's liberation war.
The civil war in China in 1949 ended with the victory of the Communists. The People's Republic of China (PRC) was established. The Kuomintang and the Americans supporting it experienced a severe defeat. The “loss of China” came as a shock to Washington. Moscow immediately recognized the PRC and began to provide large-scale economic, scientific and technical assistance. In the United States, they were angered by this loss and sought at all costs to maintain and expand their position in the world. In Washington, in April 1950, they adopted the National Security Council Directive SNB-68 and intended to “contain communism” around the world. The USA followed the path of further militarization. And in this situation, on June 25, 1950, North Korea launched an offensive. The war began, which, in fact, has not been completed to this day, but only "frozen." The US military recognized in 1947 that South Korea did not have great strategic value, but Washington could not give in and took an active part in the war.
US provocation
Thus, Stalin did not need a big war on the Korean peninsula. One thing is quick operation and victory with the massive support of the people in the South. Another thing is a protracted war with the Western coalition, the threat of confrontation with the United States. The strategic importance of North Korea for the USSR: a defensive line on the path of possible US aggression. Moscow was also interested in the supply of rare-earth minerals. Therefore, there was no threat from the Russians to the West in Korea. As soon as they created the DPRK, Soviet troops immediately left the peninsula. The main task has been solved.
Washington needed a war. First, Lee Son Man’s regime was in danger of collapse. There was a threat of the unification of Korea under the rule of the Communists. The war made it possible to strengthen the regime of the American puppet with the support of the world community, the military power of the United States and emergency wartime laws.
Secondly, the United States needed to mobilize the "world community" against the "Russian (communist) threat." The attack by Stalin and Kim Il Sung provided an excellent information occasion for condemning the "aggressor" and rallying the ranks of the capitalist countries. In 1949, the North Atlantic Alliance was created. The war made it possible to test the work of NATO. The United States gained new leverage over Western Europe, drawing it into the long-term Cold War.
In fact, the Americans knew about the impending attack of Pyongyang. The intelligence had all the data on the military preparations of the North. However, the States needed this war. According to Secretary of State Dean Acheson on January 12, 1950, Washington expelled South Korea from its "perimeter of defense" in the Far East. That is, Kim Il Sung was given the "green light." The United States immediately adopted the SNB-68 Directive, which implied a tough response to any attempts to attack the communist bloc. Both sides were actively preparing for war. On June 17, 1950, the special envoy of US President Truman, future Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, visited the Korean Peninsula. He visited South Korean troops on the 38th parallel. Dulles told the South Koreans that if they lasted two weeks, then "everything will go smoothly." On June 19, Dulles made a speech at the South Korean National Assembly and endorsed all of Seoul’s military preparations. He promised US moral and material assistance to South Korea in the struggle against the communist North.
The last battle of the red emperor
The war began 70 years ago and actually did not end today. The Korean Peninsula is one of the "powder vaults" of the planet. However, the main thing is that Stalin won his last victory in this war. The United States had complete superiority in the outbreak of World War III, the Cold War. The Americans had enormous wealth; highly developed, indestructible and war-depleted industry (a quarter of all world production); monopoly on nuclear weapon (Moscow tested the atomic bomb only in 1949) and, most importantly, its carriers are the strategic air fleet. The Americans had powerful aircraft carrier groups of the Navy, a ring of military bases, covering the USSR from all sides. Washington had clear plans to undermine the Soviet forces in the arms race, to intimidate and dismember the threats of a nuclear air war.
However, this did not happen! Stalin won a new great victory in 1946-1953. In 1948, the Soviet leader stated that "he does not see the atomic bomb as a serious force, which some politicians tend to consider it." Nuclear weapons are designed to intimidate the faint of heart, but it does not decide the outcome of the war. The Red Emperor has found the best way to deter the American nuclear threat: building up ground and air forces. With atomic attacks on the USSR, Stalin’s armored armada with the support of the air armies could capture all of Europe, establish their control over Asia and North Africa. At the same time, Moscow is creating a foreign sabotage network to attack the most important US military installations in Western Europe.
Soviet Russia has made an incredible leap forward in these years! It seemed that the country was devastated and bloodless by war. Millions of her best sons and daughters lay in the ground. But then we had a great leader. The country in record time rises from the ruins. In the USSR, the branches of a superpower are created: atomic, electronic, aviation-jet and rocket. And the war in Korea showed that the United States cannot beat us from the air. What are we ready to answer. The US had to retreat, move to a strategy of long-term “cold” confrontation.
- Alexander Samsonov
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/
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