Why is the Korean War known as the forgotten war?
Although thousands of Americans lost their lives during the Korean War, it is known as the forgotten war. Why were civilians so disinterested in the war and how has the war shaped our modern world?
Although thousands of Americans lost their lives during the Korean War, it is known as the forgotten war. Why were civilians so disinterested in the war and how has the war shaped our modern world?
Although thousands of Americans lost their lives during the Korean War, it is known as the forgotten war. Why were civilians so disinterested in the war and how has the war shaped our modern world?
Despite 40,000 Americans losing their lives in the Korean War, it is often known as the forgotten war, and veterans frequently express feelings of a difficult homecoming.
“They weren't the victims of hostility, but they were the victims of indifference,” said James Matray, professor of history at California State University Chico. Veterans returned home to little welcome or even surprise from friends who questioned where they had been.
The Korean War is commonly referred to as the forgotten war. This is partly due to its placement in history, between World War two and the Vietnam War, both wars that greatly affected global politics, American culture and society. The Korean War began only five years after the end of WWII and ended just two years before the start of Vietnam. Life back in the US remained relatively the same during the war too, with no rations and a lack of newspaper coverage. One of the biggest reasons for it being forgotten was the eventual lack of victory. The war became a stalemate, and ultimately, an armistice was signed, which ended the fighting but not the war itself.
“The defeats that American troops were sustaining on the battlefield, which were really unprecedented in the history of the United States,” said Matray. “Keep in mind, their memory was of us overwhelming military victory during World War II, just five years earlier. So Americans were very frustrated with the war and very fearful of what the war on meant for it, and they wanted the war to end.”
The war still technically goes on until this day, and the border between North and South Korea that was agreed to in the armistice remains the same. Whereas reunification of the peninsula was the initial goal of the war, now that is virtually impossible. The two countries have drifted further apart and now have extremely different societies, economies and living conditions. South Korea is one of the strongest economies in the world with a booming cultural life, whereas North Korea is a completely isolated monarchical dictatorship that struggles to provide for its people.
Shortly after the war, more Koreans favored reunification, given their attachments to friends and family on either side of the border. When the Soviet Union collapsed, South Koreans so that, similar to Germany, they may be able to reunite the peninsula if the North gave out. However, the North held strong and the cost of Germany’s reunification became a worry for the South, making the concept of reunification look further away.
In some ways, the impossibility of reunification actually provides security on the peninsula and thwarts the idea of another war. Whilst North Korea carries out nuclear tests, the South is confident that the US would come to its aid whenever needed.
“Regime survival in the north, disinterest in the south produces little focus upon reunification and that is a force promoting peace on the peninsula,” said Matray.