Hot Potato: World War III
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Chapter 1: Before the Korean War
Many people wonder how the Korean War escalated into a full scale war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. After all, the Korean War was a rather local conflict without the direct intervention of the Soviet Union up until the day the Cold War collapsed. However, these people fail to realize that the Korean War was the first "hot" point of the war between two ideologies; communism and capitalism. The Korean War was a test for the United States to see if they were willing to commit on defending democracies abroad, the Soviets purposely poking the Americans to see how they would react. At that time, both countries would have never imagined the war to escalate so quickly and cause so much destruction only 6 years after the Second World War started.
Backtracking to the surrender of Japan and the occupation, it is notable that perhaps General MacArthur's death by a Japanese right wing fanatic was one of the most important events before the war actually began. On January 21st, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and over watching the occupation, was killed by Masaki Osato, an embittered veteran that fought in the Philippines against the US forces. He was part of the Daitōjuku, a group of traditionalist Japanese who believed that the US was tainting their land with "Western culture." The assassination took place right in the heart of Tokyo, as the assassin rushed MacArthur and stabbed him several times with a katana. Osato managed to kill 2 nearby officers and injure several more before being shot to death by nearby soldiers. This would spark a crisis within the Truman administration, as it clearly showed that extremism and militarism in Japan wasn't being solved. And with the death of MacArthur, various protests by traditionalists and right wing military group began to remove the US occupation. It was rumored that the Soviets were attempting to stir up and encourage the communists within Japan and left wing extremists as well, placing more and more fear of a possible rise of another aggressive Japanese Empire. As a result, Truman himself ordered martial law of the Japanese Home Islands and worked with General Walton Walker, the new Military Governor of Japan, to stamp down dissent and make sure that Japan remained a peaceful and non-aggressive nation in the future. Seeing that it was the remnants of Japan's imperial past that was fueling the protests, Walker proposed a controversial act to permanently remove the Imperial Family and completely uproot the government. Truman, at first, believed that this was too extreme. However, with the growing amount of protest and the call to arms to restore the Emperor, Truman realized that he needed to act swiftly to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. The US army, largely cut down to the bone after WW2, was in no shape to put down rioters or fight. This pushed Truman to do deliver, in which he did on March 22nd of 1950.
The Okinawa Protocol of 1950 saw the end of the Imperial Family and the complete liquidation of Shinto (this included an addition to the previous Shinto Directive). The Imperial Family was removed and evacuated to the United States to prevent the protesters from having a rallying call. Additionally, the US army saw expansion to contain any riots or destruction that may be caused by the extremists. This was needed, because the United States decided to completely destroy the Japanese Empire and all of "former" Japan itself. After a month of destroying any Shinto monuments, temples, and worshiping grounds, along with putting down the rioters and protesters, Military Governor Walker declared that Japan was now to be the "Republic of Japan." The new RoJ would be very similar to the US form of government, with the federal government being seated in Tokyo and Japan containing different states and territories. Elections for the Diet would happen every 2 years and elections for a president would happen in every 4 years. Many Japanese civilians were angered and hostile toward the new laws and changes, but US censorship and re-education triumphed. Any protesters or people who were critical of the occupation were taken down quickly, in an effort by the US to firmly prevent any uprisings. Troops from Korea were transferred out to help with the occupation, as the atmosphere turned hostile towards the occupying US soldiers. This would have tremendous changes in the future Korean War, as South Korean volunteers were unfit to fight and the US troops that were left behind were unable to provide effective resistance against the invading communists.
Seeing this as a chance to expand communism, Josef Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, agreed to help the North Koreans invade South Korea. Stalin, believing that the US would be too preoccupied with Japan, decided to send weapons, supplies, and vehicles to aid the North Koreans. And once the last bastion of capitalism fell in the East Asian mainland, Stalin believed that the expansion and success of communism was inevitable.
With the Soviet's blessing in the war, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea invaded the Republic of Korea on May 15th of 1950 at 7:00 AM. The border guards were caught off guard and Seoul fell within 2 days. The Rhee government moved to Pusan, but after 3 weeks, only the city of Pusan remained in Korean hands. In those three weeks, Truman made a firm decision; to aid and save the Republic of Korea. In any means possible.