Swigert and Fred W. On April 11, , Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. The future emperor was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. Talleyrand was no fool. As the foreign minister to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, he was one of Who knows how many other young men arrived in New York City in the winter of looking like James Dean and talking like Jack Kerouac?
It would have been difficult to pick Bob Dylan out of the crowd at first, considering how much he had in common with the other Bohemian kids However, she continued to write book reviews until , which were published in as A Month of Saturdays. But General MacArthur devised a bold and risky plan. The North Koreans had taken most of the Korean peninsula. He proposed landing troops from the sea at the port of Inchon far behind enemy lines.
The troops would cut off enemy communications and supply lines, retake Seoul the capital , and "hammer and destroy the North Koreans. But Inchon seemed an improbable site. The approach was narrow and could be easily mined. The currents ran swift and made it hazardous for landing troops. Mud flats prevented any amphibious landing. The landing would have to be made on one of the three days each month when the tide covered the mud flats. Once ashore, the troops would have to climb sea walls and cliffs.
The enemy could defend the port from the heights surrounding it. For all these reasons, many of the high command opposed an Inchon landing and proposed other sites. But MacArthur believed that because Inchon was such an awful place for a landing, his troops would take the enemy by surprise, which they did on September At the same time, the besieged U. The combined forces drove the North Koreans above the 38th parallel in 15 days. Next came perhaps the most fateful decisions of the Korean War.
Pressed by MacArthur, Truman authorized him to pursue the North Korean troops north of the 38th parallel. The United States succeeded in getting a new U. It called for the destruction of the North Korean Army and the reunification of Korea under a democratic government.
American troops led the offensive beyond the 38th parallel, pushing the North Koreans toward the Yalu River, which separated Korea from Communist China. Despite assurances by the United States that U.
The most important question that Truman asked MacArthur was whether he thought China would enter the war. The general confidently replied that the Chinese would not enter the fighting, and the war would be over by Christmas. Anxious to wrap up the war, MacArthur ordered American and other U. In doing this, he ignored the warnings of the Communist Chinese as well as a directive by military planners in Washington to send only South Korean troops into the provinces bordering China.
MacArthur demanded authority to bomb Chinese bases north of the Yalu in China itself. But fearing a widening of the war and possible entry of the Soviet Union, Truman and his advisors refused.
Instead, they ordered him to organize a phased and orderly retreat. MacArthur was infuriated at what he considered the Truman administration's sell-out of Korea. MacArthur proposed his own plan for victory. He wanted a complete blockade of the Communist Chinese coastline. He wanted to bomb industrial sites and other strategic targets within China.
He wanted to bring Nationalist Chinese troops from Formosa to fight in Korea. Finally, he wanted the Nationalists to invade weak positions on the Communist Chinese mainland. But MacArthur continued to publicly argue for his plan. He also criticized the "politicians in Washington" for refusing to allow him to bomb Chinese bases north of the Yalu River.
MacArthur was initially successful in driving back the North Korean forces over the 38th parallel. He made a controversial move, however, when he continued to push the North Koreans further north and suggested bombing cities in China that were thought to be aiding the North Korean troops.
In pushing for a larger conflict, MacArthur downplayed the risk of inciting a massive war in Asia. General MacArthur did not think a ceasefire was an appropriate solution. The two men clashed. For Truman, the war represented an opportunity to stop the spread of communism into South Korea. For MacArthur, the war was an opportunity to liberate the North from communist control, and aggressive action was required.
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The debate went on for several weeks. But this would just effects in Korea or China however. This would also effect the aspects of the Cold War as well.
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