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Fearing the Worst : How Korea Transformed the Cold War / Samuel F. Wells.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Woodrow Wilson Center Press SeriesPublisher: New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2019]Copyright date: ©2020Description: 1 online resource : 20 b&w figuresContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780231192743
  • 9780231549943
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 951.904/21 23
LOC classification:
  • D843 .W434 2020
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART I: THE WAR -- 1. STALIN ENDORSES WAR IN ASIA -- 2. KIM IL-SUNG PLANS AN ATTACK -- 3. TRUMAN CONSOLIDATES US COMMITMENTS -- 4. JOSEPH MCCARTHY SELLS THE POLITICS OF FEAR -- 5. PAUL NITZE SOUNDS THE TOCSIN -- 6. NORTH KOREA DRIVES SOUTH -- 7. TRUMAN REVERSES POLICY -- 8. DOUGLAS MACARTHUR GAMBLES AND WINS -- 9. MAO ZEDONG INTERVENES MASSIVELY -- 10. PENG DEHUAI AND MATTHEW RIDGWAY FIGHT TO A STALEMATE -- PART II: THE TRANSFORMATION -- 11. GEORGE C. MARSHALL AND ROBERT LOVETT GUIDE A US BUILDUP -- 12. DEAN ACHESON LEADS THE DEFENSE OF EUROPE -- 13. ANDREI TUPOLEV CREATES A STRATEGIC BOMBER FORCE -- 14. CURTIS LEMAY BUILDS THE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND -- 15. IGOR KURCHATOV DEVELOPS SOVIET NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- 16. WALTER BEDELL SMITH REFORMS AND EXPANDS THE CIA -- 17. KOREA TRANSFORMS THE COLD WAR -- Chronology -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index
Summary: After World War II, the escalating tensions of the Cold War shaped the international system. Fearing the Worst explains how the Korean War fundamentally changed postwar competition between the United States and the Soviet Union into a militarized confrontation that would last decades.Samuel F. Wells Jr. examines how military and political events interacted to escalate the conflict. Decisions made by the Truman administration in the first six months of the Korean War drove both superpowers to intensify their defense buildup. American leaders feared the worst-case scenario-that Stalin was prepared to start World War III-and raced to build up strategic arms, resulting in a struggle they did not seek out or intend. Their decisions stemmed from incomplete interpretations of Soviet and Chinese goals, especially the belief that China was a Kremlin puppet. Yet Stalin, Mao, and Kim Il-sung all had their own agendas, about which the United States lacked reliable intelligence. Drawing on newly available documents and memoirs-including previously restricted archives in Russia, China, and North Korea-Wells analyzes the key decision points that changed the course of the war. He also provides vivid profiles of the central actors as well as important but lesser known figures. Bringing together studies of military policy and diplomacy with the roles of technology, intelligence, and domestic politics in each of the principal nations, Fearing the Worst offers a new account of the Korean War and its lasting legacy.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780231549943

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART I: THE WAR -- 1. STALIN ENDORSES WAR IN ASIA -- 2. KIM IL-SUNG PLANS AN ATTACK -- 3. TRUMAN CONSOLIDATES US COMMITMENTS -- 4. JOSEPH MCCARTHY SELLS THE POLITICS OF FEAR -- 5. PAUL NITZE SOUNDS THE TOCSIN -- 6. NORTH KOREA DRIVES SOUTH -- 7. TRUMAN REVERSES POLICY -- 8. DOUGLAS MACARTHUR GAMBLES AND WINS -- 9. MAO ZEDONG INTERVENES MASSIVELY -- 10. PENG DEHUAI AND MATTHEW RIDGWAY FIGHT TO A STALEMATE -- PART II: THE TRANSFORMATION -- 11. GEORGE C. MARSHALL AND ROBERT LOVETT GUIDE A US BUILDUP -- 12. DEAN ACHESON LEADS THE DEFENSE OF EUROPE -- 13. ANDREI TUPOLEV CREATES A STRATEGIC BOMBER FORCE -- 14. CURTIS LEMAY BUILDS THE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND -- 15. IGOR KURCHATOV DEVELOPS SOVIET NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- 16. WALTER BEDELL SMITH REFORMS AND EXPANDS THE CIA -- 17. KOREA TRANSFORMS THE COLD WAR -- Chronology -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

After World War II, the escalating tensions of the Cold War shaped the international system. Fearing the Worst explains how the Korean War fundamentally changed postwar competition between the United States and the Soviet Union into a militarized confrontation that would last decades.Samuel F. Wells Jr. examines how military and political events interacted to escalate the conflict. Decisions made by the Truman administration in the first six months of the Korean War drove both superpowers to intensify their defense buildup. American leaders feared the worst-case scenario-that Stalin was prepared to start World War III-and raced to build up strategic arms, resulting in a struggle they did not seek out or intend. Their decisions stemmed from incomplete interpretations of Soviet and Chinese goals, especially the belief that China was a Kremlin puppet. Yet Stalin, Mao, and Kim Il-sung all had their own agendas, about which the United States lacked reliable intelligence. Drawing on newly available documents and memoirs-including previously restricted archives in Russia, China, and North Korea-Wells analyzes the key decision points that changed the course of the war. He also provides vivid profiles of the central actors as well as important but lesser known figures. Bringing together studies of military policy and diplomacy with the roles of technology, intelligence, and domestic politics in each of the principal nations, Fearing the Worst offers a new account of the Korean War and its lasting legacy.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Mrz 2022)