Korean War (Peaceniks)

What if the peacemongering and hip culture associated with the late 1960s and the 1970s had occured ten years earlier, due to a prolonged and bloody war in Korea. Hippie never enters the global syntaxm, but "beatnik" certainly does.

June 25, 1950: North Korea invades South Korea. America is drawn into its the first proxy war of the Cold War.

Summer 1950: ROK troops pull back, to Pusan, where they are finally reinforced by American and UN troops.

September 15, 1950: USA lands large amphibious force at Inchon. Tide begins to turn in favor of capitalism.

Autumn 1950: ROK and allies invade North Korea, soon push to the Yalu River.

October 1950: People's Republic of China becomes involved in the war, fighting American troops.

November 1950: Winter shuts down the Peninsula. Fierce fighting at Chosin Reservoir between Chinese and American forces.

Winter 1951: Massive Chinese involvement. Thousands of Red troops cross the Yalu River, daily.

January 1951: Chinese troops in South Korea.

April 11, 1951 : MacArthur dismissed by Truman.

1951: Fighting see-saws back and forth across the 18th parallel. High casualties are sustained by both sides. General Douglas MacArthur considers using American A-bombs to stop the offensive.

November 29, 1952: Newly elected US President Eisenhower, visits Korea, and narrowly avoids being killed by friendly fire. "I'll bring our boys home," declares "Ike."

1953: Continued fighting. America has lost 36,000 young men. China, several hundred thousand, and Korea half a million or more. In Washington, D.C. Eisenhower makes vague statements about a withdrawal, but America is deeply committed to the fight.

November 1953: The delayed US handover of authority to the Japanese Diet, is delayed again. A directive from Washington orders Japanese factories that have survived WWII, to retool to produce ammunition, vehicles, and clorthing for American GIs.

November 25, 1953: In a surprise attack the US carries out a Peninsula wide air attack with new B-47 bombers. Several are lost to ground fire, but the attack kills an estimated five thousand Chinese troops. Simultaneously, several B-50 bombers atttack suspected Communist pockets in South Korea. Death toll is a further five thousand ROK civilians.

December 1953: China launches a new corss border offensive, capturing Seoul once again. This time, however, Chinese troops torch the city, in the hope of destabilising the already US-dependant South Korean government. Thousands are left homeless, and the Red Cross is prevented from operating in Seoul.

January 1954: PRC offiicially establishes a new Peninsular capital, not in the demolished cities of Pyongyang or Seoul, but on the Yalu River. The establishment brings into question whether or not China is attempting to imperialise the Korean Peninsula. Moscow is strongly opposed to China's action. The new city, under construction using "voluntary" labor is named Mao, in honor of the Chairman.