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00:00THE END
00:37THE END
01:05China's 1,000 million people make her potentially the most powerful country in the world.
01:14Yet for much of the 20th century, she has been racked by internal schisms.
01:21Up until 1911, the rule of the Chinese emperors from their seclusion in the Forbidden City in Peking had acted
01:28as a break to progress.
01:39Western nations had trading settlements in Shanghai and other major ports.
01:45The Westerners lived a life totally divorced from that of the Chinese.
01:51In 1911, however, Sun Yat-sen declared the country a republic and began to bring it into the 20th century.
01:57But warlords with their private armies began to ravage the country in spite of Sun Yat-sen's best efforts to
02:04unite China.
02:13Then, in 1925, a young army officer, Chiang Kai-shek, came to the fore.
02:19Allying himself with the communists, he set out to crush the warlords by force and expel the foreigners,
02:25whom he saw as draining China's economic potential from their trading settlements.
02:36As Chiang Kai-shek approached Shanghai, the Westerners rushed in reinforcements to defend their settlements.
02:43But he now decided that he needed Western support to improve China's economy and turned on his communist allies when
02:50they disagreed.
02:51Thus began a civil war whose outcome would take 20 years to decide.
02:58But in 1931, the Japanese annexed the northern Chinese province of Manchuria, making it the puppet state of Manchukuo.
03:06They added insult to the Chinese by installing Henry Puyi, the last of the Qing dynasty of emperors, as head
03:13of state.
03:16Meanwhile, Chiang continued his war against the communists, now led by Mao Zedong.
03:21So great was Chiang's pressure on them, that in 1934, the communists were forced to retreat to the fastnesses of
03:27northwest China,
03:28during what became known as the Long March.
03:46Here they licked their wounds and recovered their strength.
03:58But in 1937, fresh trouble came to China.
04:01The Japanese, bent on expansionism, invaded the country from Manchukuo, and through a series of landings on her coast.
04:09Now began a long agony for the Chinese, especially those in the eastern part of the country.
04:15Cities like Shanghai and Nanking were mercilessly battered before they fell to the invader.
04:38Chinese, under Japanese occupation, were to suffer dreadfully.
04:44Chiang Kai-shek, his wife and his government, were forced to retreat to Chongqing, in the interior of the country.
04:56Yet the rest of the world did little.
04:58The League of Nations found itself powerless to act, since Japan had left it in 1933, after complaints over her
05:05annexation of Manchuria.
05:07Also, the western democracies were unwilling to risk war with Japan on China's account.
05:11But there was sympathy for China, especially following the appeals of American-educated Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
05:19You have seen in the pictures, and you have read, of the destruction of homes, and the terrible slaughters being
05:27carried out by the Japanese.
05:30President Roosevelt began to advance loans to China to enable her to purchase modern weapons.
05:35These were delivered to China by sea, to Burma, and thence by road to Chongqing.
05:41This route through the mountains, separating the two countries, became known as the Burma Road.
05:51The Japanese invasion of China had, however, caused Mao Zedong and his communists to declare a truce,
05:58and to offer to ally themselves with Chiang in the common cause.
06:02Chiang, however, kept the communists at arm's length.
06:10China's war against the Japanese dragged on.
06:21In March 1941, the country received a boost, when President Roosevelt's Lend-Lease Act became law,
06:28and he was able to supply munitions direct to Chiang Kai-shek.
06:34In December 1941, the Japanese attack on the American Pacific naval base of Pearl Harbour
06:39finally brought the United States and Britain onto China's side.
06:43But the rapid Japanese onrush in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
06:47meant that Britain and America could give China little additional military support.
06:55The Americans did, however, send General Joseph Stilwell to advise Chiang Kai-shek.
07:00Stilwell had had much experience of China, having first visited the country as a young officer in 1911.
07:10One of Stilwell's first tasks was to try and protect the Burma Road, in the face of the Japanese invasion
07:16of Burma, in early 1942.
07:19His troops, however, got caught up in the British retreat, and found themselves back in India.
07:29American aid, which now had to be flown into China from India,
07:33helped to prevent the country from being totally overrun by the Japanese.
07:51There was, too, a band of intrepid American aviators, known as Chennault's Flying Tigers,
07:57after their commander, Claire Chennault, who did much to keep the Japanese Air Force at bay.
08:06But American aid was being sent merely to Chiang Kai-shek.
08:10The communists, who were carrying out an increasingly successful guerrilla campaign against the Japanese,
08:16had to make do for themselves.
08:18Not until 1944 did an American military mission visit them, and was impressed by what it saw.
08:24Even so, there was hesitation in America over supplying Mao Zedong with arms,
08:29especially in view of Chiang's distrust of him.
08:34In the meantime, the final Allied offensive in Burma, during 1944-45, saw two Chinese forces involved.
08:43Those who had retreated to India in 1942, began to construct a road which ran southwards from Lado,
08:49in north-eastern India, with the object of linking up with another force advancing down the Burma road.
08:54This made steady progress.
09:30The Lado road itself was a most impressive feat of engineering, crossing almost impassable terrain.
09:41Yet, at the end of January 1945, the Lado and Burma roads met,
09:47and Chiang Kai-shek could once more be supplied by road.
09:52The dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan finally brought China's eight years of war with her to an end,
09:58as the Japanese forces there now surrendered.
10:08Furthermore, China was now considered one of the major Allied powers,
10:12and was granted permanent membership of the inner sanctum of the United Nations,
10:16the Security Council.
10:22Just before the Japanese surrender, however,
10:25the Soviet Union had launched a massive offensive into Manchu quo.
10:29Mao Zedong's Eighth Root Army joined in this,
10:31and began to receive Russian arms.
10:41Hopes that China could now enjoy peace were quickly dashed.
10:45Although U.S. Ambassador to China, Patrick Hurley,
10:49managed to engineer a protracted meeting between Chiang and Mao in August 1945,
10:54before the war against Japan was officially over,
10:56it soon became clear that the mutual mistrust was deep.
11:00Within weeks, conflict between Chiang's nationalists and the communists had broken out,
11:05and had spread to 11 out of China's 28 provinces.
11:14In December 1945, General George C. Marshall,
11:19wartime chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff,
11:21was sent to China to try and end the conflict.
11:24His brief was to persuade Mao and Chiang to make compromises,
11:28and form a government of national unity.
11:31The bait was the offer of massive financial aid,
11:34to make good the ravages of the last eight years and more.
11:38At the end of February 1946,
11:41he eventually succeeded in getting the nationalists and communists
11:44to sign an agreement,
11:46which was little more than a military truce.
11:49The real problem was Manchu quo,
11:52now restored to its old name of Manchuria.
11:55Marshall's truce had allowed Chiang's forces back into the territory,
11:58but this was still occupied by the Russians.
12:03They were removing everything of value.
12:06When the Russians did withdraw,
12:09it was Mao's men who rushed in ahead of some of Chiang's forces.
12:13Fighting broke out in Manchuria and elsewhere.
12:17At first, Chiang Kai-shek swept all before him,
12:20but by mid-1947,
12:21the communists were dominant in Manchuria,
12:24and there was galloping inflation in the rest of China.
12:30The United States was aware that Chiang's government was corrupt
12:33and increasingly unpopular,
12:35but fears over the spread of communism
12:37led to a military aid package for the nationalists
12:40and the sending of teams to Formosa to train Chiang's troops.
12:45The US also supplied aircraft as troop transports.
12:50By now, it was April 1948,
12:53and Mao Zedong's communists were beginning to score victory after victory.
12:57Their tactics changed from guerrilla warfare
13:00to open confrontation with the nationalist forces.
13:11At the end of 1948 came the two-month battle of Suchao
13:15to the northwest of Nanking and Shanghai.
13:18At the end of it, the communists were victorious,
13:21capturing over 320,000 nationalist troops.
13:27The communists entered Peking in January 1949.
13:31Three months later,
13:33they seized the nationalist seat of government, Nanking,
13:35and the vital port of Shanghai.
13:38Both these cities lie on the river Yangtze,
13:40and it was on this waterway
13:42that a dramatic incident took place at the end of July.
13:46The British frigate Amethyst had been sent up the Yangtze
13:49with supplies for the British embassy at Nanking.
13:52She was caught out by the fall of Nanking
13:54and trapped for three months.
13:56On the 30th of July 1949,
13:59the Amethyst suddenly slipped her moorings
14:01and made a dash for the open sea.
14:04This entailed a 150-mile voyage downriver
14:07under the fire of communist shore batteries.
14:10Battered but unbowed,
14:12she succeeded in her object
14:13and sailed on to Hong Kong.
14:21By now, the communists controlled the whole of eastern China
14:25and were merely mopping up in the west.
14:36The end came in December 1949,
14:39when Chiang Kai-shek and his remaining forces
14:41retreated to Formosa.
14:43Here he set up the Republic of Taiwan
14:46and vowed to re-enter China
14:48and overthrow the communist regime.
14:51To this end,
14:52Chiang established forward bases
14:53on the islands of Kimoi and Matsu,
14:56which lied just off the Chinese mainland.
14:59In 1954,
15:00the communists began to bombard them
15:02with the aim of forcing their surrender.
15:05Extensively supplied with American arms,
15:07the nationalists refused to submit.
15:09The bombardment of these islands
15:11was to continue intermittently
15:13for the next eight years.
15:16Matsi-Tung's victory over Chiang Kai-shek
15:19served to inspire other communist movements
15:21in Southeast Asia.
15:22In June 1948,
15:24communist guerrillas in Malaya
15:26opened a 12-year insurgency campaign
15:28designed to wrest control of the country
15:30from the British.
15:33It was, however, in Indochina
15:36that the communist struggle
15:37for control over the region
15:38was most protracted.
15:40Up until 1939,
15:42it had been divided into five areas.
15:45Tonking,
15:46Anam,
15:48Laos,
15:49Cambodia,
15:50and Cochin, China,
15:52and ruled as French protectorates
15:54under the generic title
15:55of French Indochina.
15:58During the war,
15:59French Indochina
16:00had been under Japanese occupation.
16:02But, as in Malaya,
16:04there was a communist resistance movement.
16:06When the Japanese surrendered
16:08in September 1945,
16:09the French were in no position
16:11to immediately reoccupy Indochina.
16:13And the communists,
16:15known as the Viet Minh,
16:16proclaimed independent Vietnam
16:18out of Tonking, Anam,
16:20and Cochin, China.
16:23In order, however,
16:24to ensure that the Japanese
16:25were disarmed,
16:26Chinese forces moved in
16:28to occupy northern Indochina,
16:30but did not interfere
16:31with the new government in Hanoi.
16:36The British had responsibility
16:38for southern Indochina.
16:42They quickly released
16:43French prisoners of the Japanese,
16:45but soon found themselves
16:47having to cope
16:47with widespread disorder
16:49fomented by the Viet Minh.
17:01The British were even forced
17:03to use surrendered Japanese forces
17:04to establish some control
17:06over Saigon,
17:07capital of Cochin, China.
17:14In October 1945,
17:16French forces began to arrive.
17:18And before the end of the year,
17:19they had re-established control
17:21over the whole of southern Indochina.
17:28Not wishing to become embroiled in a war,
17:30the French now tried to negotiate
17:32with Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh,
17:34who had hoped to establish
17:35the French Communist Party in 1920
17:38when working as a Paris waiter.
17:42The French were prepared
17:44to offer limited independence
17:45under the Emperor Bao Dai,
17:47but this was unacceptable
17:48to the Viet Minh,
17:50especially since Bao Dai
17:51had been a Japanese puppet.
17:56Now determined to re-establish control
17:58over the whole of Indochina,
17:59the French landed troops
18:01at the port of Haiphong
18:02in November 1946.
18:07They quickly entered Hanoi,
18:09but most of the Viet Minh forces
18:11under the able general
18:12Vo Nian Jap,
18:14had however withdrawn
18:15to more remote areas.
18:26The French themselves
18:27now set up garrisons
18:29throughout the northern provinces.
18:43In January 1950,
18:45Ho Chi Minh declared
18:47that his government
18:47was the only legitimate one
18:49in Vietnam,
18:50and this was recognised
18:51by the Soviet Union,
18:52China,
18:53and the remainder
18:54of the Communist Bloc.
18:56American arms began to be sent,
18:58as the United States
18:59and other Western democracies
19:00immediately gave recognition
19:02to the French-sponsored
19:03Bao Dai regime.
19:05But in February,
19:07the Viet Minh began to attack
19:08French garrisons
19:09close to the Chinese border.
19:11By the end of 1950,
19:12they had forced the French
19:14to abandon the frontier region
19:15and morale plummeted.
19:20One of France's most distinguished soldiers,
19:23Marshal Jean-Marie de Latre de Tassigny,
19:26was now appointed High Commissioner
19:28and Commander-in-Chief.
19:30He instituted a new offensive strategy.
19:33Key areas in northern Indochina
19:35were to be made secure.
19:46Air power would be used
19:47to attack Viet Minh bases.
19:51A belt of defences
19:52called the De Latre line
19:53was constructed to protect Hanoi.
20:05The De Latre formed the remainder
20:07of his forces into mobile columns,
20:09which, supported by paratroops
20:11and air power,
20:12were to counter-attack
20:13Viet Minh thrusts.
20:31During the first part of 1951,
20:33these tactics proved effective
20:35and the Viet Minh
20:36suffered heavy casualties.
20:38They therefore took advantage
20:39of the rainy season
20:40to regroup.
20:43Giap resumed his attacks
20:44with the coming of the dry season.
20:52But in October 1951,
20:54the French inflicted
20:55another defeat on him.
21:12This encouraged De Latre
21:13to reoccupy the frontier area
21:15in order to cut
21:17the Viet Minh supply routes
21:18from China.
21:20But this put French forces
21:21out on a limb again
21:22and more and more troops
21:24were tied down
21:25in guarding the lines
21:26of communication
21:27with their northern outposts.
21:31In November 1951,
21:33De Latre,
21:33now in ill health
21:34and saddened by the death
21:36of his son in Indochina,
21:37returned to France
21:38to recuperate.
21:40Two months later,
21:41he died
21:41and was much mourned
21:43by the French people.
21:57General Raoul Salon
21:59succeeded De Latre
22:00and realized that the Viet Minh
22:02could not be crushed
22:03unless more French forces
22:04were sent.
22:05But the French people
22:07were growing disillusioned
22:08with the war
22:08and their government
22:09refused to send conscripts
22:11to Indochina.
22:14Throughout 1952
22:15and 1953,
22:16the war continued
22:17with Viet Minh attacks
22:19and counterthrusts
22:20by the French.
22:21In April 1953,
22:23the Viet Minh invaded Laos.
22:25This served to stretch
22:27the French forces
22:27still further.
22:28But strengthened
22:29by additional supplies
22:30of American weapons,
22:32the French were convinced
22:33that their superior firepower
22:34could still inflict
22:35a decisive defeat
22:36on the Viet Minh.
22:37A bait must, however,
22:39be found
22:40to attract the bulk
22:41of Japs' forces
22:42into the open.
22:44The French alighted
22:45upon the village
22:46of Dien Bien Phu
22:47astride the main
22:48Viet Minh supply route
22:49from China to Laos.
22:51On the 20th of November,
22:521953,
22:53in a daring airborne operation,
22:56they seized the village,
22:57fortified it,
22:58and began to resupply
22:59its garrison by air.
23:01The French believed
23:03that Japs would quickly
23:04concentrate against it,
23:05but that the difficult
23:06jungle-covered terrain
23:07would make it impossible
23:08for him to bring
23:09heavy artillery
23:10to bear on the position.
23:11They had, however,
23:13reckoned without the ingenuity
23:14and dedication
23:15of the Viet Minh,
23:16who literally hacked
23:17a new supply route
23:18through the jungle
23:19and brought in
23:20Chinese-supplied
23:21anti-aircraft
23:22and other guns.
23:24Dien Bien Phu
23:25now consisted
23:26of a number
23:27of strong points,
23:28but by late March 1955,
23:30the Viet Minh
23:31had overrun
23:32several of them.
23:36French aircraft
23:37helped to defend
23:38the remaining strong points.
23:44Even so,
23:45the Viet Minh
23:46continued to maintain
23:47their pressure.
23:55The fighting was bitter
23:56as the Viet Minh
23:57gradually reduced
23:58the length
23:59of the perimeter.
24:05yet Viet Minh
24:06casualties were high
24:07and this encouraged
24:09the French
24:09to drop
24:10more reinforcements.
24:11Unfortunately,
24:12many of these
24:13landed on Viet Minh-held ground.
24:18The wet season
24:19began
24:19and restricted
24:20air resupply.
24:22The French authorities
24:23began to lose hope
24:24and efforts
24:25to organise
24:26a relief force
24:27were but half-hearted
24:28as the defenders
24:29of Dien Bien Phu
24:30fought grimly on.
24:44On the 1st of May,
24:46the Viet Minh
24:46launched their final assault
24:48against Dien Bien Phu.
24:49The French defenders
24:50fought desperately
24:51but were reduced
24:53to mere scattered
24:53pockets of resistance.
24:56Colonel Christian
24:56de Castrice,
24:57the commander,
24:58was therefore forced
24:59to surrender.
25:07Peace negotiations
25:09had already opened
25:10in Geneva
25:10and on the 21st of July
25:12in 1954,
25:14the French signed agreements
25:15that they would evacuate
25:16Indochina forthwith.
25:19North Vietnamese independence
25:21was recognised.
25:26Bao Dai would rule
25:28non-communist
25:28South Vietnam
25:29and Laotian
25:30and Cambodian
25:31independence
25:32were confirmed.
25:36The Viet Minh victory
25:38in northern Indochina
25:39was a triumph
25:40for Mao Zedong's theory
25:41of revolutionary warfare
25:43which laid down
25:44phases that developed
25:45from terrorism
25:46to open warfare
25:47all reliant
25:49on support
25:49of the local people.
25:55nevertheless,
25:56many Vietnamese
25:57tried to leave
25:58with the French.
26:01For the French
26:02themselves,
26:03Indochina
26:04was a disillusioning
26:05experience
26:05which was soon
26:06to be repeated
26:07in North Africa.
26:09But Indochina
26:10would also come
26:11to haunt America
26:12during the next
26:1320 years.
26:16Mao Zedong's China
26:17was not just an exporter
26:18of communist revolution
26:20in its early years.
26:21She also wanted
26:22to expand her borders,
26:24especially to the southwest.
26:28In October 1950,
26:30Chinese troops
26:30invaded eastern Tibet.
26:32Within the year,
26:33they had occupied
26:34the whole of this remote
26:35and peaceful country,
26:37forcing the Dalai Lama,
26:38its spiritual head,
26:40to become a Chinese puppet.
26:42Tibetan resentment
26:43was deep
26:44and beginning in 1956,
26:46there was a series
26:47of uprisings
26:48which were put down
26:49by the Chinese
26:50with great severity.
26:57Eventually,
26:58in March 1959,
27:00the Dalai Lama
27:01fled to India
27:01and remains to this day
27:03in exile,
27:04his country still firmly
27:05in the Chinese grip.
27:09Korea,
27:10part of the Japanese Empire
27:12since the Russian-Japanese War
27:13of 1904-5,
27:15was also to become
27:16a Chinese battleground.
27:18At the end
27:18of the Second World War,
27:20the Russians,
27:20in the north
27:21and the US in the south,
27:23disarmed the Japanese forces
27:25in the country.
27:28The 38th parallel
27:29marked the demarcation line
27:31between the two
27:32occupation zones,
27:33but the UN intention
27:34was an independent Korea.
27:37Elections were held
27:38in the southern part
27:39to this end
27:39without Russian cooperation
27:41and so the state
27:42of South Korea
27:43was set up
27:43under President
27:44Syngman Rhee
27:45in August 1948.
27:48The Russians organized
27:50their own elections
27:51in North Korea
27:51and in September 1948,
27:54Kim Il-sung assumed power,
27:56power which he still held
27:5845 years later.
28:00The Russians then
28:02withdrew their forces
28:03with the Americans
28:04following suit
28:04in July 1949.
28:09The Russians, however,
28:11left the North Korean
28:12armed forces
28:12very much better equipped
28:14than their neighbour.
28:15It was also clear
28:16that there would be
28:17little love lost
28:18between the two Koreas.
28:26Less than a year later,
28:28on Sunday 25th June 1950,
28:31North Korean troops
28:32made a sudden surprise attack
28:33across the 38th parallel.
28:35They were determined
28:36to remove what they saw
28:38as the Western puppet
28:39government of South Korea
28:40and to reunite the country
28:42as one.
28:50The ill-equipped
28:52and only partially trained
28:53South Korean forces
28:54could do little
28:55to stem the onrush.
29:06Within three days,
29:08the South Korean capital,
29:09Seoul,
29:10had fallen
29:11to the North Koreans.
29:25The North Koreans
29:26then continued
29:27their thrust southwards,
29:29driving the now demoralised
29:30South Koreans
29:31before them.
29:39Inevitably,
29:40large numbers of civilians
29:42became caught up
29:43in the fighting.
29:54A now desperate
29:55South Korea
29:56appealed to the United Nations
29:57for help.
29:58It so happened
30:00that the Soviet Union
30:01was refusing
30:01to participate
30:02in the UN
30:03because of the
30:04continuing presence
30:04of the Chinese
30:05nationalist regime
30:06on the Security Council.
30:08Thus,
30:09the Russians
30:09were not present
30:10to operate their veto
30:11and the UN Security Council
30:13called on member states
30:14to furnish aid,
30:16military and otherwise,
30:17to South Korea.
30:25U.S. naval and air forces
30:26immediately began
30:27to deploy.
30:29On the 1st of July, 1950,
30:32the first UN ground forces,
30:34American troops
30:35flown in by air
30:36from Japan,
30:37arrived at Pusan
30:38in the extreme
30:39southeast corner
30:40of South Korea.
30:42Further forces
30:43came by sea
30:43during the next few days
30:45and moved north
30:46to try and halt
30:47the North Koreans.
30:49The American ground forces
30:51fought hard
30:52but were too small
30:53in number.
30:54They were therefore
30:55soon retreating south
30:56along with the South Koreans.
31:11By the end of July,
31:13all of South Korea
31:14had been overrun
31:15by the North Korean
31:16blitzkrieg
31:17apart from the southeast
31:18around Pusan.
31:23General Douglas MacArthur,
31:25who had led the Allies
31:26in their campaign
31:27against the Japanese
31:28in the southwest Pacific,
31:29had been appointed
31:30overall UN commander.
31:35He organized
31:36a massive reinforcement
31:38of the Pusan perimeter,
31:39as it was known.
31:50and decided that the time
31:52for a counter-offensive
31:53had arrived.
31:56MacArthur's plan
31:57was an audacious one.
31:58He ordered an amphibious
32:00landing at Incheon
32:01to divert the North Koreans
32:02and so enable a breakout
32:04from Pusan.
32:06The Incheon landings
32:07went ahead
32:08on the 15th of September.
32:10Carried out by U.S.
32:11and South Korean Marines,
32:13they caught the North Koreans
32:14by surprise.
32:36The beachhead was quickly secured,
32:38and the advance inland began.
32:42An American infantry division
32:44was now flown in
32:45and a combined force
32:46thrust towards Seoul.
32:56The South Korean capital
32:58was liberated
32:58on the 28th of September.
33:06Meanwhile,
33:07the breakout
33:08from the Pusan perimeter
33:09began on the 19th of September.
33:11This increased
33:12North Korean confusion,
33:14and by the 1st of October,
33:16their forces
33:16were streaming back
33:17across the 38th parallel.
33:28But the UN forces,
33:30determined to crush
33:31North Korea militarily,
33:33did not stop at the border
33:34and continued right up
33:36to the Yalu River,
33:37which marked
33:38the frontier with China.
33:45Vast numbers
33:46of North Korean soldiers
33:47soldiers were captured.
33:53Mao Tse-tung's
33:54communist government
33:55in Peking
33:55was increasingly worried.
33:57Indeed,
33:58it had warned the UN
33:59against sending
34:00its forces
34:00into North Korea.
34:02Therefore,
34:02after pleas
34:03from a North Korean delegation,
34:05the Chinese
34:05decided to act.
34:15during October 1950,
34:18180,000 Chinese troops
34:20secretly deployed
34:21into North Korea.
34:23By now,
34:23the bitter cold
34:24of the Korean winter
34:25had arrived.
34:27On the 27th of November,
34:29the Chinese launched
34:30a sudden attack
34:30attack on the UN forces.
34:41Now it was the United Nations' turn
34:43to be sent reeling back.
34:53The lightly equipped Chinese
34:55were more at home
34:56in the wintry conditions,
34:57and before the end
34:58of December,
34:59they had reached
35:00the 38th parallel.
35:01Here,
35:02the UN forces
35:03tried to hold.
35:09Soon,
35:10the UN troops
35:11were forced to withdraw
35:11even further south.
35:22Seoul fell again,
35:24but now the Chinese offensive
35:26began to run out
35:27of momentum,
35:27and the UN was able
35:29to halt it.
35:32The UN troops
35:33began to counterattack.
35:45Seoul was recaptured,
35:47and the Chinese
35:47and North Koreans
35:48driven back
35:49across the 38th parallel.
35:59The front
36:00now stabilized once more.
36:12during the fighting,
36:13numerous UN troops
36:14were made prisoner,
36:16and were to be subjected
36:17to systematic brainwashing
36:18by their Chinese
36:19and North Korean captors.
36:23General MacArthur,
36:25who many considered
36:26America's finest soldier,
36:27wanted to attack
36:28the Chinese sanctuary
36:29north of the Yalu River,
36:31the springboard
36:32for their operations.
36:33He was even prepared
36:34to use nuclear weapons.
36:36President Truman
36:37was horrified,
36:38fearing that this
36:39would result
36:40in a Soviet attack
36:40on Western Europe
36:41and the onset
36:42of a Third World War.
36:45He therefore
36:46sacked MacArthur.
36:49It was with the deepest
36:50personal regret
36:51that I found myself
36:52compelled to take
36:53this action.
36:55General MacArthur
36:55is one of our greatest
36:56military commanders,
36:57fighters, but the cause
36:59of world peace
37:01is much more important
37:03than any individual.
37:05We do not want
37:06to widen the conflict.
37:08We will use every effort
37:09to prevent that disaster.
37:12In MacArthur's place
37:13came another American,
37:15General Matthew Ridgway,
37:16who had been commanding
37:17the U.S. 8th Army
37:19in Korea.
37:23Towards the end
37:24of April 1951,
37:25the Chinese launched
37:26another offensive.
37:28Again, they managed
37:29to penetrate South Korea
37:31in spite of heavy losses.
37:35Once more,
37:36the UN forces
37:37counterattacked.
37:39Among the weapons
37:40they used
37:41were napalm bombs.
37:51The Chinese and
37:52North Koreans
37:53were steadily
37:54driven back.
38:17Once more,
38:18UN forces
38:19penetrated North Korea
38:21and eventually
38:22came to a halt
38:22on a line
38:2320 to 30 miles north
38:25of the 38th parallel.
38:35By now,
38:36it was the end
38:36of June 1951,
38:38and there had already
38:39been indicators
38:40that the Chinese
38:41might be prepared
38:42to talk peace.
38:43In early July,
38:45a meeting was held
38:45on board a Danish
38:46hospital ship.
38:47It quickly became
38:49clear, however,
38:50that the Chinese
38:50were in no hurry
38:51to agree a peace,
38:52even though the UN
38:54was prepared to
38:54recognise a permanent
38:55division of Korea
38:56along the 38th parallel.
38:59To the Chinese,
39:00it would be loss of face
39:01to cease hostilities
39:02just after they had
39:03suffered a military
39:04reverse.
39:05They needed time
39:06to rebuild their strength,
39:08appreciating that the UN
39:09would not wish
39:09to mount further
39:10major offensives
39:11for fear of being accused
39:12of jeopardising
39:13the peace effort.
39:15Thus, both sides
39:16now settled down
39:17to static warfare,
39:18which in many ways
39:20came to resemble
39:20the Western Front
39:21of 1915-70.
39:23Barbed wire entanglements,
39:26sandbagged trenches,
39:27and deep dugouts
39:28characterised the defences.
39:30The only major difference
39:31from the Great War
39:32was the extensive use
39:34of minefields.
39:36By now,
39:37the UN enjoyed
39:38considerable superiority
39:39in firepower
39:40over its opponents.
39:49But the North Koreans
39:50and Chinese
39:51had many more men
39:52who became very adept
39:54at hiding their positions
39:55through the use
39:55of camouflage.
40:08No less than 16 nations
40:10contributed military forces
40:12to the UN effort
40:13in Korea,
40:14and a further five countries
40:15provided medical support.
40:17The American contribution
40:18was the largest,
40:20but others who sent troops
40:21included Britain and Belgium,
40:23Turkey and Greece,
40:24Colombia, India,
40:26the Philippines,
40:27and Thailand.
40:30At sea,
40:31the UN enjoyed
40:32overwhelming naval supremacy.
40:34and its warships
40:35were mainly used
40:36for coastal bombardment.
40:44Carrier-borne aircraft
40:46also mounted
40:47offensive strikes
40:48into North Korea.
40:54In the air, too,
40:55the UN had superiority.
40:59The war, however,
41:00marked the first
41:01all-jet combat action
41:03when American
41:04F-86 Sabres
41:05clashed with
41:06Soviet-built
41:06MiG-15s.
41:26Allied bombers,
41:27including the massive
41:29B-29,
41:30which had dropped
41:30the atomic bombs
41:31on Japan in 1945,
41:33attacked the lines
41:34of communication
41:35in North Korea.
41:37Fighter bombers
41:38were also extensively
41:39used by the UN.
41:59the Korean War.
42:01The Korean War also saw the helicopter
42:02come into its own.
42:04A few had been used
42:05by both sides
42:06during 1939-45,
42:08mainly for rescue missions.
42:10Now they began to display
42:12their versatility
42:12as reconnaissance platforms,
42:14artillery spotters,
42:16aerial taxis,
42:17and not least
42:18for casualty evacuation.
42:21The ground war
42:22continued in the extreme heat
42:24of the Korean summer.
42:29The intense winter cold
42:31was in stark contrast.
42:33Limited attacks by both sides
42:35gained no significant advantage.
42:40throughout this time,
42:41the peace negotiations
42:42continued,
42:43but little progress
42:44was made until mid-1953.
42:47But it was not just the Chinese
42:48who made difficulties.
42:50The South Koreans
42:51turned against the idea
42:52of a divided Korea.
42:54In response,
42:56the Chinese mounted,
42:57in June 1953,
42:59their fiercest attack
43:00for some time.
43:01The UN now went over
43:03the head of South Korea,
43:04and as the Chinese attacks
43:05continued,
43:06a cease-fire agreement
43:08was finally signed
43:09at Pamunjohn
43:10on the 27th of July 1953.
43:15The Korean War
43:16cost the two sides
43:17a total of almost
43:18two and a half million casualties,
43:20including nearly
43:21a million Chinese.
43:28While the war demonstrated
43:29that the United Nations
43:31could act in concert
43:32in the face of naked aggression,
43:33it also served
43:35to create continued tension
43:36between the two Koreas,
43:38tension that continued
43:39into the 1990s.
43:44North Korea
43:45had much to be grateful for
43:46to China
43:47for displaying solidarity
43:48with a fellow communist state.
43:50but the Chinese
43:51were still keen
43:52to expand their borders.
44:00In 1956,
44:02the Chinese began
44:03to build a road
44:04from Tibet north
44:05to their province
44:06of Sinkiang.
44:07It passed, however,
44:08through territory
44:09considered by India
44:10as part of its
44:11Kashmir province,
44:12and she objected.
44:21Tension grew in this remote
44:23and mountainous area
44:24and in the equally remote
44:26northeast frontier agency.
44:28Eventually, in July 1962,
44:31Chinese troops
44:32attacked across
44:32the Tibetan frontier
44:33close to Burma.
44:35They drove back
44:36the Indian forces,
44:37whose lines of communication
44:38were sorely stretched.
44:40The fighting came to an end
44:41in November,
44:42with the Chinese recognizing
44:44the northeast frontier agency border
44:46and the Indians
44:47ceding the extreme northeast
44:48of Kashmir,
44:49through which the road ran.
44:52By this time,
44:53China was faced
44:54with tension elsewhere.
44:56In 1956,
44:57Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
44:59made a secret speech
45:00to Communist Party deputies
45:02denouncing his predecessor,
45:04Josef Stalin.
45:09When Mao Tse-Tung
45:10came to hear of this,
45:12he was horrified,
45:13for it seemed
45:14that the Soviet Union
45:14was about to diverge
45:16from the Marxist-Leninist path
45:17which bound
45:18the two allies together.
45:23Relations between
45:24the Soviet Union
45:24and China grew cold.
45:27In 1960,
45:28Mao expelled
45:29the legion
45:29of Soviet advisors
45:30which had been helping
45:31to modernize China
45:32and resolved
45:33that China must become
45:35the world's leading
45:36communist state.
45:39To this end,
45:41China exploded
45:42her first nuclear device
45:43in October 1964.
45:53Sino-Soviet tension
45:55continued to grow
45:56and in 1969,
45:58clashes erupted
45:59along their mutual border,
46:00especially on the rivers
46:02Amur and Usuri.
46:03in the extreme northeast.
46:20These clashes
46:21were to continue
46:22intermittently
46:23for the next 15 years.
46:34at the same time,
46:36China began
46:36to make overtures
46:37to the United States
46:38until then
46:39seen as the arch enemy.
46:41This culminated
46:42in President Richard Nixon's
46:44historic visit
46:45to China
46:45in 1972.
47:00But China itself
47:02was now in turmoil.
47:04In August 1966,
47:06Chairman Mao
47:07launched what he called
47:08the Cultural Revolution.
47:10It was spearheaded
47:11by thousands
47:12of young red guards
47:13who swept across the country
47:15brandishing their little red books
47:17containing the thoughts of Mao.
47:19The aim was to purify
47:21ideological thought
47:22and thus strengthen
47:23Mao's claim
47:24that Chinese communism
47:25was the only true path.
47:27The effect on China
47:29was disastrous.
47:30Many of the intelligentsia
47:31were sent to the countryside
47:32to work as peasants
47:33and thus be re-educated.
47:35All modernisation programmes,
47:37including those
47:38for the armed forces,
47:40came to a halt.
47:41The eventual fruits of this
47:42were to be reaped
47:43in February 1979
47:44when Chinese forces
47:46met the combat-hardened
47:47Vietnamese in battle.
47:49Vietnam had invaded
47:50her western neighbour,
47:51Cambodia,
47:52in January 1979.
47:54In order to teach her
47:55a lesson
47:56and reassert
47:57Peking's influence
47:58over the region,
47:59the Chinese now
48:00attacked their southern neighbour.
48:12The Chinese outnumbered
48:14the Vietnamese
48:14by four to one.
48:18Yet the Vietnamese
48:19soon halted their attacks.
48:26Fearing that the war
48:27might become protracted,
48:29the Chinese quickly withdrew,
48:31followed up by the Vietnamese.
48:33The damage wrought
48:34by the Cultural Revolution
48:35had been plain to see.
48:44This was even though
48:45the Cultural Revolution
48:46had ended
48:46with the death
48:47of Mao Zedong
48:48in 1976.
48:54His successors
48:55now began to repair
48:56the damage
48:56that had been caused
48:57to China's infrastructure.
49:01Relations with the Soviet Union
49:03were gradually improved.
49:04Economic and cultural links
49:06with the West
49:07were strengthened.
49:08These were reflected
49:09in a massive influx
49:10of tourists.
49:21A degree of liberalisation
49:23began to take root
49:24in China
49:24with a relaxation
49:25in the rigid censorship
49:27of news and opinion.
49:34Even seeds of capitalism
49:36were sown.
49:44But China's rulers
49:45were only prepared
49:46to deviate so far
49:47from the rigid discipline
49:48of Marxist-Leninism.
49:55as the 1980s wore on,
49:57students and others
49:58had increasingly agitated
50:00for greater liberalisation
50:01and reform.
50:03Fearful that anarchy
50:04might engulf the country,
50:05the authorities finally reacted
50:07in June 1989.
50:14The scene was Peking's Tiananmen Square,
50:17where there had been
50:18a prolonged
50:18but peaceful student rally.
50:22The students were ordered
50:23to leave the square,
50:24but refused,
50:25and the army was called in.
50:37Violence soon erupted
50:39and casualties mounted.
50:56Many arrests were made
50:57as the troops
50:58cleared the square.
50:59Much of the world
51:00was shocked
51:01by the brutality
51:02they employed.
51:05Thus,
51:06unlike in the Soviet Union
51:07and more especially
51:09Eastern Europe,
51:091989 saw Communism
51:12in China
51:12reassert its iron grip.
51:55the Company,
51:58what you see on the table
51:59and moved in the
51:59at the円
51:59of the North Sea.
52:00The Unafordiss
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