Which had the biggest impact on the course and outcome of the Korean War?

Which had the biggest impact on the course and outcome of the Korean War:
General MacArthur
or
Chinese Intervention?

Write a conclusion giving your judgement.
Either compare the two possibilities and show why yours is the more important or create links between the two to show how one caused the other.

General MacArthur had a more significant impact on the course and outcome of the war due to his actions in Korea. Having Control of the American forces in Korea itself allowed MacArthur to make risky decisions. For example, the attack on Inchon. This was a significant move as it could be said if this decision wasn't made by MacArthur to launch the attack, then the US forces would have been wiped out by the North Koreans in Pusan. This suggests that MacArthur's involvement in the War was vital to the Americans remaining in Korea. Compared to the Chinese involvement which was only towards the end of the War and had an affect on the outcome of the War MacArthur's actions had a an impact on the majority of the War. It could be said that China only got involved due to MacArthur's actions close to the boarder of Manchurian. Therefore, MacArthur had a bigger impact on the course of the Korean War.

General MacArthur was more significant because he felt that he could control what he did with the army. However he managed to make President Truman give in to his pressure, this is because MacArthur was liked by more people in the general American public. With the permission of Truman, MacArthur could go ahead with risky attacks. He also thought that because the Inchon invasion was a success he could continue to make risky attacks. Whereas in reality, MacArthur under estimated China, so when they attacked his forces, he wasn't prepared and China easily made MacArthur retreat.

I feel that Chinese interevntion had the biggest affect on the course of the war. The reason for this is because when the Americans got to close to the Chinese border the suprize attack that the Chinese launched killed thousands of US troops,which made them retreat all the way back to the 38th parallel. This was the biggest retreat in US history which shows how much land the Americans lost therefore completely changing the course of the war. The chinese intervention also would have made the USA re-think the Korean war in fear that the USSR would also get involved.

However i do feel that MacArthur was more significant in deciding the outcome of the Korean war. I think this because if he didnt risk the Inchon landing then it was possible that the US would have been pushed out of south Korea because they were surrounded at the tip of the South Korean coast. Therefore if MacArthur didnt go through with the Inchon landing the outcome of the war could have been very different. Futhermore MacArthur also pushed president Trumen to change his policys on Communism from containment to roll-back, this extended the war by making the Chinese get involved. Therefore MacArther had the biggest influence on the outcome of the war because of the decisions that he made which gained or lost land in Korea.

My personal opinion, is that the Chinese Intervention was the biggest impact on the outcome of the Korean war. If China had not involved themselfs, it can be argued that all of Korea would be under the control of the UN. It would also have been under the control of South Korea and Syngman Rhee. The decision to attack the American forces by China, drastically changed the course of the Korean war. The attack by the Chinese forced the American forces to retreat back to the 38th parallel. Furthermore, from this attack by the Chinese it can be argued this led to General MacArthur being removed from Korea. MacArthur was a very proud man and if his battle was known as the longest retreat in US military history, this would have enraged him. Maybe this is why he was so willing and eager to attack China and use a Nuclear bomb, to regain some of his lost pride.

As you can see the Chinese intervention in the Korean war, led to a sequence of events that drastically altered the course of the war.

It can be believed that Genral MacArthur had the biggest impact on the course of the war because his decision to launch a counter attack in Inchon completely changed who had the upper hand and gave the USA the power to continue in their policy of roll back. MacArthur therefore had the biggest impact on the outcome of the war as his counter attack stopped the north Korean invasion in the south and the US forces from being trapped in Pusan.

On the other hand Chinese intervention can be argued to have had the biggest impact on the course and outcome of the war. The Chinese attack upon the UN forces was a major success pushing the forces back to the 38th parallel. This stopped the US carrying out their policy of roll back and furthermore led to General MacArthur losing his position in Korea changing the course of the war. The attack also had an impact on the overall outcome of the war as a ceasefire was established.

Overall I believe that Chinese intervention had the biggest impact on the course and outcome of the war. It can be argued that MacArthur changed the course of the war with his drastic decision to counter attack Inchon but ultimately the Chinese intervention stopped the UN forces invading any further changing the course of the war and led the war into a ceasefire impacting the outcome having the biggest impact upon both.

In my opinion, I think that General MacArthur had the largest impact on the war. General MacArthur made many decisions which had huge impacts on the war. One of these decisions that MacArthur made was the Inchon Landing. This ended up being a large turning point in the war. MacArthur, was also very popular with the American people. Because they liked him so much he was easily able to influence President Truman to change there policies. This meant that MacArthur was able to change the USA's policy of containment to roll back and they were then able to gain more land. The outcome of the war would have been very different if it wasn't for MacArthur.
However, Chinese intervention also had a large impact on the war. The intervention of the Chinese would have made the President of the USA and General MacArthur re-think what they were going to do through the war. It also shocked the American Army as they weren't expecting the attack and therefore lost a lot of men. The American army then had the quickest retreat in history, meaning they lost a lot of land. This was a huge impact, because they now had, less men and less land. I believe that MacArthur had the largest impact on the war simply because of the amount of changes he made in the war.

MacArthur had a significant impact on the outcome of the Korean war. This is because during the early stages of the war, South Korean troops and US troops were pushed back and contained in pusan. However, MacArthur made a risky decision which fortunately was successful - known as the Inchon landing. If this manouver had failed, it could have been the end of the war, with South Korea and the US finding themselves on the losing side.

On the other hand, the significance of the Chinese intervention cannot be underestimated. America were beginning to take control of North Korea, taking control of their capital city in the process. As America were gaining momentum and progressing towards the Chinese border, China released several warnings to the US not to go any further - because America viewed China as weak, they ignored these warnings and found themselves on the wrong end of a devastating attack which shocked American and South Korean Troops. As a result, America had to retreat all the way back past the 38th parallel - the longest in American history. This prevented America from winning the war.

To summarise, I believe the Chinese intervention had the most impact on the Korean war because as America were gaining strong momentum and beginning to gain control, they suffered an immense set back. If this attack didn't happen from the chinese, it's a huge possibility that America would have gained victory. However, this wasn't the case and the war continued for a lot longer than America had wished for/expected.

General Douglas MacArthur certainly made a huge impact on the course and eventual outcome of the Korean war. By 1950, MacArthur was well well renowned by the US press for both his overwhelmingly successful military campaign in Japan as well as his self confidence and flair for publicity. In many respects, he was an independent force in the fight for Korea-this was mainly due to his disregard for military orders sent from Washington coupled with a heavy influence over the American media which made him virtually "untouchable" by Truman/Acheson. He consequently took a lot of risks within the korean war in order to gain the upper hand against the Northern forces. The "Inchon landing" was with out a doubt one of the most influential military operations to be conducted within the Korean conflict. The plan was to execute an amphibious assault on the substantial North Korean pressence in Seoul, this movement was risky for a number of reasons; firstly, there was a 30ft daily tidal change and no discernible beaches for the American marines to land on, as well as the likelihood that Kim would have the area mined which made the maneuver even more daring on MacArthur's part. Despite this, joint chiefs of staff approved the proposals set out by the general which resulted in overwhelming success. The American forces then went on to recapture vasts amounts of land from the north Koreans, pushing them all the way back past the 38th parallel and thus causing this daring strategy to be a pivotal impact on the course of the war.

There were clear dangers involved in the US's decision to move into North Korean, the largest and clearest being Chinese involvement. The plan to occupy the whole of Korea meant moving ever closer to the prevalent Chinese forces based at the Yalu river which marked the border. Despite warnings from the Chinese government, MacArthur's forces continued to progress way past the 38th parallel in a desperate attempt at regaining ground an executing their "roll back communism scheme". On the 25th of November, the Chinese offensive against Walker's 20,000 troops began near the town of Kunuri, resulting in huge loses of American marines and the beginning of the longest retreat in military history. Morale plummeted and hopes of quelling the Chinese's assault lessened dramatically as US forces lost vast amounts of reclaimed land. The decision made by the Chinese government to defend against UN forces was a very pivotal part of the Korean war, if the American forces were left unchallenged then the outcome of the war could have been significantly different.

In my opinion however, the presence of MacArthur during the Korean war was slightly more influential than the intervention of the Chinese. This is mainly due to the necessary risks that the general took to recapture land from the North Koreans, if the Inchon landing didn't take place then the US forces would have been completely diminished by the North Korean attacks in the Pusan province. Although MacArther's recklessness did eventually lead to massive humiliation from the Chinese, if the risks he took hadn't taken place, then the outcome of the war could have been considerably worst.

There are a lot of factors in the Korean War that can be considered a turning point. Personally, i believe General MacArthur's plan to fight back and launch a counter attack in Inchon and as a result shifted the balance of power back into favor of the U.S. as the U.S. were now in greater control they were able to continue with the Roll Back and was a huge turning point in the Korean War. However the Chinese intervention in the war can be considered the more significant turning point as when the chinese became part of the war and retaliated, the U.S. wasn't expecting an attack and were therefore shocked by the attack which made them weak as they was not ready to defend because they didn't know it was going to happen. This resulted in a great loss in the numbers of men America had in the war and the biggest retreat in American military history, resulting in loss of land and in turn pass back the balance of power to the Koreans.

Both General MacArthur and Chinese intervention played crusial roles in the overall course and outcome of the Korean war. Without either of these factors the war would have played out very differently.
I believe the actions of General MacArthur to have had the biggest impact on the course and outcome of the war; it was MAcArthur who led the UN forces against North Korea and pushed them back towards the 38th paralell as well as leading the headstrong, reckless, and not to mention unbelieveable supprise attack at Inchon to regain control of the capital and put the UN back in the fight. Although it seems MacArthur was the main driving force of the war, his actions had repercussions as well.
I believe that MacArthur's outstanding victory at Inchon made him headstrong and cocky, with the taste of victory still sweet on his lips, MacArthur pushed Truman for permission to advance past the 38th paralell, where the UN had told them to stop. With the support of the US army behind him Truman could hardly oppose MacArthur's request and reluctantly allowed permission to advance as the policy of containment of communism in Korea was changed to "roll-back".

The Chinese would have not attack US forces had MacArthur's army not advanced; MacArthur's eagerness for easy victory and ignorance at the strengh of China cost America dearly. American troops were devistated and the biggest retreat in Americal history ensued.

I believe if it were not for MacArthur's eagerness and arrogance then America would not have had to sacrifice so many men for a lost cause. Overall, I believe that MacArthur had the biggest impact on the outcome and course of the war because it was due to him that both the Inchon landing and the counter-attack by the Chinese took place, the only problem is asking if America's loss by the Chinese was acceptable after the success at Inchon, I do not believe it is and so I believe that MacArthur had the greatest impact on the outcome and success of the Korean War.