"Chinese Textbooks Blame South Korea For The ... " Topic

…First Korean War.

"For Western nations, the answer is uncomplicated: North Korea, backed by China and the Soviet Union, launched an unprovoked invasion of its southern neighbor in 1950.

An alternate history has been presented in Chinese textbooks, one in which the illegitimate lackeys of Western imperialists in the South attacked first, but China and the Soviet Union intervened to prevent an aggressive American invasion that threatened to sweep into China. The fact that a significant portion of North Korea's population perished due to extensive U.S. bombing has made some sympathetic to the suffering of the small nation…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Are you sure this was not first published in the Washington Post or in a book by Howard Zinn or Noam Chomsky?

Wolfhag

Surprised?

Sure, just like their textbooks and movies give Mao most or all of the credit for defeating the Japanese in China. WW2 experts know better, of course. But you can't ever talk the brainwashed commies and their sympathizers out of that fantasy.

Dan

Dan,
Which brainwashed commies and their sympathizers are you referring to, the ones in the US and Europe or in China?

Wolfhag

Lol

Dan

Sure, just like their textbooks and movies give Mao most or all of the credit for defeating the Japanese in China. WW2 experts know better, of course. But you can't ever talk the brainwashed commies and their sympathizers out of that fantasy.

We still learn about the second unified front, and battles like Wuhan or Tai'erzhuang.
Interesting tidbit: my textbook never mentioned what Chennault did after the war.
As time goes by Mao's role in the war has seen an overall decrease: back in 70s and 80s he might have won it, now he is just credited for creating the united front, and coming up with the "people's war" principle that would become the basic guerrilla war doctrine in the years to come.
There has been a recent surge on television programs about KMT in the Sino-Japanese War too, although the main character would inevitably be a communist sleeper agent. :-)

I don't want to break up this little party of self satisfaction, but historical fantasy thinking isn't limited to commies. There is a lot to found even here. Read an American history high school text book, even the old ones from forty years ago.

Begemot: "Read an American history high school text book, even the old ones from forty years ago."

Dude, that was like 40 years ago! These are newly printed ones!

Anyway, even today I know several solid trustworthy Vets who lived events and conversations that modern "historians" now say never happened or that happened differently.

I think Wolfhag may have a point in this case. The re-writing is also happening outside of China and Korea.

Dan

@ Wolfhag and CC

@ begemot – Ouch, the truth hurts.

Dave

Dave

LOL. Seriously though, if people still get so worked up about what the US did 40, 60, 80 years ago or even longer, but then constantly minimize China's almost identical behavior TODAY, then logic or reason is completely absent from the argument.

The bias is simply incurable. And possibly terminal. :)

Dan

So, the evil American imperialists took their lend-lease Shermans back from the Soviets and dropped them in the Pacific, outfitting the ROK army with small arms and towed 105's. The ROKs then attacked the peace-loving DPRK, which the Soviets had equipped as a mech/motorised force with late-model T-34's.

There are some things you have to have a PhD in History from a good school to believe. You'd never sell that one to a ground order of battle analyst with a high school diploma.

As for the bombing, yes. I used to refer to the North Korean underground program as the "Curtis E. LeMay Memorial Project." Are the humanitarians prepared to accept responsibility for the damage? LeMay's comment years afterward was that when he took the job, he presented his superiors with a list of things to bomb which would have kept the Communists from maintaining an army in the Korean Peninsula. Only his superiors wouldn't let him bomb the most important targets to avoid collateral damage. Eventually, he said, he was authorized--when they were used to it, when they had defenses in place, and when they had alternate routes built. So he wound up in the end killing more people to less effect, but the humanitarians were happier.

Not the last time we've done that. Presidents pick bombing targets when they should be working crosswords. There is NOTHING so expensive as waging war half-heartedly, unless it's saving money on preparedness in peacetime.

Pretty obvious to me and most who really study history … North Korea with China's & Russia's assistance invaded the South. For various reasons. However, it is clear the North wanted to unify the South under it's Communist gov't's control. With the help of the Big Bros Communists on the planet. I.e. the PRC & USSR …

An alternate history has been presented in Chinese textbooks, one in which the illegitimate lackeys of Western imperialists in the South attacked first, but China and the Soviet Union intervened to prevent an aggressive American invasion that threatened to sweep into China. The fact that a significant portion of North Korea's population perished due to extensive U.S. bombing has made some sympathetic to the suffering of the small nation…"

Wait … the PRC used the term "Western imperialists ?!?!? Who would have thought ?!?!?

And said US bombing killed a lot of non-combatants in the Korean War ?!?! Really ? Yeah, just like in WWII, 5 years before a lot of non-combatants were killed. Sadly … but back then collateral damage was not much of a consideration. As it is today. Fortunately … Let's all remember war is bad … very bad …

Interestingly, when history rates the top 3 20th Century leaders who killed the most people. It breaks down to :

#1 Mao
#2 Stalin
#3 Hitler

Now that may be more "Western Propaganda". But based on my study of the history … I'm going with those figures.

Again:

An alternate history has been presented in Chinese textbooks, one in which the illegitimate lackeys of Western imperialists in the South attacked first, but China and the Soviet Union intervened to prevent an aggressive American invasion that threatened to sweep into China. The fact that a significant portion of North Korea's population perished due to extensive U.S. bombing has made some sympathetic to the suffering of the small nation…"

But this sounds very much like "revisionist" history to suit the PRC's, etc., narrative.

But I'm sure the PRC, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Chomsky, etc. says the US/Western version of many historical events are revisionist history, propaganda, Orwellian "New Speak", etc.

Welcome to the reality of geopolitics/Realpolitik between rival factions and "facts" on the planet Earth …

As far as the US education system … most US citizens know very little of anything about US history. Let alone world history. The World Wars and all before and that followed may as well have occurred on another planet in another solar system.

However, they do know who JLow, Kim and JLaw are "bedding", the score of last night's sporting event(s) and who won on "American Idol" … sadly …

"There is NOTHING so expensive as waging war half-heartedly, unless it's saving money on preparedness in peacetime."

+1 Robert

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
bunkermeister.blogspot.com

Begemot + 1.

Amicalement
Armand

Legion,
What's even worse is that when you try to straighten out someone with the truth – for free – they refuse to believe you because they've already paid $40 USDk for lies they learned at the university.

Useful Idiots

Wolfhag

"Read an American history high school text book, even the old ones from forty years ago."

I was there studding those books and even with all their flaws they are better than much of what is being taught today.

40 Forty years ago was when they started to put revisionist history into the history books.

But I would put more truth in Western history than anything from China or Russia.

Plus the War is still not over and we should finish it for once and for all.

Yes, Wolf … useful idiots is a good description. And many have a number of degrees from real universities. Some even teach there ! And have Doctor in front of their name !