“A Conflict of Interest: Communist In the Korean War”

Process Paper by Piper Fabian

History Fair 2017-2018: Website
 The Korean War was one of the only times when America and Russia actually fought head-on.
The immediate result of the war was, of course, the division of the Korean peninsula. This created a
cultural and physical border that still remains today. In other parts of the world, the war reinvigorated
that fear of communism now that Stalin was on the rise and planning to convert more territory other
than Korea, which could have potentially been catastrophic for the rest of Europe and the world. Only
in resent generations (displayed in later Millennials and Generation Z) has there been this recent push-
back against the stigma as a response to the corruption of the capitalist American government.
Research was a very interesting and fun process. The data on the war was bountiful, and almost
any question one might have on the topic had an answer that was quickly and easily accessible. What I
found to be more interesting than the data on the war, were the speculations on the Soviet intent. Had
the war been a conspiracy to involve the US? Was Stalin attempting, in doing so, to kick-start a third
world war? Admittedly these questions were likely much more interesting to me than to the average
student, as before going into this project I was very ignorant to the actual history of communism, and
much less so any given Asian country.
The most useful resources I found were both documents rather than webpages or articles, for
both of which I found a PDF version online. One, titled “SOVIET AIMS IN KOREA AND THE
ORIGINS OF THE KOREAN WAR, 1945-1950: NEW EVIDENCE FROM RUSSIAN ARCHIVES”
dealt with, as you can see, newly released information regarding the Soviet perspective. The document
was written by Katherine Weathersby of our own Florida state! The other was simply a rather in-depth
document discussing the American reaction to the Soviet ploy, though not as crucial to my project,
provided some much-needed insight on the relationship between America and Russia at the time.
Initially yes, I did have problems conducting research, but those were the fruits of self-doubt
and miscalculation on the subject. Going into the project I was hopeless, I was convinced I had chosen
a terrible and un-researchable topic, and that as I was studying the Russian side of a war that took place
in a completely foreign country with a different language, I was under the impression that much of the
information I was hoping to find would be in Russian. In the end, the result of the research was
pleasant, though retrospectively it would have been very interesting to have had some of those original
Russian documents integrated into the project...
All wars are conflicts, and as such, the chosen topic is highly appropriate for this year's theme.
The compromise, on the other hand, is a bit harder to see. Neither side could come to an agreement, or
end on a deal that they both liked. Splitting Korea down the middle was their way of giving up on the
situation, as they wouldn't have reached a result they enjoyed. It is less cut and dry than an ideal
compromise would be, but for that it serves its purpose.