How do wars change nations?

Directions: Complete the Before Reading portion of the Anticipation Guide prior to reading the assigned
text. Upon completion of the reading, finish the After Reading, Text Support, and correcting false
statement portion of the Anticipation Guide activity.

Before Reading Statement After Reading Text Support

Agree - Disagree 1. Wars force people to True - False page

move from their homes.

Agree - Disagree 2. Wars rarely cause True - False page

political boundaries of
nations to change.

Agree - Disagree 3. Entire countries True - False page

sometimes disappear
from maps as the result
of wars.

Agree - Disagree 4. Citizens of a country True - False page

at war are always
allowed to return home
after the war.

Agree - Disagree 5. Physical barriers, True - False page

such as rivers or
mountains, always form
political boundaries of
nations.

After reading, for each of the False Statements, re-write them to be true in the space provided below.
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 Activity 3

Directions: Read the passage and complete the information below.

Korea’s Changing Political Boundaries

During World War II, Japanese forces took control of the Korean peninsula. The Japanese wanted
to use Korea’s natural resources to build and fuel their military conquest of Asia. After World War II, Korea
became a chess piece in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR). Both
countries agreed to divide the peninsula at the 38th parallel following the surrender of Japanese forces.
The 38th parallel is the geographic separation between South Korea and North Korea. The Soviets would
take Korea north of that line, and the United States would do the same south of it. Efforts to reunify Korea
ended when the communist northern government refused to allow a United Nations (UN) commission into
its territory. In May 1948, elections were held in the southern half of Korea, and Syngman Rhee was
elected president of the Republic of Korea. North Korea responded by inaugurating the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea with Kim Il Sung, who had ties to China and the Soviet Union, as its leader.
By 1949, two rival regimes, each with a great power sponsor, faced each other across the 38th parallel,
and the division of Korea was complete.
By June 1949, the United States had withdrawn its remaining forces from South Korea and left
behind a 500-man military advisory group to train South Korean forces. On June 25, 1950, North Korea
launched a surprise invasion of South Korea. That act initiated the Korean War and led U.S. president
Harry Truman to authorize a limited commitment of U.S. air and naval units to South Korea. The United
States became part of a multinational UN led military force.
After two months of intense fighting in Korea, the Truman administration decided that to avoid
triggering direct involvement by either China or Russia, U.S. ground forces would stay south of the 38th
parallel. If either Chinese or Russian forces entered the war, American forces were to assume the
defensive.
A UN Command military victory appeared to be within reach until Chinese forces began to deploy
into North Korea in October. The size and initial success of a late-November Chinese offensive changed
the nature of the conflict. UN Command forces finally stopped the Chinese, mounted a major offensive,
and were able to restore a defensive line just north of the 38th parallel. By May 1951, the war had settled
into a costly stalemate. The unification by force of the Korean Peninsula was no longer possible without
expanding the war. The United States was willing to settle for a diplomatic solution and a return to the
prewar boundary.
Finally, on July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement (1953) was signed. The armistice that
ended the fighting has left Korea politically and geographically divided to this day.
ABC-CLIO

Use the passage to complete the graphic organizer below. Then complete the generalization that
follows.
The boundaries of Korea Complete the information using the passage above.
changed
during World War II when

after World War II when

after the Korean War

when

Based on the information,Ahow doView

Visual warsofchange nations?
the History _________________________________
of North and South Korea
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 A Visual View of the History of North and South Korea
Directions: Use the Nystrom Atlas to label and color each map as directed. Then, complete the summary below.

A. During World War II Japan occupied Korea. Color the
Korean Peninsula all one color.
B. After World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th
Parallel. The Soviet Union took the north and the United
States took the South. Color the northern half of the
Korean Peninsula one color and the southern half a
different color. Draw and label the 38th Parallel.

USSR USSR

China China
Sea of Sea of
Japan Japan

Japan Japan

N N

C. Following the Korean War (1950-1953), North Korea D. Using the Nystrom Atlas, label North Korea and South
and South Korea were firmly established as separate Korea today, and the boundary line that separates them.
countries. Color the northern half of the Korean
Peninsula one color and the southern half a different
color. Draw and label the 38th Parallel.
USSR
USSR

China
China Sea of
Sea of Japan
Japan

Japan
Japan

N
N

In the space provided below, write a brief history of the changing political boundaries of the Korean peninsula and
what caused the change. Use the passage and the maps you created to help you. (use back if necessary)
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 Activity 3
Directions: Read the passage and complete the information below.

Vietnam’s Changing Political Boundaries

From 1815 to 1914, Vietnam, like many countries in Southeast Asia, became European
colonies. The French conquest of Vietnam began in 1858 and the southernmost part of Vietnam,
became a French colony in 1867. Later Vietnam was merged with Cambodia and Laos to form
French Indo-China.
World War II was a turning point for Southeast Asian history when the Japanese defeated the
European armies and ended any doubt that Asian countries could defeat European forces. Soon,
however, the Japanese took control of Vietnam to use Vietnamese natural resources to fuel their
military conquest of Asia. At the end of World War II in 1945, however, the French reestablished
French domination in southern Vietnam. North Vietnam was a different situation. Ho Chi Minh's
nationalist Viet Minh party assumed control with little or no interference from the distrusted Chinese
forces. The French refused to permit southern Vietnam, with its wealth of French property holdings,
to become part of the emerging state of Vietnam. Negotiations at Paris failed to fix the problems, and
fighting would soon erupt.
Vietnam was firmly divided in 1949 when the French established the State of Vietnam in the
south, despite peasant hatred of French colonialism. The French maintained control over cities, ports,
and major lines of communication, but were powerless in the North Vietnamese countryside. By 1954
the French suffered many disastrous defeats. A peace agreement in 1954 fixed the 17th parallel as
the boundary line, gave both armies and their supporters 90 days to disengage and the French two
years to withdraw. The government established in South Vietnam disagreed with the peace
agreement because it called for a unification with North Vietnam. The United States had financially
supported the French in Vietnam, and along with the South Vietnamese government opposed the
idea of unification with communist North Vietnam. From the Vietnamese view, however, the
Americans had merely replaced the French and had to be removed.
In 1955, the anticommunist government in the south was opposed by rebel groups in the north
that wanted to unite all of Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government helped the rebel movement in
South Vietnam. In 1961 the Americans joined the war (now referred to as the Vietnam War) on the
side of the anticommunist government in the South, later bombing the North extensively from 1965 to
1968.
In January 1973 a peace agreement was finally signed. The U.S. combat death toll in Vietnam
was 46,079, and after three decades of war, the Vietnamese had lost 2 million people and 57% of
their countryside was destroyed. After U.S. troops were withdrawn the North Vietnamese launched a
major offensive and took complete control of South Vietnam. Reunification was officially proclaimed in
July 1976, and the communist government began their complete control of the new nation of Vietnam.
ABC-CLIO

Use the passage to complete the graphic organizer below. Then complete the generalization that follows.

The boundaries of Vietnam Complete the information using the passage above.
changed -
during European
colonization when -

after World War II when -

after the Vietnam War

when -

Based on the information, how do wars change nations? ______________________________

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 A Visual View of the History of Vietnam

Directions: Use the Nystrom Atlas to label and color each map as directed. Then, complete the summary below.

A. From 1815 up to World War II, the French B. During World War II, the Japanese took
colonized Vietnam. Color Vietnam all one color. control of Vietnam. Color Vietnam all one color,
different from map A.

Japan Japan
China China

N N

N N

C. Following World War II, the French regained
controlled of South Vietnam, while North Vietnam
was controlled by communist forces. Vietnam was
divided at the 17th Parallel. Label the 17th Parallel
and color North and South Vietnam two different
colors.
D. Following the defeat of French forces, and later
the American forces, South Vietnam was invaded
by North Vietnam. Vietnam was officially united as
one country in 1976. Color Vietnam one color,
different from maps A and B.

Japan
Japan
China
China

N N

N
N

In the space provided below, write a brief history of the changing political boundaries of the Korean peninsula and
what caused the change. Use the passage and the maps you created to help you. (use back if necessary)
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