The fourth part of my alternate history series:
Part 4: "The Fate of Korea"
The year is 1945. The Second World War is coming to an end. The Red Army entered the territory of Germany, in the west, American troops were also moving towards the capital of the Third Reich; the Ardennes offensive recently conducted by Hitler's army was a catastrophic failure — almost half of the troops involved in the battle were lost. The German army was on its last legs and victory was only a matter of time.
The heads of the allied powers of the Anti — Hitler coalition-the United States, Great Britain and the USSR attended the meeting at the Livadia White Palace near Yalta, in the Crimea. The main goal of the negotiations was to decide the post-war structure of Europe, especially Germany, and the war with Japan, an ally of Germany. The main attention of the parties: US President, Franklin Roosevelt; British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Joseph Stalin was focused on the denazification of post-war Europe. The word "Nazism" alone was said at the conference more than a thousand times, and negotiations on Germany and Poland took more than half of the conference time. However, the results were achieved the same as in reality: the division of Germany into 4 occupation zones of the USSR, the USA, France and Great Britain. As well as the division of Berlin into occupation zones, but these decisions were by no means far-sighted. Their main goal remained the extermination of Nazism from the face of the earth and the division of Germany into zones of occupation helped to do this. However, this provoked the division of Germany and Berlin into pro-American and pro-Soviet zones, which became the main stumbling block between the superpowers in the Cold War...
The Korean issue was raised at the Tehran Conference in 1943, but there was no progress on the issue at that time. In one of the few breaks between the discussions between Roosevelt and Stalin, a dialogue took place:
— I have a question for you, Marshal Stalin. This is a question about Korea. In Tehran, I spoke about the establishment of trusteeship over Korea. Now I have a question: who should become a trustee? I believe that China should become a trustee.
— Won't it be a protectorate?
— No way. The trustees will help Korea build its own state after the end of guardianship.
— Your proposal is clear, Comrade Roosevelt. The shorter the custody period takes, the better.
Also at the conference, a small document was signed concerning the war in the Far East. It said that three months after the end of the war in Europe, the USSR would enter the war with Japan. After the end of hostilities, the southern part of Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido and adjacent islands will be given for annexation. And also a protectorate over Mongolia and Manchuria. The Japanese islands and Pacific archipelagos that previously belonged to the empire will fall into the American sphere of influence.
This document had an extraordinary benefit for the USSR. The ice-free ports of Manchuria and Hokkaido would have played a major role in the country's international trade in the post-war period. But at the Potsdam Conference in May, the new US President Harry Truman took a tougher stance towards the USSR.
The USSR's attempts to isolate itself from the capitalist countries with a buffer of Eastern European countries alerted the West. Communist ideas spread rapidly in the ruins of post-war Europe. In Poland, for example, the Communists seized power in 1944. They were followed by Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. In 1948, the pro-Soviet German Democratic Republic or East Germany was proclaimed in Berlin. Communist ideas even affected France, Great Britain and the United States. The spread of communism has been identified as the number 1 danger in the world...
Potdsam. 5:46 a.m. The scheduled conference is 14 minutes away. The organizational issue was resolved and it remained only to wait for the appointed time in order to sit down at the negotiating table. Harry Truman finds Joseph Stalin in the crowd with his eyes. Long before the conference, he had outlined his plan of action in Potsdam: Truman knew that the work on the Manhattan project was progressing very well.
"The United States has a weapon of unprecedented power," Truman said in one of his conversations with Stalin. "It is aimed at Japan, the last country of the Axis coalition. The work on the atomic bomb project, as we call it, is being carried out successfully. The achievements of Nazi scientists were not in vain: in many ways, with the help of them, we discovered that with the help of bombing uranium nuclei, you can create an explosion that will destroy an entire city, and maybe even the whole country..."
— And maybe the whole world, Comrade Truman
— I don't think so. Nuclear weapons will be used exclusively for the purpose of eliminating our enemies — Japan. It will be useful in protecting against threats that will appear in the future.
— If in the future we see a split between the world's superpowers, a war of unprecedented scale will be inevitable.
- By the way, Marshal Stalin. We have plans to form a new world organization dedicated to solving world problems. The UN will not allow such conflicts in the future.
Truman skillfully turned the topic to the end of the conversation, but Stalin understood very well, this bomb is not just for Japan, it is aimed at the Soviet Union...
The agreement of the Soviet Union, yet at the Yalta conference, was made: during the blitzkrieg in Manchuria, the Soviets in 10 days defeated the group of Japanese Kwantung army, landed on the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, entered the territory of North Korea, while the Americans dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan and landed in South Korea. However, the USA took the island of Hokkaido, following the negotiations given at the Potsdam conference.
The Korean issue was finally resolved in Potsdam. Instead of a united Korea under the tutelage of China, which was still recovering from the devastation of the civil war proposed by Roosevelt, it was decided to divide the Korean peninsula into northern, pro-Soviet, and southern, pro-American zones. After that, in three years, until 1948, the two superpowers had to create their own regimes and eventually decide on the regime of a united Korea in the 1948 elections. Residents of the North and South had to know about the regime in their own country and in the neighboring one and, thus, decide the path of Korea themselves. However, the regimes adopted by the governments were so different, and the border between the countries was so guarded that the Koreans in the North and in the South looked like two absolutely unrelated peoples. The governments of the North and the South were finally divided: if in the north the communist government quickly developed the country in a crisis thanks to emigrants from the USSR, then in the south the military government could do almost nothing for the country. Even the word "Korea" in the language of northerners and southerners differed, not to mention the regime and the course of development of the country. On the eve of the 1948 elections, which were supposed to decide the fate of Korea, the politicians of both countries no longer gave up hope for the unification of such different countries. But everything was much worse...
In 1948, the American military government in Korea decided to hold separate elections, concluding that it was impossible for two regimes to peacefully coexist in one country. The north has long had its own president elected, also violating the agreements. Kim Il Sung, who received the honorary title of "Great Leader", actively cooperated with the USSR and the newly formed People's Republic of China. A joint friendship agreement was signed between the states, which was supposed to consolidate the spread of the Social Bloc not only in Europe, but also in Asia.
If things were going more than fine for Stalin and his guys in the North, then in the South , Douglas MacArthur was ordered to take power into his own hands, and, as it turned out, this was a terrible mistake. In 1945, it was MacArthur's corps that landed in Korea and took control of it, but telegrams from Washington reluctantly gave power to MacArthur — Truman was busy with affairs in Japan, and he was almost not interested in South Korea, so MacArthur and his comrade, Lieutenant General Hodge, had to improvise. They had never been involved in politics and did not know how to negotiate — besides, they had to deal with quite different groups inside the country: collaborators, right-wingers, anti-Soviet communists, pro-Soviet communists, nationalists. It would be a disaster to give this country into the hands of an inexperienced person, so MacArthur hired a friend of his not by hearsay, Rhee Seung Man, who became the chairman of the Korean parliament. However, the main power was concentrated in the hands of the Americans, by agreement, until 1948. Rhee Seung-man was a fighter for the independence of Korea during the Second World War, when he emigrated to the United States during the occupation, where he spoke with the ideas of ridding the world of the communist contagion. He was an ardent anti-communist and a close friend of Douglas MacArthur, who appointed him to this post in 1947. There was already an agreement between Rhee and MacArthur, according to which Rhee Seung-man will become the president of the Republic of Korea. The elections were supposed to be just a formality.
In the 3 years between 1945 and 1948, the American government in Korea proved itself to be incapacitated. Moreover, the Koreans openly opposed the actions of foreigners who did not want to see "American" President Rhee Seung-man as the head of state. And given the agreements between MacArthur and Rhee, the latter should have become a dictator, not a president, since, in fact, he did not get power from the people. In the 3 years between 1945 and 1948, there were a number of demonstrations and protests against the government in South Korea. However, all peaceful demonstrations of citizens ' discontent were suppressed by the US army. The majority of citizens openly opposed the government of Rhee Seung-man, many of them preferred to see a real Korean patriot and independence fighter Kim Gu in this post.
Kim Gu is one of the most popular fighters for Korean independence during the Japanese occupation, who headed the government of independent Korea for 21 years: from 1921 to 1948. In 1945, Kim spoke in South Korea with constant proposals to abandon the guardianship of the USSR and the United States, to abandon the division of the country, which had lived on the same land for thousands of years. Kim believed that Korea should be united under a single flag of the Korean people, not the Soviet and not the American, but the Korean people. He was supported by the majority of residents of the South, and in the South Korean parliament he always enjoyed high authority among colleagues. On banners during the demonstrations, citizens openly appealed to the government with requests to unite at least not all of Korea, but at least the south of Korea under the leadership of Kim Gu.
Kim Gu was a supporter of the unification of South Korea with the North, which he considered more developed in the Korean plan. Therefore, he opposed the elections to the constitutional Assembly in May 1948, where Rhee Seung-man obviously won. In April 1948, in Pyongyang, Kim Gu and Kim Gyusik (vice president under Kim Gu) met with top North Korean officials who were interested in disrupting the 1948 elections in South Korea and nominating Kim Gu, who, moreover, advocated the unification of Korea under, as they thought, the North korean flag (which wasn't quite a true). Everything was perfect for North Korea, there was only one thing left: to disrupt the 1948 elections.
April 20, 1948, Pyongyang. The second day of secret negotiations. Kim Gu and Liu Yuwen, North Korean minister.
Liu: Before the negotiations begin, I would like to assure you that these negotiations are conducted in complete secrecy. We all know our main goals here, and I would really like to talk to an honest, sympathetic person who would easily compromise in order to achieve a common goal.
Kim: I agree with you, Mr. Liu. I assure you that not a single sly word will be uttered by me at this table
- Very good. Mr. Kim, we already said a lot at this table yesterday, but almost nothing was said about Korea.
- /nods confidently/
— I know that you are the one who dreams of the reunification of Korea more than anyone else on this peninsula. This is a beautiful dream, it is familiar to the Great Leader [Kim Il Sung], it is my dream too. However, hand on heart, I can say that a dream is a dream. And there is reality. And, unfortunately, this reality is not always satisfactory for the dreamer. Communists rule in the north, Americans rule in the south. And, unfortunately, we can't do anything about it.
- /opens his mouth, about to object/
- But! But. This is for now. The Communists rule in the north, their power is strong and unshakable. But in the south, Americans are only engaged in deterring their own population from civil war. I think you understand what I'm hinting at?
- Maybe. Do you want to start a civil war in the south?
— You misunderstand me, Mr. Kim. Frankly speaking, I believe that we should unite the north and the south under the flag of one country, right? It will be either north or south. I think, you agree that this is the only way to achieve the desired goal. But to unite Korea, we need a strong hand, a strong government, strong people, a strong regime. I don't think that the Americans have it.
— We want to achieve the same goal in different ways, I believe. I understand that you want to unite Korea under the northern flag, under the Communist flag. But my dream is not just the unification of Korea, my dream is the unification of nations, people, families, not just territories. I assure you, the unification of territories under the flag of one country and at the same time the destruction of another country is not a dream, it is barbarism and disregard for the rights of people in the south. Never before have such actions ended in something good. For that matter, you know that I have always opposed communism. This system is corrupting society, especially a society that does not want to live under communism. You should not go against the decisions of the people.
- /a mocking smile appears on Liu's face/ You are wrong, Mr. Kim. Moreover, have you seen how people live in North Korea, in China, in Russia? And now you can compare it with life in the south. I assure you, I have heard this story a thousand times and I will tell you that the guardianship of a country like Korea in the face of the USSR is the best thing that could happen to this country. You have already seen how the United States tried to create a democratic state in the south: they failed. First there was the parliament, then MacArthur, now Rhee [Seung Man]. 3 years have passed, and the country has never changed after the liberation from Japan. And the people are waiting, and they can't wait long, especially when they live in ruins. By the way, the government of Rhee Seung-man has already established itself as having absolutely nothing to do with the people.
— Well, Mr. Liu. I presume, you're right. But let's now talk about the presidential elections in July.
- Good topic, Mr. Kim. Am I right to say that you are strongly opposed to cooperation with the North?
- Absolutely. This is my final decision.
— Then let's talk about the elections. First of all, are you running for election?
- No. I oppose the elections, as do my people, who know in advance that the American usurper Rhee will win them.
— Well, I understand that our views on the situation in the South Korean government coincide. Then here's my question for you: how are you not going to seize power in Korea through elections?
- By force, Mr. Liu. I believe that this is the only way to defend the rights of the people to choose the president. The people of South Korea are standing up for me and I don't want to disappoint them.
- /before that, Liu, who was looking at his paper, looks at Kim in surprise from under his brows/ (in a whisper) so that's it... (loudly) And how soon are you going to start this, so to speak, uprising?
- on May 10. Just on election day. I have a lot of subordinates, whom I ordered to distribute leaflets to many caring citizens. Among them, well-known activists for the freedom of Korea and ordinary citizens who have suffered the power of the Americans in the country. We have operated in many cities of Korea. On May 10, they will take to the streets of the country's largest cities, including Seoul, thousands of caring citizens will come out, who will begin a march on the headquarters of the American military government. Don't worry about the weapons. We made sure that the forces of the regular army of Korea also stood on our side. Some of them can't stand the American authorities, and I promised each of them to fight against the American usurpers in our country and completely expel them from Korea.
— Can we provide you with military assistance on behalf of the DPRK? I think it's wonderful to see someone like you at the helm of South Korea. Naturally, everything will be transferred in the strictest secrecy. On behalf of North Korea, we will not interfere in a military conflict.
— On behalf of every Korean citizen, I say "thank you" for this help. Such assistance will be very necessary for us in the fight against American usurpers. May God protect you, Mr. Liu.
- May God protect us all.
/ Sincere handshake with smiles on the faces of both politicians/
