From Seoul to the Super: The Korean War and Other Hot Zones in the Early Cold War

This set of 4 lectures examines the origins and evolution of America’s so-called

“forgotten war,” a conflict that involved Korea, America, China and the Soviet Union in

ways that constantly threatened to tip the Cold War into a hot world war. We will also

explore the development of Russia’s nuclear program and America’s development of the

hydrogen bomb, the “Super” and the ways that each introduced whole new levels of

uncertainty and instability into the first decade of the Cold War. We will examine

figures such as Douglas MacArthur, Mao Tse-tung, Dean Acheson, Kim Il-sung, Edward

Teller, and Joe McCarthy.