When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Episode 37: Burning Chinese takes our story back a bit to late September, in roughly the same timeframe we covered in the last episode, to examine how the American policy was developed as the Chinese became ever more pressed to involve themselves. The official picture in Washington and among the UN allies, and of course in General MacArthur’s mind, was that no matter what they publicly said, the Chinese would not, could not intervene, and that thus, all evidence to the contrary was bluff or the intrigue of some communist agent. America’s leaders worked hard to reinforce this message, and it certainly likely that some heartily believed that there was no sense in stopping at the 38th parallel now that the North Koreans – the aggressors – were clearly in flight. Yet, it is inconceivable, as we’ve learned, that the Truman administration did not plan or think to plan for what may have occurred if Mao Zedong did decide to send his forces over the Yalu River. Indeed, if you believe my research, we have seen tha