ABSTRACT
After the failed spring 1951 offensive by the Chinese and North Korean troops, the Chinese and Americans seemed prepared to accept the fact that a stalemate had been reached. The PRC had been unable to evict UNC forces from Korea and the US leadership was also not now willing to expend the human or material resources required to unify the peninsula. The costs of an expanded war were deemed too great. Major gains in territory would require the use of weapons of mass destruction, and a decision to employ them would escalate the conflict, something neither superpower desired.
