How long would the Korean War last if the Nationalists had won the Chinese Civil War?
Short answerThe familiar Korean War probably would not occur, because without Communist control of China the Soviet Union would struggle to establish and support a Communist North Korea.
NotesA Nationalist victory in China would probably prevent the Korean War from taking the form known from actual history. Without a Communist China, the Soviet Union would have much greater difficulty supporting a Communist takeover in northern Korea. Moscow could still try to exert influence, but the regional political and logistical setting would be substantially different. One possible outcome would be an authoritarian, American-backed Korean state rather than the divided peninsula produced by the actual postwar settlement.