The Korean War (1950-53)

September 2, 2015June 13, 2017 Aaron Potter 1950, cold war, fifties, korea, north korea, south korea, The Korean War, uk, USA, war by ‘Proxy’

During the aftermath of the Second World War, both Russia and America had jointly liberated Korea from the Japanese who had since controlled it from 1910. By 1948, two separate governments were set up in Korea as it was divided at what was known as the 38^th parallel, originally intended as a temporary measure. The communist USSR controlled North Korea and the capitalist USA controlled South Korea.

Upon it’s outbreak in 1950, The Korean War can be considered a clear example of a war by ‘Proxy’, meaning USSR and USA ideologies conflicted, but on their behalf within Korea. North Korea fought to secure domination on behalf of Russia whilst South Korea sought to defend their capitalised government on behalf of the USA. It was clear that The Cold War was becoming more and more hot.

The Korean War itself was fought much like that of the Trench warfare in WWI, with both sides regularly pushing each other back and forth, this time across the 38^th parallel. It was difficult for both the USA and USSR to fight this war traditionally as they could not be seen directly fighting with each other for fear of increasing tensions further.

Because of this, the United Nations (a sort of world police with a lot of American support) chose to help the Southern defenders whilst Stalin and the USSR secretly supplied weapons and technology to North Korean forces in the hope of stamping out Capitalism in Korea for good.

War between the two Korean sides continued for Four years before the peace settlement was signed on 27 July 1954. This meant that fighting in Korea stopped, but peace talks between the two countries continued. For the time being, the USSR had failed in its goals to push Capitalism out of Korea and American presence still remained in its southern section.

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Aaron Potter

Hello I’m Aaron and like most other people you’ll find on this website I love writing about history, so much that I chose to study it in my home city of Bristol. There is only one past but many histories, and it’s in researching these histories which gets me pumped as I discover a possible untold story.

When I’m not trudging through archives or writing about the past, you can find me sharing my thoughts about all things gaming related at www.rockingameskid.blogspot.co.uk and critiquing movies and movie news on my weekly podcast www.thepictureblock.com.