United States Involvement in the Korean War

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United States involvement during the Cold War began with the Korean War. The War started on June 25, 1950 when troops from North Korea entered the 38th parallel, which was the boundary established after World War II between North Korea and South Korea. The North was supported by the Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China while the South was later supported by the U.S and its allies. Their attack was one of the first military measures of the Cold War (“Korean War”). Once North Korea invaded South Korea, U.S. involvement took place to prevent further communist regime and their involvement aided in several military developments and also left lasting political and diplomatic affects during the Cold War. U.S. participation was centered on America’s foreign policies at the time. Although the War did not break out until June of 1950, several conflicts brewed over the attempt to take over the entire nation under one rule for several years after World War II. The majority of these conflicts took place at the 38th parallel where Korea was split. Decisions influenced by President Harry S. Truman and his doctrine, which was essentially the policy to contain the spread of communism, gave the United Nations an opportunity to prevent global domination through communism (“Teaching with Documents”). The fear of international communism from the powers of The Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China was the main reason that caused the United States to intervene. In addition to the prevention of communism, President Truman’s decision was also influenced by the apprehensive environment during The Cold War. The Soviet Union was able to ruin the United States as the monopoly of nuclear bombs in 1949 when they successfully detonated their firs... ... middle of paper ... ... of the Korean War”). In Conclusion, the U.S decisive decision to enter the war was caused by the desire to politically rule and, in essence, prevent the world domination of communist rule. The War also resulted in several major advancements in military, such as use of helicopters as air ambulances and the national blood banking program which changed the handling of blood in the long way. The technological advances in the Korean War, “as the Russians and the Americans invested heavily in technology to outdo each other, both in the missile race and in the space race,” (“Impact of the Korean War”) impacted various aspects of technology, medicine, and transportation. The conflict also began the first ‘Proxy war’ of the Cold War, prolonged tensions with China, and instead deepened them against the Soviet Union, which initiated the Cold War with the division of Korea.

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