Explain how and why both the USSR and the USA got involved in the Korean War.

There were many reasons as to why both the USSR and the USA entered the Korean War, however the underlying reason that the Korean War erupted was because it was merely another episode in the ongoing Cold War between these two super-powers. On the surface, the Korean War seemed to be a war between South Korea and North Korea, but in actuality the superpowers were using it as a front to combat each other without …

…Mao Tse Tung, the leader of China, to get his support. <Tab/>As we can see, there were various reasons why the superpowers entered the Korean War however the fundamental reason was that they wanted to combat each other without entering into 'hot' conflict. The USSR and the USA fought each other through the eyes of North and South Korea in an effort to gain an upper-hand in the Cold War.