On the 2nd of September, 1945, with the Empire of Japan’s unconditional surrender, the Second World War and greatest conflict in human history finally ceased. But it shouldn't take long for the next great war to loom on the horizon.

Only 1752 days after World War II, the world faced conflict again. On the Korean peninsula, liberated at the end of 1945 after decades of Japanese rule and divided into a communist North and western democratic South, war broke loose over ideological differences and the desire for unification by force.

On the 25th of June, 1950, troops from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea invaded the South with a vengeance, conquering nearly the entire country in the following weeks. The USA however, leading the defense of their protégé, successfully maintained a bridgehead in the besieged country and later, then under the flag and with further support of the United Nations, managed to drive the Communist forces back.

During the Korean War, the revolution in military technology experienced during World War II became increasingly apparent. The dusk of the piston fighter era saw the dawn of highly sophisticated jet aircraft, capable of transonic speeds and equipped with modern and deadly ordnance and weaponry.

Notable examples, of course, are the famous North American F-86 Sabre and its Soviet counterpart, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15.

Following the advance of UN troops, Chinese “volunteer brigades” intervened on behalf of the North, leading to a stalemate of forces close to the borders preceding the war. Here, a bloody struggle was fought over months with only little territorial gain and loss, before a ceasefire was signed and hostilities ended. Implications of the Korean War are felt until this very day, as peaceful unification of the two brother states and former belligerents remain wishful thinking.

The War Thunder team