Which war is the main setting of the M*A*S*H television series?

The main setting of the M*A*S*H television series is the Korean War.

Most stories follow doctors, nurses, and support staff working at the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital near Uijeongbu, South Korea. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953, giving the series a defined historical setting even though it was produced decades later.

The show was not set during World War II, the Vietnam War, or the Gulf War. However, its writers used the Korean setting to comment indirectly on modern American military conflicts, especially the Vietnam War, which was still underway when the series began.

M*A*S*H deliberately blended historical detail with fictional characters and situations. The medical unit was invented for the story, but the experiences of real Korean War surgeons influenced many episodes. That mixture allowed the series to explore battlefield medicine, military bureaucracy, friendship, grief, and the moral strain of war.