The Cold War conflict was a civil war that became a proxy battle between the superpowers as they clashed over communism and democracy. The United States was not the only leading power on the world stage after the end of World War II; it had a new competitor for this power in the Soviet Union. The fear of communism spreading led to the US becoming involved in various conflicts around the world.
One such conflict was the Korean War, which began in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United States, under President Harry Truman, saw this as a clear attempt to spread communism and decided to intervene to stop its spread. The US entered the war to support South Korea and prevent the communist regime from taking over the entire Korean peninsula.
It is often said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The US saw the Korean War as another front in the battle against communism and saw it as crucial to prevent the spread of this ideology in Asia. The arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 was the beginning of another conflict in the region that would be heavily influenced by the Cold War.
Just a few years after World War II, the Cold War was heating up between communism and capitalism. Communist North Korea shocked the world when it invaded its neighbor to the south. The US saw this as a direct threat to its interests in Asia and decided to intervene to protect its allies and prevent the spread of communism.
Why did the U.S. go to war in Vietnam? This is a question historians continue to debate. One of the main reasons it remains a source of controversy is the fear of communism spreading and the US's desire to prevent this from happening. The Korean War was seen as a precursor to the conflict in Vietnam, with both being part of the larger struggle against communism.
When China entered the Korean War, Chinese Americans scrambled to demonstrate their loyalty to the United States. The fear of communism spreading to other parts of Asia was a major concern for the US, and it saw China's involvement in the conflict as further evidence of the need to stop the spread of this ideology. Today marks the 70th anniversary of an important moment in modern history when Germany was divided into two - into West and East - a division that was heavily influenced by the Cold War.
Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader on June 12, in an attempt to hash out a historic end to the conflict on the Korean peninsula. The US has long been involved in Korea to prevent the spread of communism and to protect its interests in the region. The meeting between Trump and the North Korean leader was seen as a step towards peace and a resolution to a conflict that has lasted for decades.
