The world faced a new form of ideological warfare following World War II; the Cold War. Between capitalism and communism, the United States and the USSR, the world was now divided into two opposing sides. Due to the spread of communism by the Soviet Union throughout Asian nations, the United States had to devise measures to halt the spread of the belief and promote democracy and liberalization throughout the continent. For the next decades, the two superpowers continually antagonized each other through political manoeuvring, military coalitions, arms buildups, propaganda, economic aid, espionage, and proxy wars fought in foreign territories, until the fall of the Soviet Union with the end of the Cold War in 1991.
There were primarily two reasons why the crisis-filled Cold War lasted for so long: Highly contradicting beliefs and political rivalry, and the presence of nuclear weapons. A direct confrontation would have been too costly for both sides, so it was avoided, leaving only an indirect
…show more content…
First, the Korean War is considered a basic military war, whereas the Vietnam War resembled more of a guerrilla war. The terrain is completely different in the countries. In Korea, towards the end of the fighting, conditions had turned towards the negative side of the thermometer. Frostbite was the most serious cold-weather ailment, but soldiers also suffered from frozen rations, icy terrain, jammed weapons, and a lack of cold weather gear during the first winter of the Korean War. Soldiers in Vietnam did not have to worry about being too cold. The subtropical climate, landscape, and fauna of Vietnam also took their toll on US forces. Because of the heat, humidity, monsoonal rain, and groundwater, soldiers were fighting, not only with the enemies hidden in the jungle, but also constantly drenched uniforms with sweat or water, and dehydration; not to mention the spreading