Proxy War Vs Korean War

Even though war is costly and deadly, why has it been a recurring tactic in history?

Is it to gain power? Is it to win a dispute? War correspondent, Christopher Hedges believes that war gives people a sense of honor and purpose (Sernau, 2012, p. 152). Throughout history, the tactics of war have shifted. In ancient history, armies used limited war strategies to conquer territories. During World War II, countries used total war methods such as using more deadly and technologically advanced weaponry to win battles. By the end of World War II, a new form of war called The Cold War emerged between the United States and The Soviet Union. The Cold War was an era of tension between the two countries based on political disagreements. What made this

After World War II, Korea branched into two regions. The Soviet’s occupied North while the United State’s occupied South (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). By 1950, the split appeared to be permanent. The North wanted to reunite Korea so they decided to invade and overrun the southern capital, Seoul. That is when the United Nation decided to intervene in this conflict by helping the south and denouncing the invasion. The South Koreans broke free of Northern Korea forces and entered forcefully into the Chinese boarder” (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). However, this conflict escalated when the communist leader of China, Mao Zedong, got involved. China stated that if the United Nations invaded their border, they would have no choice but to intervene (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). Therefore, the Chinese forced the U.N. back to the southern boarders. Eventually, this “seesaw conflict” became an issue of nuclear war (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). In order to avoid nuclear war, the United States had to agree to a policy that focused the containment of communism rather than the destruction (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). By 1953, a stalemate draft was created to end the conflict between the divided country, however South Korea decided to not sign it (Sernau, 2012, p.

Once Vietnam gained independence from France in the late 1940’s, Vietnam was insights for a new political leader. The person most likely to win the election was Ho Chi Minh. This became problematic for the United States because even though Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese nationalist, he considered himself a communist (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). Due to the uncertainty of political direction, in 1954, a compromise plan was created that divided Northern Vietnam into Soviet influence and Southern Vietnam under the United State’s influence (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). Over time, the division in region seemed it would become permanent, so Ho Chi Minh formed the Vietcong army, which was backed and funded by the Soviet’s, thus beginning the civil war (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). Because the United States feared the expansion of communism, they decided to intervene in Vietnam’s civil war by assisting the southern government by sending troops. After years of difficult guerrilla warfare and the loss of thousands of soldiers, the United States decided to sign a peace treaty and withdraw their troops (Sernau, 2012, p. 154). Unfortunately, in 1975, the peace treaty was disregarded by North Vietnam and they took over the southern government. Thus making Vietnam a communist country. However, this time, the United States chose not to