First Military Conflict of the "Cold War"
The Cold War was the conflict between the USSR (Soviet Union) and the West. However, that conflict never came into open warfare ( "hot war") because the use of nuclear weapons is what made hot war mad. Both sides try to undermine and destroyed each other but they dare not to actually fight. The first military conflict of the Cold War was the Korean War. The Korean War was initiated when the Communist-North Korea invaded South Korea. North Korea wanted to reunite the country together under Communist government. However, South Korea did not want to rule under a communist government. When North Korea attacked South Korea, their goal was to have all of Korea to rule under communism.
The Impact of the Korean War
Before, the Cold War was that the weapons were economic and diplomatic. However, when the Korean War started the Cold War became "heated" up. The Korean War was the first major clash between the Communist forces and the Free World. However, since the Korean War stayed in the Korean peninsula and did not expand into a wider war, it helped the West's policy of containment of Communism. During the Cold War, this policy dominated most of the international relations. The Korean War was the beginning of later wars that proceed during the Cold War Era. It led to an endless chain of small, bloody battles all of the world such as in Cuba, Central Africa, South East Asia, Afghanistan, and many others. Containment was leading to massive military and economic aids by leading nations of both Communist and West worlds to develop nations that are considered to be important strategically. Containment supported repressive political regimes that were in poor nations. The debate of containment continued for a long period of time and is still being debated today.
Implications
The implications that I can draw on the role the Korean War played on the Cold War process is that it initiated many small battles that follow after this. The Korean War did not really resolve anything; it did not reunite Korea and it barely solved the problem of communism. Containment that was used during the Korean War was a debate that went on through the Cold War. The Korean War was the event that led to a time period, the Cold War Era, that affected mankind forever.