The document summarizes several proxy wars that occurred during the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union. These include the Korean War, Vietnam War, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Chilean coup, Angolan Civil War, war in Afghanistan, and Greek Civil War. In each conflict, the two superpowers supported opposing sides through military aid, training, or direct involvement as the conflicts became proxies for the larger ideological battle between capitalism and communism.

1. Proxy Wars Proxy Wars: A war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other face to face. Logan Shaw November 30, 2010

2. Korean War June 25, 1950 – 1953 Korean Peninsula This war was a conflict between Communist and Non-Communist forces in Korea. By the end of the war, Korea was divided into two zones of occupation; a communist Soviet zone and a non-communist american zone. Increased tensions between Soviet influenced North Korea and American influenced South Korea caused North Korea to invade South Korea. This was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War. The South Korea fighters were the UN (Republic of Korea, U.S.A, U.K, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey) who were aided by Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and India. The commanders and leaders of this side were Syngman Rhee, Chung II-kwon, and Paik Sun-yup from the Republic of Korea, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Matthew Ridgwat, and Mark Wayne Clark from the U.S, Clement Attlee from the U.K, Robert Menzies from New Zealand, Louis St. Laurent from Canada, Elidio Quirino and Fidel V. Ramos from the Philippines, and Tahsin Yazici from Turkey. The North Korea attackers were the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China, and the Soviet Union, who were aided by Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. The Commanders and leaders of this side were Kim II-sung, Choi Yong-kun and Kim Chaek of the DPRK, Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai of PRC, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. Both the Soviet Union and the United States would have benefitted from this war for the fact that North Korea was communist and South Korea was a non-communist country.

3. http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/guide-to-korea-history.html

4. 1 November 1955 (1955-11-01)– 30 April 1975 (1975-04-30) South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos Vietnam Vietnam was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 . This followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, against the government of South Vietnam, supported by the US and other anti-communist nations. The South Vietnam forces consisted of South Vietnam, (led by Ngô Đình Diệm, Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, and Cao Văn Viên and 11 others), United States, (led by Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, William Westmoreland, Creighton Abrams, and 14 others), South Korea, (led by Park Chung-hee, Chae Myung-shin, and Lee Se-ho), Australia, ( led by Robert Menzies, Harold Holt, and 3 others), New Zealand, (led by Keith Holyoake), Philippines, (led by Ferdinand Marcos), Thailand, (led by Thanom Kittikachorn), Cambodia, (led by Lon Nol and Sosthene Fernandez), Republic of China, and Laos, (led by Vang Pao). The North Vietnam forces consisted of North Vietnam, (led by Ho Chi Minh, Ton Duc Thang, and 8 others), Vietcong, (led by Nguyen Van Linh, Vo Chi Cong, and 2 others), Khmer Rogue, (led by Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan), People’s Republic of China, (led by Mao Zedong), North Korea, and the Soviet Union, (led by Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, and 2 others.) This war increased tensions between the Superpowers for the fact that the communists were still fighting the Capitalists.

5. http://weaponsandtactics.coolpage.biz/vietnam_war_images.htm

6. Bay of Pigs Invasion April 17-19, 1961 Bay of Pigs, Southern Cuba The main combatants of this were John F. Kennedy and the U.S, along with Cuban Exiles against Cuba. This battle occurred less than 3 months after Kennedy assumed Presidency of the United States. The Cuban armed forces, who were trained and equipped by the Eastern Bloc Nations, managed to defeat the Cuban Exiles within 3 days. Of the 234,000 Cuban Militia, Armed Police, and Army, about 4000-5000 were killed, about 176 of them being from the regular army. This war benefited the USSR since the US failed because the Cuban government disliked the US and Cuba’s international and trade relations with the USSR grew stronger. Tensions grew between USSR and the US as well as between the US and Cuba

7. http://mycubanthing.com/the-return-to-cuba-thing/

8. September 11, 1973 Chile, South America Chilean Coup d’état Salvador Allende served as a Chilean Politician for nearly 40 years and was elected as a socialist President in 1970. Throughout the years, the CIA interfered with the elections to ensure that a Socialist government wasn’t elected. Allende was overthrown in a CIA-backed Chilean military coup d’état on September 11, 1973. Elections were characterized by the interference of the two warring powers in the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States had supported and financed the candidacy of right-wing former president Jorge Alessandri. Air Force, Navy, Carabineros (police force) and the Army led by General Augusto Pinochet along with the United States were against the Socialist Chilean government, the Soviet Union and the KGB and the Cubans. Salvador Allende had no Chile military support at all, and was over thrown without must resistant. Less than 60 people total were killed, most of them being from the Coup d’état.

9. http://www.bukisa.com/topics/presidents-of-chile

10. Angolan Civil War . The main combatants of this war were South Africa, FNLA ([Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola or National Liberation Front of Angola], led by Holden Roberto), and UNITA ([UniãoNacional para a Independência Total de Angola or National Union for the Total Independance of Angola], led by Jonas Savimbi), against the MPLA ([Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola or People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party], led by José Eduardo dos Santo and Agostinho Neto), Cuba, (led by Fidel Castro), AAF( [Angolan Armed Forces]) and Mozambique. It was a war of Independence and it started between the Communist MPLA and the Anti-Communist UNITA. The UNITA faction (UNITA, FNLA and South Africa) were supported by Zaire, The United States, and People’s Republic of China. The MPLA faction (MPLA, Cuba, AAF, Mozambique) were supported by the Soviet Union and Sweden. This war happened between three Periods. 1975-1991, 1992-1994, and 1998-2002. An estimated 500,000 were killed in the 27 year period. Both the United States and the Soviet Union considered this war to be critical to the global “Balance of Power” and to the outcome of the Cold War. 1975 – August 2002 Angola, Portugal

11. http://blog.africaimports.com/wordpress/?p=2872

12. 27 December 1979 – 15 February 1989 Afghanistan Afghanistan The Soviet War in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. 700 Soviet, including KGB and GRU special force officers , and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Mujahideen, who were backed by the U.S, U.K, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and other Muslim Nations. It eventually cost the U.S about $750 million to equip and support the Mujahideen, which eventually led to the Soviet Forces retreating, leaving the Afghan soldiers by themselves to fight against the well-armed forces of the Mujahideen. This increased tension amongst the U.S and S.U for the fact that the U.S defeated the Soviets, and also probably caused tension between the Soviets and Afghan soldiers for the fact the Soviets just left the Afghan soldiers.

13. http://professornerdster.blogspot.com/2010/06/ussr-war-in-afghanistan-1979-1988-part_03.html

14. 1946–1949 Greece Greek Civil War The first signs of the civil war occurred in 1942–1944, during the Occupation. With the Greek government in exile unable to influence the situation at home, various resistance groups of differing political affiliations emerged. The war was fought between the Greek governmental army, supported by the United Kingdom and United States, against the Democratic Army of Greece (ΔΣΕ) (Greek initials are DSE), the military branch of the Greek Communist Party KKE, backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, and the Soviet Union. U.S. financial aid stabilized the Greek government and its military assistance helped force the ELAS back to the North, and Yugoslavia ended its support of the Greek rebels in July 1948, which resulted in the ELAS to announced its surrender on August 28, 1949. This war benefitted the U.S for the fact that once the war was over, the Greeks were vehemently left with an anti-communist security establishment, which would lead to the establishment of the Greek military Junta of 1967–1974, and a legacy of political polarization which lasted until the 1980s.

15. http://inter.kke.gr/News/2006new/2006-09-civil1/

16. Websites and Other Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_war en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Chilean_coup_d'%C3%A9tat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/greek.htm# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Civil_War Perspectives on Ideology Textbook