Similarities

							Done by: Lee Jin Loong 4P3
           Howard Liu 4P3
              Li Han YI 4S2
       Kok Xuan Liang 4S2
   The Korean War (25 June 1950 – armistice signed 27 July
    1953) was a conventional war between South Korea,
    supported by the United Nations, and North Korea,
    supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with
    military material aid from the Soviet Union.

   The war was a result of the physical division of Korea by an
    agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of
    the Pacific War at the end of World War II.

   The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until
    the end of World War II.

   Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, American
    administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th
    Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern
    part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part.
   The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean
    Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two
    sides, and the North established a Communist government.

   The 38th Parallel increasingly became a political border
    between the two Koreas.

   Although reunification negotiations continued in the
    months preceding the war, tension intensified.

   Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel
    persisted.

   The situation escalated into open warfare when North
    Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. It was
    the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War.
   The United Nations, particularly the United States, came
    to the aid of South Korea in repelling the invasion, but
    within two months the defenders were pushed back to
    the Pusan perimeter, a small area in the south of the
    country, before the North Koreans were stopped.

   A rapid UN counter-offensive then drove the North Koreans
    past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, and the
    People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the
    side of the North.

   The Chinese launched a counter-offensive that pushed the
    United Nations forces back across the 38th Parallel.

   The Soviet Union materially aided the North Korean and
    Chinese armies.
   In 1953, the war ceased with an armistice that
    restored the border between the Koreas near the
    38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized
    Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) wide buffer zone
    between the two Koreas. Minor outbreaks of fighting
    continue to the present day

   With both North and South Korea sponsored by
    external powers, the Korean War was a proxy war

   From a military science perspective, it combined
    strategies and tactics of World War I and World War
    II: it began with a mobile campaign of
    swift infantry attacks followed by airbombing raids,
    but became a static trench war by July 1951.
   The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that
    occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1
    November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975
    This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought
    between North Vietnam, supported by its communist
    allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by
    the United States and other anti-communist nations
   The Viet Cong, a lightly armed South Vietnamese
    communist-controlled common front, largely fought
    a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the
    region.
   TheVietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army)
    engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing
    large units into battle
    U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air
    superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search
    and destroy operations, involving ground
    forces,artillery and airstrikes
   The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a
    way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as
    part of their wider strategy of containment
    The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as
    a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by
    the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it
    regarded as a U.S. puppet state.
    U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S.
    involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop
    levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.
   U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965.
    Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia
    heavily bombed.
   Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet
    Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were withdrawn
    as part of a policy called Vietnamization.
    Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in
    January 1973, fighting continued.
 China involvement in Korean War
 * On 20 August 1950, Premier Zhou Enlai warned
  the US they would intervene against the UN
  Command in Korea to safeguard their own
  interests
 * China joined in the war on the side of the
  North Koreans in 25 October 1950 with 200
  thousand troops
 * Chinese troops pushed the UN troops back to
  the south, but was pushed up again to the 38th
  parallel, causing a stalemate
 * On April 1950 Stalin's support for Kim Il-Sung’s
  policy to unify Korea under his authority was
  secured when the latter travelled to Moscow.
 * Stalin only agreed to the invasion in principle
  but would not be directly involved, instead
  suggesting Kim Il-Sung to seek Chinese
  assistance.
 * The USSR, a veto-wielding power, had
  boycotted the Council meetings since January
  1950, allowing the United Nations Security
  Council to unanimously condemn the North
  Korean invasion of the Republic of Korea on 25
  June 1950
   * Stalin initially agreed to send military equipment
    and ammunition after being approached by Zhou
    Enlai but warned that the USSR's air force needed
    two or three months to prepare.
   * Afterwards, Stalin told Zhou that he would only
    provide China with equipment on a credit basis, and
    that the Soviet air force would only operate over
    Chinese airspace, and only after an undisclosed
    period of time.
   * Stalin did not agree to send either military
    equipment or air support until March 1951.
   * Soviet shipments consisted of small quantities of
    trucks, grenades, machine guns, and the like.
 * 1962 - Mao Zedong agreed to supply Hanoi with
  90,000 rifles and guns free of charge.
 * 1965 - China sent anti-aircraft units and
  engineering battalions to North Vietnam to
  repair the damage caused by American bombing,
  rebuild roads and railroads, and to perform other
  engineering works. This freed North Vietnamese
  army units for combat in the South.
 * October 1968 - the Chinese demanded North
  Vietnam cut relations with Moscow, but Hanoi
  refused as Sino-Soviet relations had worsened
 * July 1970 – China withdrew all support from
  Vietnam
 * Soviet ships in the South China Sea gave
  warnings of American bombers to Viet Cong
  forces in South Vietnam
 * Supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies,
  arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, anti-
  aircraft missiles and other military equipment
 * Stationed 3000 troops in Vietnam and had less
  than a dozen losses
*  Soviet crews fired USSR-made surface-
  to-air missiles at the B-52 bombers
 * Military schools and academies of the
  USSR began training Vietnamese soldiers
  — more than 10 thousand people.
 * 2 million dollars Soviet money donated
  to war effort
During Vietnam War
  Both countries supported the Communists
 (North Vietnam) and provided great amounts
       of material and military support
                             USSR
CHINA
                              Sent intelligence ships for
 Supplied 90,000 guns         detection of USA B-52
  and rifles                   bombers
 Supplied anti-aircraft      Supplied medical supplies,
  units                        arms, tanks, planes,
 Sent engineering             helicopters, artillery, anti-
  battalions to free North     aircraft missiles and other
  Vietnamese troops of         military equipment
  engineering works for       Donated money of more
  war                          than 2 million dollars a day
 Supplied rice to free       Supplied upper-rank
  farmers for war              manpower from the USSR
 Sent military advisors       Armed Forces
                              Provided training for North
                               Vietnamese soldiers
During Korean War
  Both countries supported the Communists
China                   USSR
 Full military          Supported China’s
  intervention to aid     intervention
  North Korea             (Stalin’s verbal
                          claim)
                         Provided China with
                          scarce amounts of
                          resources – guns,
                          grenades, trucks, 3
                          anti-aircraft
                          divisions, 2 air force
                          divisions (resources
                          came rather late)
   The Soviet Union (USSR) and         Hence the USSR was different
    People’s Republic of China           than the PRC in that the
    (PRC) had different roles            USSR was first to occupy
    during the Korean War                North Korea
   It was the USSR who first           PRC only entered the war
    occupied the Northern part           when USA begin to invade
    of Korea and the USA the             South Korea
    South                                Also, while the USSR only
    The USSR provided financial         provide financial support
    support for North Korea and          towards North Korea and
    both the USSR and PRC                refuses to clash with the
    encouraged North Korea to            USA’s army, the PRC army
    occupy South Korea.                  helped the North Korea army
                                         to push back the USA’s troops
   The USA was very worried            The PRC had provided more
    about this and sent its troops       military support for North
    across the 38th parallel to          Korea than the USSR during
    invade North Korea. It was           the Korean War.
    then that the PRC felt
    threatened and enters the
    war.
   During the Vietnam war, both       However, the Soviet Union
    PRC and USSR provided               was too trapped in its
    support towards Ho Chi Minh         competition with the Chinese
    and his communist ideologies        and preconcepts with the US
   However, the communist              that they provided support to
    party in Vietnam is a closer        North Vietnam nonetheless.
    match to Soviet communism          During the war, China sent
    than Chinese communism              much military support
    The USSR was not                   towards the North Vietnam
    particularly eager for North        army, with nearly $20million
    Vietnam to battle against the       worth of military aid- almost
    USA’s armies- it was China          ¾ of the total military aid
    role that encouraged                given.
    Vietnam to engage in a battle      The USSR provided mostly
    against the USA.                    military equipment as
                                        opposed to China who
                                        contributed much larger in
                                        their support of Vietnam with
                                        vast amount of troops and
                                        funds.