ABSTRACT
From the late 1940s to the late 1980s, the Cold War marked the apparent culmination of military history, being the latest as well as then current stage both of total war and of an approach to confrontation and conflict in terms of symmetrical warfare. During the war, the Chinese made a full transition to a conventional army, with tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft, continuing the process started during the Chinese Civil War. Over three million people had died in the war. A total of 33,741 were classified as American battle deaths, with 2,827 non-battle deaths, but the vast majority of casualties were Korean; the same was true for Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. The Korean War also greatly increased American sensitivity to developments and threats in East Asia, leading to an extension of the containment policy towards the communist powers.
