On June 25th, 1950, elements of the North Korean Army invaded the South and thrust the Korean Peninsula into war. This prompted much condemnation from the West and resulted in a mobilization which involved the United States in, yet another, global conflict. This time however, the enemy was the West's one-time ally from World War 2 - the Soviet Union. What followed was a bloody years-long conflict that eventually ended in a shaky armistice which exists to this day and North Korean forces were soundly beaten in the initial thrusts - but eventually saved by Chinese involvement. The Korean War marked the first of several 'proxy wars' fought between the East and West.
