How it fits together
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became leading rivals. The Cold War involved competing political systems, nuclear weapons, alliances, and indirect conflicts. It was not one continuous battlefield war between the two countries.
A closer look
U.S. leaders used “containment” to describe efforts to prevent communism from spreading. This helps explain the short test answer for both Korea and Vietnam. The wars nevertheless had different origins, participants, and outcomes; a shared test answer does not make their histories identical.