Were the Korea and Vietnam wars key contributors in the eventual decline of Communism?
I'm gonna go into the Korean matter in a little more detail than has been given.
Korea was a total strategic victory for the Soviet Union, at the expense of Korea, China and the United States, in that order.
I remember Stalin being floated around in the "Greatest Statesman" threads, and this is one place you can really make the case for it. He pulled one over on the Koreans first, then the Chinese, then the Americans. Every single one of them came out of it not only worse for wear than the Soviets, but
actually thinking the Soviets were the ones who's interests they converged with.
It wasn't just the kind of painful slog that the Americans inflicted on the Soviets in Afghanistan. Imagine if the Americans had done that, and done it in such a way that the Soviets were actually hopeful for the role America could play in the conflict. And the Afghanis. AND the Foreign Fighters.
The cost of Soviet involvement and orchestration was minimal. The DPRK forces were strong, and yes, were pulverized by the conflict, but their viability as a fighting force would only go down in time without signficant investment. Their biggest strengths were aging fast: Experience in the Chinese Civil War, and surplus WWII equipment. Unless the Soviets sunk the kind of cash they never would into the DPRK, they would never be a significant military partner in the region.
And when that ran out, they got the Chinese to cover them. The Koreans came off it thinking Stalin had leaned on the Chinese to force them to their aid. The Chinese thought Stalin had cleared the way for them to defend their own interests, and was bogging most of the American forces down in Europe for their sake.
And the Americans were so worried about the Chinese, and impressed with the Soviets limited commitment to the DPRK that they thought for the time the Soviets were the more reasonable, moderate faction that they could depend on to repress the tendency towards conflict with the Capitalist block.
The Soviets weakened the United States greatly for a number of years, and nearly inflicted a major military catastrophe on them, with minimal financial or manpower costs, and more impressively with very limited diplomatic fallout.
Tolni said:
Thing with the irregular massacres, is that if someone learns of one, it's even worse than a stream of massacres; you've betrayed the International Community.
The thing with the International Community, is that they get over it quick, if you've paid your membership dues.