After the tragic events of World War II, the Cold War represented how the two superpowers were fighting to gain more territory. The Soviet Union wanted European countries to respect communism while the United States sought to prevent the spread of communism and impose democracy. However, the Soviets took control of the eastern half of Europe and the United States controlled the western half. Communism is a one-party dictatorship in which the government controls economic and political decisions based on a five-year plan. On the other hand, democracy is where the people elect the president and are protected by the rule of law. From 1947 to 1991, the Cold War came into force and led to decolonization, political and diplomatic confrontation, and the arms race. Many regional conflicts occurred during the Cold War and were noted as significant battles that later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts was India and Pakistan fighting for their independence. In 1947 India came under the control of Great Britain and gained independence. However, the country was divided between Muslims and Hindus, who share different religions. Muslims wanted church and state to become unified while Hindus wanted separation of these two institutions. Since these two ethnic groups were at odds, it was difficult to create a new government. Therefore, India was divided into two nations: India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims. Hindus and Muslims rushed to the border to join their nation state, which led to the deaths of 500,000 people due to the riots. However, Mohandas Gandhi, a member of the Indian National Congress, wanted to achieve peace between these two religions. Pakistan has rejected the H...... middle of paper ...... of democratic elections. Once the Vietnamese people choose their president, the country will be unified again. Although many Vietnamese loved Ho Chi Minh as he freed them from colonial oppression. The United States refused to allow Vietnam to reunify under a communist regime because the national policy was one of containment. Furthermore, President Eisenhower believed that Southeast Asian countries would participate in the domino theory, which held that if one country in Vietnam became communist, the rest of Southeast Asia would also become communist. Prime Minister Diem canceled the US-influenced election process to stop the spread of communism and prevent Ho Chi Minh from becoming the leader of Vietnam. Since this was the Cold War period, the USA, USSR and PRC started the Second Indochina War.