After the tragic events of World War II, the Cold War represented how the two superpowers fought to gain more territory. The Soviet Union wanted European countries to respect communism while the United States tried to prevent the spread of communism and impose democracy. However, the Soviets took control of the eastern half of Europe and the United States 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 took effect and led to decolonization, political and diplomatic clashes, and an arms race. During the Cold War, many regional conflicts took place and were considered important battles which later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts was between India and Pakistan 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 be unified while Hindus wanted separation of these two establishments. These two ethnic groups being at odds, it was difficult to create a new government. India was therefore divided into two nations: India for Hindus and Pakistan for Muslims. Hindus and Muslims were rushing to the border to join their nation-state, leading to the death of 500,000 people due to rioting. However, Mohandas Gandhi, a member of the Indian National Congress, wanted peace between these two religions. Pakistan has refused democratic elections in the middle of paper. Once the Vietnamese people choose their president, the country will be unified again. Although many Vietnamese loved Ho Chi Minh since he liberated them from colonial oppression. The United States refused to allow Vietnam to reunify under communist rule because the national policy was containment. Additionally, 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 American-influenced electoral process in order to stop the spread of communism and prevent Ho Chi Minh from becoming the leader of Vietnam. As it was the Cold War period, USA, USSR and PRC started the Second Indochina War..