Korean War
Despite it not getting as much press and media coverage at the time, when the Korean War started on June 25, 1950, it was the official start of the Cold War. The Republic of Korea (now South Korea) was supported by the US and opposed the communist regime, whereas the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (now North Korea) was pro-communism and supported by the Soviet Union.
The Korean War lasted only three years, but it claimed approximately 5 million lives, 40,000 of which were American lives, with another 100,000 soldiers injured during the conflict!The war, however, was not successful for either side, as it ended in an armistice and left a border between the two countries and tensions that still exist today.
Back then, the whole affair cost American taxpayers around $30 billion, which was calculated only for the military operations at the time. It may not sound like a lot, but when you take into consideration that if you convert those to the purchasing power the dollar had in 2020 to adjust for inflation, it ends up costing around $290 billion!
