other cold war events
the cold War spread to other parts of the world as well. the Soviet Union tried to expand their influence to Asian countries. Mao Zedong became the first communist leader in China in 1949. the Chinese nationalists were driven off the mainland to Taiwan. in the years that followed, however, China challenged the Soviet leadership in the Communist world. after World War 2 the Soviets occupied the northern part of Korea and set up a Communist led allied forces against the Communist north. after three years of fighting the Korea War came to an end. the peninsula was divided into north and South Korea.