Final answer:
The two 'hot wars' during the Cold War were the Korean War and the Vietnam War. These conflicts saw the direct military engagement of the forces, with the United States and its allies on one side, and communist forces backed by the Soviet Union and China on the other.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Cold War period, there were indeed two significant 'hot wars'. One was the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. The other was the Vietnam War, which extended from 1955 to 1975, though the most intense conflict occurred in the 1960s. These wars are considered 'hot' because they involved active, direct conflict—unlike the Cold War's characteristic ideological and proxy conflicts, where the United States and the Soviet Union avoided direct military confrontation.
The Korean War saw North and South Korea, the former backed by Soviet and Chinese forces and the latter supported by U.S. and other United Nations forces, engaged in a brutal conflict. The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam, also supported by the Soviets and Chinese, against South Vietnam with U.S. military involvement. Both wars were part of the larger Cold War struggle, with the superpowers supporting opposing sides ideologically aligned with them.