Answer/Explanation:
A traditional war is where two or more countries are fighting each other directly, like WWI or WW2. Traditional wars are (as they sound) traditional. These are how most wars were fought throughout history. A proxy war is where a war is instigated by one or more major powers but the major power itself does not actually get involved.
A good example would be the Cold War. The Cold War had many proxy wars within it; for example the Vietnam war. In the Vietnam war, the North was communist and the south was not. The Russians (USSR) was supplying North Vietnam and the Viet Cong (VC) with training and weaponry such as guns, tanks, planes, etc. But Russia (The USSR) never actually fought in the war itself, while America and their plan to contain communism, went and fought directly in Vietnam.