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The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (1947–1991) was fought mostly without direct battles between the two. They competed instead through weapons, science, sport, films, propaganda and the race into space.

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The story behind the card

George Orwell used the phrase “cold war” in 1945, and the American journalist Walter Lippmann made it popular in 1947. Because nuclear weapons made open war between the superpowers too dangerous, the rivalry spread into other arenas. After the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, the United States passed the National Defense Education Act of 1958 to fund science, maths and language teaching. In 1959, at an American exhibition in Moscow, Vice-President Richard Nixon and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev argued about capitalism and communism in a model kitchen, an exchange remembered as the Kitchen Debate. In 1972 in Reykjavík, the American Bobby Fischer beat the Soviet champion Boris Spassky for the world chess title. The Olympics were boycotted in turn: the United States and many allies stayed away from Moscow in 1980, and most of the Soviet bloc from Los Angeles in 1984.

Türkçe oku
ABD ile Sovyetler Birliği arasındaki Soğuk Savaş (1947–1991) boyunca iki ülke birbiriyle neredeyse hiç doğrudan savaşmadı. Onun yerine silahlanmada, bilimde, sporda, sinemada, propagandada ve uzayda rekabet ettiler.

“Soğuk savaş” sözünü George Orwell 1945'te kullanmıştı; Amerikalı gazeteci Walter Lippmann da 1947'de yaygınlaştırdı. Nükleer silahlar iki süper güç arasında açık bir savaşı fazla tehlikeli kıldığı için rekabet başka alanlara taştı. Sovyetler Birliği 1957'de Sputnik uydusunu fırlatınca ABD, 1958'de fen, matematik ve yabancı dil öğretimini destekleyen Ulusal Savunma Eğitimi Yasası'nı çıkardı. 1959'da Moskova'daki bir Amerikan sergisinde ABD Başkan Yardımcısı Richard Nixon ile Sovyet lideri Nikita Kruşçev, sergilenen örnek bir mutfakta kapitalizmi ve komünizmi tartıştı; bu karşılaşma “Mutfak Tartışması” olarak anılır. 1972'de Reykjavik'te Amerikalı Bobby Fischer, Sovyet dünya şampiyonu Boris Spasski'yi yenerek unvanı aldı. Olimpiyatlar da sırayla boykot edildi: ABD ve pek çok müttefiki 1980'de Moskova'ya gitmedi, Sovyet bloğunun çoğu da 1984'te Los Angeles'a.

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Background reading: Cold War
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