Segment 24a Introduction
24段第一部分,简介
Welcome to the Cold War, the epic non-contest pitting the United States and its allies
让我们来了解下冷战的情况,这场史诗般的无硝烟的战争中,美国及其同盟
against the USSR and its allies for control of the whole world.
对抗苏联和其联盟来争夺控制世界的霸权
As opposed to previous world wars the principle competitors, the United States and the USSR, did not actually fight.
和之前的世界大战不同,主要的竞争者美国和苏联并没有真正发生战争
They relied on propaganda, proxy wars, diplomatic tricks and an arms race which bankrupted one nation and nearly bankrupted the other.
他们借助的是宣传,代理人战争,外交诡计和军备竞赛,这拖垮了整个国家,也差点拖垮了另一个国家
Because both sides possess nuclear arms and the ability to deliver them anywhere in the world
因为双方都进行了核武器的开发,并开发将核武器发射到世界各处的能力
it was assumed that if one power nuked another, the other would retaliate.
假设一方对另一方使用核武器,另一方必会进行报复
This was called MAD or mad or Mutually Assured Destruction.
这简称为“MAD”,也确实很疯狂意思是"相互保证毁灭"战略
The whole world could literally go up in flames any time.
整个世界真的可以瞬间陷入一片火海之中
Each side of course, portrayed the other side as the evil empire,
当然,每一方都把对手描述成邪恶的帝国
for people of my generation it was generally assumed that this arrangement of east and west would go on forever.
对我们这一代人来说,基本上就假设这样一种东西方的状态一直会持续下去
Segment 24b, the iron curtain descends, covers what Russians still call the great patriotic war
24段第四部分,铁幕落下,笼罩了伟大的卫国战争,俄国人至今还如此称呼这场战争