Cold war (term)

The Cold War was a time when two big countries, the United States and the Soviet Union, didn't like each other and didn't trust each other. They were afraid of each other and thought the other might try to hurt them or take over the world. So, instead of fighting each other with weapons, they fought with ideas and politics. This was called a "cold" war because there wasn't any real fighting, but it was still very tense and scary. Countries around the world had to choose sides and often got caught in the middle of this big fight. It lasted a long time, from the end of World War II in 1945 all the way until 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart.