When the Soviet Union crumbled and withdrew its aid to Cuba, triggering the so-called "special period" that began in the early 1990s, times became even harder and the joke changed.

当苏联因崩溃而撤走给古巴的援助，从而触发了从1990年初开始的所谓的“特别时期”时，日子变得更加艰难，而那个笑话也变了。

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But the assistance that did flow into the Soviet Union could only have occurred during a period of close relations between Washington and Moscow.

然而这部分实际进入苏联的援助也仅可能发生在华盛顿和莫斯科关系密切的那段时期内。

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When hard times, known as the "Special Period", hit the island after the fall of the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro forced the country to persevere.

在苏联解体后的艰难时期，亦为“特殊时期”，菲德尔·卡斯特罗坚定不移地维护着国家的方向。

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During the period of the Cold War, an estimated 30 million people in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union listened to him on the radio.

VOA: special.2009.01.30

Even in the Soviet period, such exotic-sounding drinks were a welcome exception amid dismally low standards.

ECONOMIST: Firewater in Eastern Europe

His memoirs, published first in the Soviet period and in a less censored edition after the collapse of the U.S.S.R.

WSJ: Book Review: Stalin's General

He has been in office since the Soviet period, and had his first term extended, by referendum, from 1995 to 2000.

ECONOMIST: Islam Karimov gets 91% support