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Jan 1, 1462
First Czar
1462-1505 Ivan III (Great) -
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution ended the rule of the czars. The Russian Communist Party, led by V.I. Lenin, took control of the government. -
Creation of the Soviet Union
To create the Soviet Union the Communist Party had organized the different peoples absorbed during the centuries of Russia's imperal expansion. These new leaders would rule the Soviet Union from its new capital in Moscow. Russia becomes part of the Soviet Union. -
Stalin
Stalin initiated the first of the Soviet Union's five-years plan. He publicly attacked Dmitry Shostakovich in Pravda for his atonal music. This was the end of artistic experimentation. -
World War II
The Soviet Union's relationship with its allies began to worsen as the war dragged on. After the war, Stalin installed pro-Soviet governments in the Eastern European countries that his armies had liberated from Germany. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviet Union wanted control of Berlin so they decided to blockade all land access to the city. From June 1948 to May 1949, U.S. and British planes airlift 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin. After 200,000 flights, the Soviet Union lifts the blockade. -
U-2 Affair
An American high-altitude U-2 spy plane was shot down on a mission over the Soviet Union. After the Soviets announce that they had captured the pilot Francis Gary Powers, the United States recants earlier assertions that the plane was on a weather research mission. -
Brezhnev
He helped the Soviet Union become powerfull through his superior negotiating skills on the world diplomatic stage. -
Cold War Begins
At that time, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev started to give more economic and political freedom to the Soviet people. This began a process that led to the collapse of the Communist gvernment and the Soviet Union in 1991-and the end of the Cold War. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the region was divided into 15 independent republics. -
Star Wars
Reagan outlines his Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars," which is a space-based defensive shield that would destroy attacking missiles far above the Earth's surface using lasers and other advanced technologies. The Soviet Union accused the U.S of violating the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty.
