Cold War Timeline

By gschnie

  • Ronald Reagan

    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Regan inagurated 40th President of the United States.

  • Intelligence Identities Protection Act

    Intelligence Identities Protection Act
    President Reagan visits CIA Headquarters to sign the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

  • "Evil Empire"

    "Evil Empire"
    In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, President Reagan labels the Soviet Union an "evil Empire"

  • Star Wars

    Star Wars
    President Reagan proposes the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI, or Star Wars)

  • Flight 007

    Flight 007
    Civilian Korean Air Lines flight 007, with 269 passengers on board, is shot down by a Soviet interceptor.

  • Thatcher Talks

    Thatcher Talks
    Margaret Thatcher and the UK Government, in a plan to open new channels of dialog with the Soviet Union leadership candidates, meet with Mikhail Gorbachev.

  • Gorbachev

    Gorbachev
    Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new leader of the USSR. He is the only general secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to be born under Communist rule.

  • Reagan/Gorbachev Summit

    Reagan/Gorbachev Summit
    Reagan and Gorbachev meet for the first time at a summit in Geneva, Switzerland, where they agree to two, and later three, more summits.

  • Chernobyl

    Chernobyl
    Chernobyl disaster: A Soviet nuclear plant in the Ukraine explodes, resulting in the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.

  • Iceland Summit

    Iceland Summit
    Reyjavik Summit: A breakthrough in nuclear arms control, but SDI (Star Wars) remains a sticking point.

  • "Tear down this wall"

    "Tear down this wall"
    During a visit to Belin, Germany, President Reagan famously challenges Soviet leader Gorbachev in a speech to "tear down this wall" (the Belin Wall).

  • INF Treaty

    INF Treaty
    The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., by President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev.

  • Afganistan

    Afganistan
    Soviet forces begin withdrawing from Afganistan.

  • INF Treaty Ratified

    INF Treaty Ratified
    Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Moscow. INF Treaty ratified. When asked if he still believed that the Soviet Union was an evil empire, Reagan replies he was talking about "another time, another place."

  • Berlin Wall

    Berlin Wall
    The Berlin Wall is breached when a spokesman mistakenly announces at a news conference in East Berlin that the boarders had been opened.