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U.S. boycott of 1980 Summer Olympics
The boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics that was held in Moscow Russia was in response and protest to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A total of 65 countries boycotted the games, even though some athletes participated, and this eventually lead to the boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics. -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (“Star Wars”)
"Star Wars" was a plan proposed by President Ronald Reagan in hopes of being able to stop nuclear attacks by air on the United States. This plan involved a satellite going into space and would be able to send missiles to destroy the missile that would attack the United States. -
“Caribbean Basin Initiative”
This was a program that was created between the United States and various countries located in the Caribbean Basin. The intentions of this program was to facilitate economic growth and even export diversification in and around the Caribbean Basin. -
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
His plans in trying to to make the Soviet Union a democracy lead to the falling of the Soviet Union in 1991. In addition, in helping to end the post-war domination of eastern Europe, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -
Iran-Contra Affair
During the 1980’s, this was a top secret government preparation that was created in order to fund Nicaraguan rebels. They gained the funds from selling arms to Iran for a profit and this was also the hope that the selling of arms would release a number of hostages that were held captive. -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) ratified
This was an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union which eliminated any and all nuclear and conventional ground-launched and ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges. The intermediate distance is described as 300-3,400 miles. -
Berlin Wall collapses
At one time, the Berlin Wall separated east and west Germany, and was guarded so that no one could pass through. Around 2 million people from all over East Berlin traveled to West Berlin in order to participate in a celebration to finally knock down the Berlin Wall. People used tools such as hammers, picks, etc. in order to destroy the wall that had once separated Germany. -
1st McDonalds opens in Moscow
The first appearance of McDonalds in Moscow was a sign that times were finally starting to change in the Soviet Union for the better. This was a place and time where families could “get away” and enjoy times while getting away from the drastic times of economic downtime. -
Germany is reunified
This was the process in which East Germany and West Germany reunited to form the official country of Germany. During the reunification also lead to an option of how to reunite, either create a new country with a brand new constitution, or let states join the already existing Federal Republic of Germany. -
Warsaw Pact is dissolved
This pact was a reaction to the entrance of West Germany into an organization called NATO and was also in response to the urge to take control of all military forces in Central and Eastern Europe. With the pact now signed, the Soviet Union now had total control of all armed forces of membering states. -
Boris Yelstin elected President of Russia
In becoming President of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin promised that he would transform Russia’s socialist command economy to a free market economy. Even though Yeltsin tried to get the economy running smoothly again, his presidential era was still filled with a lot of corruption, high inflation, and many political and social problems that harshly affected Russia. After only a few years in presidency, many of his supporters turned their backs on him. -
End of the Soviet Union
In late 1991, the Soviet Union fell apart and separated into a total of 15 countries. During this time, Russia had transformed from totalitarianism into a democracy and lead to a change in political and economic changes all over the world. Once the Soviet Union fell, the Cold War was finally over.