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Period: to
Colapse of Communism
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Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Soviet union invades Afghanistan, United states and the CIA secretly back the Mujahideen or guerrilla resistance movement in Afghanistan. The soviet union eventually withdraw from Afghanistan and the Mujahideen go on to become the Taliban. -
Tito, leader of Yugoslavia dies
Yugoslavia becomes increasingly disorganised towards the end of the decade with the loss of Tito and is eventually dissolved in 1992 ending communism in the Balkan states -
Solidarity Movement in Poland Begins
Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using the methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers' rights and social change in Poland. -
Iran - Iraq war begins
Both the USSR and USA distance themselves from the conflict but later both back Iraq and Saddam Hussien. It marked one of the first times since WWII that both the USA and USSR had a shared military opinion. -
Alexei Kosy¬gin is replaced as prime min¬is¬ter by Niko¬lay Tikhonov
Kosy¬gin dies -
President Ronald Regan is elected
He defeated democrat Jimmy Carter. His running partner was George H.W Bush. He was going to realign the government. Immediately he introduced his policy of “Reaganomics”. This meant cutting taxes and government spending – sparking worsening economic recession. This harshly affected heavy industry towns such as Pittsburgh. -
Regan begins US military build-up
Reagan's administration revived the B-1 bomber program, which had been canceled by the Carter Administration, and began production of the MX Peacekeeper missile. He expanded the U.S. military budget to a staggering 43% increase over the total expenditure during the height of the Vietnam war. That meant the increase of tens of thousands of troops, more weapons and equipment, not to mention a beefed-up intelligence program. -
Reagan assassination attempt
While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr. -
Brezhnev dies in office
He is remembered by the West as the person who is most commonly lined to the start of economic stagnation in USSR which triggered the dissolution of the Soviet Union. -
Reagan re-elected in a landslide
Clearly America liked his policies of economic reform and the war on drugs. -
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes general secretary of the Communist Party
Gorbachev begins an anti-alcohol campaign and puts into action his policies. -
Iran-Contra affair
During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo. Some U.S. officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of hostages captured during the iranian revoloution, and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. -
Gorbachev initiates his new policy of "perestroika"
Its aim was to reconstruct the Soviet economy. This mean allowing more competition and more incentives to produce goods, this was also an attempt to modernise the failing soviet economy. -
Cher¬nobyl nuclear power sta¬tion experiences meltdown
Cher¬nobyl nuclear power sta¬tion experiences meltdown, show¬er¬ing large areas in Ukraine, Belarus and beyond with radioac¬tive material. -
Reagan makes “Tear down this wall speech!”
Adressed to Gorbachev in front of the Berlin wall and the Brandenburg gate. The speech was largely symbolic much like JFK’s “Ich bien ein berliner” speech of 1963. Video -
USSR signs INF super¬power treaty with US
The treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges, defined as between 500-5,500 km (300-3,400 miles). -
Gorbachev introduces the idea of glasnost
This was to listen to public opinion and be open about government policy. This was very different for the people as the previous USSR was not like this. -
Solidarity and Polish Goverment begin Negotiations
The Polish government slowly but inevitably started to accept the idea that some kind of deal with the opposition would be necessary. The constant state of economic and societal crisis meant that, after the shock of martial law had faded, people on all levels again began to organize against the regime. "Solidarity" gained more support and power whilst the communist regime solowy lost its power. -
Hungary Addopts "democracy package"
Hungarian Parliament adopts a "democracy package", which included trade union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; a new electoral law; and a radical revision of the constitution, among others. -
Soviet war in Afghanistan ends
The war in Afghanistan ends due to Gorbachev's change in soviet policy and subsequent withdrawal from arround the world. The United States and the USSR also signed a declaration on international guarantees, stating they would both refrain from any form of interference and intervention in Afghanistan. -
Hungary Oppens land borders with Austria
Hungary began dismantling its 150 mile long border fence with Austria. This increasingly destabilized the GDR and Czechoslovakia over the summer and autumn as thousands of their citizens illegally crossed over to the West through the Hungarian-Austrian border. This severely weakened Eastern Europe and restarted the Brain Drain in Eastern Germany. -
Tiananmen Square protests
Protesters wanted greater transparency and less corruption within the communist party and made calls for china to become a democratic nation. Their efforts however failed and led to tighter restrictions and greater government control. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
After Hungary opened its borders as well as growing discontent from the people of East Germany combined with the growing instability of the soviet satellite states -
Velvet Revoloution in Czechoslovakia
Dominated by student and other popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, it saw to the collapse of the party's control of the country, and the subsequent conversion from Czech socialism to parliamentary republic. -
Malta Summit
The Malta Summit consisted of a meeting between U.S. President George H. W. Bush and U.S.S.R. leader Mikhail Gorbachev, taking place between 2–3 December 1989, just a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a meeting which contributed to the end of the Cold War partially as a result of the broader pro-democracy movement. It was their second meeting following a meeting that included then President Ronald Reagan, in New York in December 1988. -
Colapse of the USSR
After all of the world events, combined with the various outside presures and the first democratic elections in Russia lead to the dissloution of the Soviet Union
