The cold war -

The USSR makes and test the hydrogen bomb

Aug 29, 1949

Shortly after the U.S. bombing of Japan Stalin ordered the soviet union to begin the production of a nuclear bomb. Thanks to information gathered by soviet intelligence the USSR was able to construct a nuclear device inspired off of the "Fat man", the project lead was Igor Kurchatov. After word of the test got out fears of soviet spies in the U.S. government began to brew as the U.S. in response began making more nuclear bombs. This would eventually be known as start of the nuclear arms race

Nikita Khrushchev visits the us

Sep 15, 1959

In September 15th 1959 then leader of the soviet union Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States. Khrushchev was the first soviet leader to ever visit the US. Khrushchev wanted a more peaceful relationship with the US, Eisenhower had a similar goal. Although throughout the trip no negotiations for peace were made the event played a role in bettering the countries standing for a short time. Overall Khrushchev's visit was a source of hope for both countries, of which would sadly be short lived.

Soviets invade Afghanistan

Dec 24, 1979

In December of 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan due to growing resistance of various armed groups locally known as the Mujahedeen. For 9 years the soviets and the Afghani government fought the rebellion in fear of loosing soviet influence in the region. Finally in 1989 the USSR pulled out of Afghanistan due to the inability to quell the resistance. This all showed how willing the USSR was to maintain its power. It also greatly impacted the USSR, of which would collapse only 2 years later