The End of the Cold War By em2019 Period: 1975 to 1976 Angolan Civil War 1977 Soviet aid to Ethiopia began 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 1980 Martial law declared in Poland 1982 Brezhnev succeeded by Andropov 1982 Reagan announced development of Strategic Defence Initiative Dec 3, 1985 Gorbachev became USSR party leader Feb 10, 1986 USSR-US summit at Reykjavik 1989 Soviet troops withdrawn from Afghanistan 1989 Elections in Poland 1989 Hungary allowed GDR citizens through frontier to Austria Sep 11, 1989 Berlin Wall breached Mar 10, 1990 Germany reunified 1991 Soviet forces intervened in Baltic republics 1991 Warsaw Pact dissolved 1991 USSR formally dissolved Period: 1992 to 1996 Croatian-Serbian wat