The End of the Cold War

Richard Nixon & Policy of Detente

Jan 20, 1969

Detente was the policy of a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party. Nixon said "No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now."

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Dec 18, 1979

The Soviet Union brought in support of the Afghan communist government in a fight with anticommunist Muslim guerrillas during the Afghan War and remained in Afghanistan until 1989.

Solidarity Movement in Poland (Lech Walesa)

Jan 15, 1981

It is a Polish non-governmental trade union that began at the Lenin Shipyards and was founded by Lech Wałęsa. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country

Ronald Reagan addresses the NAE

Mar 8, 1983

Ronald Reagan addressed to a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida. The speech was meant to show communism, as Reagan said "the focus of evil in the modern world," and became known as his "Evil Empire Speech."

Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars")

Mar 23, 1983

The initiative was to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization was set up in 1984 within the United States Department of Defense to oversee the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Gorbachev, Perestroika, Glasnost

Mar 18, 1985

Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and he launched the perestroika and gasnost programs. They were the restructuring and openness that introduced profound changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations.

Summit in Geneva, Switzerland

Nov 8, 1985

Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time to discuss the international diplomatic relations and the arms race.

Reykjavik Summit, Iceland

Oct 11, 1986

A meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavík, the capital city of Iceland. The talks resulted in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. Reagan said “Before we can work things out in regard to armaments, we need to try to clarify
the causes of mistrust. If we are able to eliminate it, it will be easier to resolve the problem of armaments.”

Reagan Speech at Brandenberg Gate, West Berlin

Jun 12, 1987

Reagan spoke in front of the Berlin Wall with 45,000 in attendence, with some famous spectators there. The famous quote where Reagan said "Tear down this Wall!!"

Reagan and Gorbachev sign INF Treaty

Dec 8, 1987

The result of the Summit meeting in Iceland which was the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Fall of Berlin Wall

Nov 9, 1989

A bunch of people came to the wall with sledgehammers or otherwise hammers and chisels to chip off souvenirs, demolishing parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings.

Fall of Soviet Union

Dec 25, 1991

The Soviet Union fell due to the great number of radical reforms that Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev had agreed on during his six years as the leader of the Soviets. Gorbachev was disappointed in the fall of his nation and resigned from his job on December 25. Therefore, this led to the fall of the USSR. "Anyone who doesn't regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains." -Vladimir Putin