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Geneva Summit
Eisenhower, Prime Minister Antony Eden of Britain, Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, and Prime Minister Edgar Faure of France all met to discuss peace talks. The goal was to increase global security, and achieved that goal for sometime afterwards. -
Nixon's Détente Policy
Détente is the french word for a release of tension, which was used in reference to the Cold War tensions between the US and the USSR. The policy had been around during Nixon's presidency, but became definite when on the 22nd, he met with Bhreznev for the SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet's first deployment of troops happened on Christmas Eve of 1979. It was a part of the Cold War as each major power supported a different faction. The war lasted for 10 years. -
Solidarity Movement in Poland
Lech Wałęsa led the first non communist trade union from a Warsaw Pact country. They used civil resistence to protest work standards and gained millions of members. The US supported the Solidarity movement heavily. “I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things. ”
― Lech Wałęsa -
Reagan's NAE Speech
Ronald Reagan gave his famous "Evil Empire" speech at the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando Florida. He called out the Soviet Union's increasing missile stockpile and called for more US missiles to be placed in western Europe. "I urge you to beware the temptation of pride, the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire." -
Strategic Defense Initiative
The SDI was proposed by Reagan to build ground based and space based systems to protect the US from a nuclear ballistic attack. It was nicknamed "Star Wars" for it's space centered motives and the parallel to the film i popular culture. It increased the American offensive in the arms race. -
Gorbachev's Policies
When Gorbachev came to office he had the policies of perestroika, restructuring, and glasnost, opennes. These policies help him change the internal working of the USSR, the economy, and interational relations. They inadvertantly led to the fall of the USSR. -
Reykjavik Summit
Reagan met with Gorbachev and discussed Cold War related issues. While nothing was resolved during these talks, the INF was created later because of the progress made in this meeting. -
Reagan's Speech @ Brandenberg Gate
This was Reagans famous "Tear down this wall" speech. The Berlin Wall in West Berlin was a physical symbol of the Cold War, and when he called for the wall to be teared down, he was calling for the Cold War to end. '"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! " -
Reagan And Gorbachev sign INF
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force treaty was siged by both Gorbachev and Reagan in a resolution that both sides would eliminate ground launch ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate range. This meant that the US and the USSR would no longer be pointing missiles in each others faces. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The head of the East Germany Communist Party announced that citizens would now be able to cross the border between East and West Germany. The wall was swarmed with people crossing sides, while others took pickaxes to the wall to physically bring it down. -
Fall of Soviet Union
Gorbachev resigned his office and the USSR was dissolved. Many of the soviet sattellites declared independence before this happened. Gorbachev believed that a better Soviet economy depended on better relationships with the rest of the world, especially the United States. We opened up ourselves to the rest of the world, abandoned the practices of interfering in others' internal affairs and using troops outside this country, and we were reciprocated with trust, solidarity, and respect. -Gorbachev
