The End of the Cold War

By amberlynn1120

  • Richard Nixon & Policy of Detente

    Richard Nixon & Policy of Detente
    The term is often used in reference to general easing of the geo-political tensions between the Soviet Union and the US, which began in 1969 as a foreign policy of US Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Detente means a 'thawing out' or 'un-freexing' at a period roughly during the middle of the Cold War.

  • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

    Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
    The leaders of the Soviet Union became concerned that President Amin was having discussions with the US. On December 24th, 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afganistan. They had President Amin put to death and installed their own leader, President Babrak Karmal.

  • Ronald Reagan addresses the National Association of Evangelicals

    Ronald Reagan addresses the National Association of Evangelicals
    When President Ronald Reagan spoke to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida on March 8th 1983, he used the term "evil empire" to described the Soviet Union, In the speech, Reagan explained why the United States had been involved in the Cold War for so long,

  • Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars")

    The Strategic Defense Initiative was introduced by US President Ronald Reagan on March 23rd, 1983 to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the US from attack by 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

    To reform the Soviet Union, the democratization of the Communist Party was promoted though Party Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of "perestroika" and "glasnost." Perestroika refers to the reconstruction of the political and economic system established by the Communist Party. The term "Glasnost" means "openness" and was the name for the social and political reforms to bestow more rights and freedoms upon the Soviet people.

  • Summit in Geneva, Switzerland

    Summit in Geneva, Switzerland
    The Geneva Summit of 1985 was a Cold War-era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was held on November 19th and 20th, between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The two leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race.

  • Reykjavik Summit, Iceland

    The Reykjavik Summit was a meeting between US President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held on October 11-12, 1986. The talks collapsed at the last minute, but the progress that had been achieved eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union.

  • Reagan speech at Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin

    Reagan speech at Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin
    Reagan made this speech at the Brandenburg Gate at 2:00pm in front of two panes of bulletproof glass, protecting him from potential snipers in East Berlin. In this speech, President Reagan says, "As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps a young Berliner, 'This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.'

  • Reagan and Gorbachev sign INF Treaty

    Reagan and Gorbachev sign INF Treaty
    President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev signed a treaty on the elimination of their intermediate-range and shorter-range missles.

  • Solidarity Movement in Poland (Lech Walsea)

    Lech Walsea, the second President of Poland after the fall of communism in 1989, was prominent in the establishment of the 1989 Round Table Agreement that led to semi-free parliamentary elections in June 1989 and to a Solidarity-led government.

  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

    Fall of the Berlin Wall
    Thousands of East Berliners went to the border crossings on November 9th 1989. At Bornholmer Strasse, the people demanded to open the border and at 10:30pm the border was opened. That moment meant the end of the Berlin Wall.

  • Fall of Soviet Union

    In December 1991, the Soviet Union split up into fifteen separate countries. Its collapse was hailed by the west as a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of capitalism of socialism. On the previous day before the fall, December 25th 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned.