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Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is born to peasants in Privolnoye, Russia.
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The physical division between East Germany and West Berlin in the late 20th century, also known as the Berlin Wall, is built. During the Cold War it also represented the disunion between Communism and democracy.
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Brezhnev is the chief executive of the USSR, beginning the "Era of Stagnation". His term ends with his death on November 10, 1982.
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Soviet troops invade invade Afganistan in this year.
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In 1985 the program of perestroika, or "restruction" begins; only in February 1986 is it officially announced by Gorbachev. Glasnost is introduced around the same time.
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Gorbachev succeeds Cherneko, and is General Secretary for 6 years.
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General Secretary Gorbachev and U.S. President Reagan sign the INF Treaty, which would limit the amount of intermediate-range missiles each country harbored.
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Gorbachev withdraws over 100,000 Soviet troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan.
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The decline of Communism in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland allows East Germans to exit through new points in attempts to get to the West. Eventually, German government official Günter Schabowski announces that "Permanent relocations can be done through all border checkpoints between the GDR (East Germany) into the FRG (West Germany) or West Berlin."
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Latvia secedes from the Soviet Union, soon to be followed by Estonia.
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11 more republics secede and declare their independence from the USSR.
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Gorbachev is kidnapped by an armed coup, who later surrender when they do cannot overcome the power of the country's population.
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Estonia secedes from the Soviet Union.
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Gorbachev resigns from office as president, with Yeltsin being his successor; the Soviet Union crumbles due to the pace of change brought on by Gorbachev's reforms.
