Timeline of the Fall of Communism

1. Timeline of the Fall of Communism

2. February 1972 • Nixon visits China • Perhaps the first sign that change was possible and that enemies could work together while maintaining their ideological integrity.

3. July 1972 • SALT I Treaty is signed; • The greatest symbol of a nation’s strength was in their nuclear arsenal. Both the USA and USSR had stockpiled thousands of nuclear warheads and launch vehicles. This treaty limited both of the arsenals and lowered the threat of nuclear war. • Détente: Means a relaxing or easing of tensions between two counties andthis became the metaphor of US-USSR relations in the 1970s.

4. January 1973. • Cease Fire in Vietnam • The long American nightmare had finally come to an end. • The USA’s inability to keep communism from spreading into Southeast Asia demonstrated a need to re-examine our policy and how and where we could assert our influence if it was needed. • Along with the Watergate Crisis of 1974-76, it changed the way we viewed the presidency.

5. December 1975 • Helsinki Accords: Designed to reduce tension between the Soviet and Western blocs. It was an attempt to secure common acceptance of the post-World War II status quo in Europe, including the division of Germany.

6. August 1978 • Soviet Union invades Afghanistan (Soviet/Afghan War) • The Soviet Union sent in the military to preserve the communist regime established in Kabul. • There will be many similarities between the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan and the US involvement in Vietnam.

7. October 1978 • Pope John Paul II from Poland becomes the Pope. (1978-2005) • The first non-Italian pope since 1520 and from Poland, a communist controlled country that was beginning to seek its independence from Soviet control. • Pope John Paul II quietly opposed communist control of his country and supported all nations seeking reforms and independence.

8. 1979: July • SALT II is signed by Soviet Leader LeonidBrezhnev and US President Jimmy Carter • Sought to stop new programs to create nuclear weapons and limit the ICBMs currently deployed.

9. May 1979 • Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister of United Kingdom. • “The Iron Maiden of the United Kingdom” • The USA’s greatest ally in Europe and worked with the USA to curtail any Soviet aggression into Europe and ending the Détente for a more forceful approach to the Soviet Union.

10. 1980: February • US Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union team at the Winter Olympics. • Do not underestimate this event! • The Soviet Union appeared dominant in many ways in the 1970’s and sports was no exception. • When the US team of young college boys defeated the professional (and undefeated) Russian national team it was a significant event in sports and politics!

11. November 1980 • Ronald Reagan elected President • A conservative republican and former governor of California, Reagan’s foreign policy was to accelerate the Cold War with military programs, such as SDI, the B-1 and B-2 bombers, and revive various missile programs • Referred to the Soviet Union as an “Evil Empire” and ended the practice of Détente.

12. September 1981 • Polish Solidarity uprising • It was the first non-communist trade union in a communist country. In the 1980’s, it constituted a broad anti-communist social movement. The government attempted to destroy the union with the martial law of 1981 and several years of repressions, but in the end it had to start negotiating with the union. • Lech Walesa

13. 1983 • Reagan proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI aka: Star Wars) • Use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic offense doctrine of mutual assured destruction.

14. 1985 • Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in the Soviet Union • He was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. • His attempts at reform — perestroika and glasnost — as well as summit conferences with United States President Ronald Reagan, contributed to the end of the Cold War, ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. • He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

15. April 1986 • Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in the Soviet Union • Although a domestic matter concerning the Soviet Union, their secrecy concerning this disaster did not look good for the new leader, Gorbachev.

16. October 1986 • Reykjavík Summit: Reagan and Gorbachev meet to discuss nuclear weapons limitation. • The US refused to end SDI research and the Soviets were reluctant to include Human/ Civil Rights issues. • The meeting adjourned with no agreement. Nevertheless, participants and observers have referred to the summit as an enormous breakthrough which eventually facilitated the INF Treaty.

17. June 1987 • Perestroika: Gorbachev’s economic reform program for the Soviet Union. • Glasnost: it aimed to liberalize freedom of the press gradually, and to allow for freedom of dissent.

18. June 1987 • Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev! Tear Down this Wall Speech” in Berlin • Continuing his policy of escalating the Cold War, Reagan delivered a speech imploring the Soviet Union to remove the barriers that separated, both physically and symbolically, the Eastern and Western people.

19. December 1987 • INF Treaty: Calls for the elimination of intermediate range ground launched ballistic and cruise missiles.

20. January 1989 • Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan after a unsuccessful war of nine years. • After billions of rubles ($) and the death of thousands of Russian soldiers, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan and surrendered the country to the Muslim government. • Apparently, the USA sent covert military assistance to the rebels fighting the Soviets.

21. 1989: June • Tiananmen Square protest in China • Participants were generally against the authoritarianism and economic policies of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and voiced calls for democratic reform within the structure of the government. • The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which stayed peaceful throughout the protests. • In Beijing, the resulting military crackdown on the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or injured.

22. September 1989 • Hungary becomes independent of the Soviet Union. • At a party congress in October 1989, the Communists agreed to give up their monopoly on power, paving the way for free elections in March 1990. • Mikhail Gorbachev condoned Hungary’s moves toward a multi-party system and promised that the USSR would not interfere in Hungary’s internal affairs. • Other countries will soon follow Hungary’s example.

23. November 1989 • The Berlin Wall Falls • When Hungary became democratic it opened its borders with Austria. Therefore, East Germans could travel from East Germany (East Berlin) through Czechoslovakia to Hungary and into Austria (Western Power) and back into West Germany. • As this happened, the Wall became unnecessary and on Nov. 9, the East German government opened the border crossing to the West. • More than any other event, the Fall of the Berlin Wall signified the ending of the Cold War.

24. December 1989 • Communist governments in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania collapse. • Multi-party, democratic systems of government are established throughout the Soviet controlled Eastern European States. • Most of these “revolutions” were peaceful, and only in Romania were Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife executed. • Vaclav Havel becomes President of Czech Republic.

25. March 1990 • Lithuania breaks away from the Soviet Union and becomes an independent republic, Latvia andEstonia soon follow. • Lithuania was not a member of the Warsaw Pact, but was one of the 15 states that made up the USSR. • The Soviet Union (USSR) was breaking apart and the states were creating democratic reforms. • “Rebellion in the Baltic States”

26. May 1990 • Boris Yeltsin is elected President of Russia • The first popularly elected President of Russia • Yeltsin put into place many radical reforms to convert Russia to Free Enterprise • Left office very unpopular due to corruption and failed policies

27. October 1990 • Germany is reunited. • After being divided and occupied for 45 years after World War II, the German states were once again united. • October 3 is celebrated as the “Day of German Unity.” • Willy Brandt/Helmut Kohl were two of the leaders who worked for German unification.

28. August 1991 • Soviet coup attempt fails to reverse the changes occurring in Russia. • Many of the “Hard Line” communists attempted to take over the Soviet government to halt the democratic reforms that were taking place in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet Union. • After three days of attempts to sway the military and party officials, the coup (palace revolt) failed and Gorbachev was returned to power. • Yeltsin played an important role in stopping the coup.

29. December 1991 • President George Bush declares the end of the Cold War. • Gorbachev resigns and the Soviet Union is dissolved. • The Soviet flag “Hammer and Sickle” is lowered from the Kremlin for the last time.