-
The Beginning
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev becomes Communist Party General Secretary. At the age of 54, is younger,fitter and talks about change.
(this important to put on there because he was in power when the USSR collapsed -
Enters Yeltsin
Gorbachev appoints a little-known provincial party boss as head of the Moscow Communist Party. His name is Boris Yeltsin. Gorbachev already made another appointment Eduard Shevardnadze, head of the Communist Party in the republic of Georgia. Shervardnadze, like Gorbachev, believes in creating a more liberal and dynamic society. Both men shared the vision for years.
(he helps make decisions later on) -
Perestroika starts
In January and again in June, Gorbachev goes before the communists' Central Committee and proposes deep political and economic reforms. They include bringing a taste of democracy to some areas of society. Perestroika's support inside and outside the USSR is high. Perestroika, reform package Gorbachev had for his leadership. in November, Yeltsin is forced out of his job as Moscow party boss. He has pushed for perestroika too far, too fast, and has criticised Gorbachev for moving too slowly. -
Perestroika hits problems
erestroika hits its first major political iceberg. It has already been resisted by bureaucrats trying to block Gorbachev's economic reforms. In the Baltic States, thoughts of independence are beginning, In Estonia, the Popular Front is formed, a political party, even though only the Communist Party is allowed to exist. Latvia and Lithuania follow suit.
(this is the start of the fall) -
Yeltsin elected to parliament
Elections are held for the new parliament set up as part of Gorbachev's reforms. It is called the Congress of People's Deputies. Boris Yeltsin wins a massive vote in a Moscow - he is back in national politics. Gorbachev has pulled the last Soviet troops out of the deeply unpopular and costly war in Afghanistan. His popularity remains high.
(this is important because Georbachev's ideas are stillin play becuase him and Yeltin are on the same page) -
Soviet crumbles
Gorbachev announces that countries in the Warsaw Pact are free to decide on their own futures. Across Eastern Europe, people want change and are risking making their feelings known. Last time it was tried, in Hungary in 1956 and in Prague in 1968, Soviet forces ruthlessly crushed the protests. This time, the will of the people overcome.
(first state of independence for the otheer countries) -
Berlin Wall comes down
The Berlin Wall is torn down in an incredible display of "people power". Gorbachev could still use force to prop up his collapsing empire: the world watches as the wall come down, waiting to see if he will act. He didn't. Czechoslovakia is the next country to break free. As the year draws to a close, Romanians also go for revolution. This time there is bloodshed, as riots breakout in the city of Timisoara, but the rule of President Ceausescu ends. Hi and his wife are executed on Christmas -
Protesters killed by Soviet troops
The old Soviet ways are dying but not dead. Moscow may have let the Warsaw Pact countries break free, but is not ready for Soviet republics to follow. Gorbachev is trying to win the support of the Baltic states for a looser but still a strict Soviet federation. In mid-January Soviet troops move in to break up protest in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. 100 plus people die. Gorbachev's reforms keep moving dispite the deaths that took place. -
Yeltsin leaves communists
Boris Yeltsin publicly resigns from the Communist Party. Ukraine declares monarchies, followed by Armenia, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Gorbachev remains a hero. In October he wins the Nobel Peace Prize. at home Gorbachev has been wrestling with nightmare economic decisions as more of the gloss starts to come off perestroika. -
Yeltsin is Russian president
Russians, still apart of the Soviet Union, are nevertheless allowed to vote for their own president for the first time. They choose Yeltsin. e and his arch-rival Gorbachev are both now working from offices in the Kremlin, a fortified complex. In January, Soviet troops acted against protesters in Lithuania and Latvia, killing about two dozen people. -
Coup begins
it is the day before Gorbachev signs a deal with the republics giving them greater freedom. Early in the morning of 19 August, the plotters make their move. Some of Gorbachev's closest and most senior colleagues are among them, along with military chiefs and the head of the KGB, which is like America's FBI. Tanks roll into Moscow and occupy strategic positions. The day before the coup, the plotters have travelled to ask him to declare a state of emergency. He is place under house arrest. -
Gorbachev returns
When Yeltsin heard about the coup he made a run for it. Gorbachev makes a dramatic return to Moscow from his detention in the Crimea, a political jail. The coup collapsed on 21 August, under the sheer weight of public opposition. and because of the armed forces' reluctance to support the plotters. The hardliners would have had to kill many protesters to detain Yeltsin.The next day Gorbachev resigns as Soviet Communist Party general secretary and dissolves its Central Committee. -
USSR disband
The Soviet Union is entering its final days. The Baltic states are the first to get independence. Other republics have already begun moves to break away from the Soviets like Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. But the Soviet Union is given the fatal blow as the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus meet secretly to plan a new union. Most of the other republics soon sign up for the new union. On 25 December, Gorbachev goes on television to announce he is stepping down as Soviet president.
