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1st McDonalds opens in Moscow
The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Moscow. Throngs of people line up to pay the equivalent of several days’ wages for Big Macs, shakes, and french fries. -
U.S. Boycott of 1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow Olympics was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union and other countries would later support the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott. -
“Caribbean Basin Initiative”
The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) was a unilateral and temporary United States program initiated by the 1983 Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA). The CBI came into effect on January 1, 1984, and aimed to provide several tariff and trade benefits to many Central American and Caribbean countries. It arose in the context of a U.S. desire to respond with aid and trade to leftist movements that were active in some countries of the region, such as the guerrillas in El Salvador and the San -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (“Star Wars”)
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983, to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic offense doctrine of Mutual assured destruction (MAD). The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was set up in 1984 within the United States Department of Defense to oversee the Strategi -
The Iran–Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or the Iran–Contra scandal. This was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of several US hostages and use the money to fund the Contras in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further fun -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) ratified
The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, commonly referred to as the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty, requires destruction of the Parties' ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures and support equipment within three years after the Treaty enters into force -
Berlin Wall Collapses
On midnight of that day, East Germany's Communist rulers gave permission for gates along the Wall to be opened as a result of days of mass protest. After decades of partition, East Berliners surged through cheering and shouting and were greeted by West Berliners on the other side. Ecstatic crowds immediately began to climb on top of the Wall and destroy segments of the concrete fort. -
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the CommunistParty of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union. Throughout its history the office had four other names: Technical Secretary, Chairman of the Secretariat, Responsible Secretary and First Secretary. Joseph Stalin elevated the office to overall command of the whole Soviet Union. -
Germany is reunified
German reunification (German: Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) is a term of history. Unification means making two or more parts as one. The German reunification is the unification of the two parts of Germany. -
Warsaw Pact is dissolved
In 1990, East Germany left the Warsaw Pact in preparation for its reunification with West Germany. Poland and Czechoslovakia also indicated their strong desire to withdraw. Faced with these protests and suffering from a faltering economy and unstable political situation the Soviet Union bowed to the inevitable. In March 1991, Soviet military commanders relinquished their control of Warsaw Pact forces. A few months later, the pact’s Political Consultative Committee met for one final time and for -
Boris Yelstin elected President of Russia
On 12 June 1991 he was elected by popular vote to the newly created post of President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), at that time one of the 15 constituent republics of the Soviet Union. -
End of Soviet Union
In December of 1991, as the world watched in amazement, the Soviet Union disintegrated 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 over socialism.
