Collapse of the USSR

1980 “Miracle on Ice”  The U.S. Olympic ice hockey team defeats the Soviet hockey team, considered the best team in the world, by a score of 4-3 during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. The U.S. hockey team would go on to win the gold medal. The Soviets took home silver.

1980 US boycotts Moscow Olympics  The United States boycotts the Summer Olympics in Moscow, protesting Soviet military operations in Afghanistan, which had begun a year earlier. During the Olympics, Soviet children are evacuated from Moscow so that they can avoid contact with foreigners.

1982 Brezhnev Dies  Leonoid Brezhnev, dies of a heart attack after 18 years of uninterrupted rule. Yuri Andropov, 68, succeeds him as the leader of the Soviet Union.

1984- Leadership in Transition  Less than two years after taking over leadership of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov dies. He is succeeded by 72-year-old Konstantin Chernenko

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev  After just over a year in office, Konstantin Chernenko dies. Mikhail Gorbachev, a youthful 54, becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party.

1986 Gorbachev Introduces Greater Freedom  With "glasnost" ("openness"), a policy of increased political transparency and greater freedom of information, Gorbachev hopes to revitalize the Soviet Union.

April 1986 Chernobyl  The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine explodes and releases radiation over Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Gorbachev's dedication to glasnost is tested as officials fail to protect the people living in those areas or the volunteers who end the fires. While the incident cripples the Soviet economy and is embarrassing for Gorbachev, it further demonstrates how necessary glasnost has become.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbcby UK5rqQ&feature=player_embedded

1987 Gorbachev introduces Perestroika  A series of political and economic reforms, termed "perestroika" ("reconstruction" or "rebuilding"), is introduced by Gorbachev. The reforms allow multiple candidates to run for the same office and private ownership of businesses. In the short term, these revitalization efforts backfire and lead to widespread food shortages. Perestroika soon becomes a vehicle for Soviets to criticize their society.

Gorbachev speaking about perestroika and the arms agreement  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=595W4JJ Ha2U&feature=player_embedded

June 12, 1987

"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!"

 After abandoning Nixon's détente strategy in favor of a vigorous anti communist policy, U.S. president Ronald Reagan implores Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, the most visible symbol of the division between East and West.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYdjb pBk6A&feature=player_embedded

August 1987 Billy Joel Concerts  Billy Joel stages three shows in Moscow and three shows in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). In Leningrad, 17,500 listeners jump up and down, breaking hundreds of chairs, and then lift Joel and pass him around over their heads

Billy Joel Video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla yer_embedded&v=LgD_-dRZPgs

1987 US and USSR sign Nuclear Reduction Treaty  Gorbachev and Reagan sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty to reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons in mutually verifiable ways.

1988 Radical Reforms in the USSR  Gorbachev launches a series of radical reforms designed to loosen the Communist Party's grip on the government. The highest legislative body of the land, the Supreme Soviet, dissolves itself and is replaced by the Congress of People's Deputies, which allows ordinary people to participate in government for the first time. Families are glued to their television sets to watch the sessions, during which politicians begin to acknowledge publicly what has previously only been whispered in kitchens.

1988 Pepsi Commercials Appear on Soviet Television  Pepsi, the first American consumer product sold in the Soviet Union, also becomes the first American brand to air commercials — including ones featuring Michael Jackson — on Soviet Television. In 1988, Soviets buy one billion servings of Pepsi.

1989 Communist States Begin to Collapse  A series of revolutions sweep across Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe, resulting in the collapse of communist governments in Hungry, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania

Soviets Begin to Lose Control Over Eastern Europe  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akGjJcl3G Dw&feature=player_embedded

November 9, 1989 The Berlin Wall Falls  After the Communist East German government announces that its citizens could travel freely to democratic West Germany, Germans from both sides demolish the Berlin Wall. The fall of the wall leads to German reunification in 1990.

January 1990 The Big Mac Arrives  McDonald's opens its first Soviet restaurant in Moscow, a few blocks from the Kremlin. Hundreds of customers line up to buy Big Macs and milkshakes  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amx JHhtsHw&feature=player_embedded

March 11, 1990 Soviet Republics Begin to Declare Independence  Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are among the first Soviet republics to declare independence from the Soviet Union.

March 15, 1990 Gorbachev Elected President of USSR  In the country's first multiparty elections, Gorbachev is elected the first (and only) president of the Soviet Union. He also continues in his role as general secretary of the Communist Party

June 12, 1991 Yeltsin Elected President of Russia  Boris Yeltsin handily defeats Gorbachev's preferred candidate, Nikolai Ryzhkov, to become the first president of Russia, the largest of the 15 republics in the USSR

August 19, 1991 Attempted Coup   In order to stop the dissolution of the USSR, a faction of Communist hardliners within the Politburo launches a coup, placing Gorbachev under house arrest. During the coup, all television stations in Russia broadcast Swan Lake. Gorbachev is returned to his position, but all power resides with Yeltsin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7lZKyDgMg o&feature=player_embedded

August 24, 1991 Gorbachev Resigns    Republics Declare Independence Gorbachev resigns as general secretary of the Communist Party. Within a month, all of the Soviet republics except Russia declare their independence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=028gd8Sn 3m0&feature=player_embedded

November 6, 1991 End of Communism in Russia  The Communist Party is banned in Russia by Boris Yeltsin

  December 25, 1991 USSR Dissolves

Gorbachev steps down from his position as president of the Soviet Union. The next day the country officially ceases to exist (Dec 26, 1991).

Russia, the largest former republic, becomes an independent country, and Yeltsin remains president of Russia for the remainder of the decade. Privatization is encouraged, and wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of the oligarchs. Corruption runs rampant. New television channels are started, and they broadcast voices critical of the government. More Russians travel abroad than ever before.

Former USSR and Iron Curtain Countries