The Domino Effect

Europe Before the Cold War

 Ronald Reagan
• January 20, 1981, Reagan
is elected 40th President
of the united states
• In January 1984 Reagan
announces his foreign
policy speech to the
public
• Later went on to have
three meetings with
Mikhail Gorbachev
(USSR leader) discussing
Nuclear arms and the
cold war
• He steps down as
 Mikhail Gorbachev
• In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev
becomes President of
the USSR
• In June, 1987 he
announced perestroika
and glasnost to public
• Gorbachev steps down as
President of USSR in
1991, December 25
• Hammer and sickle is
lowered for the last time
over the Kremlin
 Gorbachev and Reagan
meet
• November 21 1985,
Gorbachev and Reagan
meet for the first time
and agree to meet two
times after
• October 11-12 1986,
Gorbachev and Reagan
meet at the Reykjavik
Summit and almost
reach an agreement on
nuclear arms
• Intermediate Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty is
signed by Gorbachev
and Reagan in
 Able Archer
• Soviet air defences take a
NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation)
nuclear release test as a
cover up attack on the
country and in response
to it they place their
Soviet nuclear forces on
high alert.
 Unilateral Moratorium
• In 1985 on the 6th of
August (40th
anniversary of
Hiroshima) the Soviets
announced a five month
unilateral moratorium
on the testing of nuclear
testing. This meant they
would put a stop to all
nuclear testing for five
months. The USA
palmed this off as
propaganda and refused
to follow. The
 Perestroika
•In Ju n e 1 9 8 7 G o rb a ch e v
a n n o u n ce d Pe re stro ika . H is
g o a l w a s to b e o p e n a b o u t
h is d e cisio n s to p re ssu re
co n se rva tive s w ith in th e
p a rty w h o o p p o se d h is
p o licie s. Pe re stro ika w a s a
g o ve rn m e n ta l re fo rm fo r th e
S o vie t U n io n b y n o w b o th
g o ve rn m e n ts w e re sta rtin g
to th ro w id e a s a ro u n d th a t
w e re u n th o u g h t- o f
Challenge of the Berlin Wall
• In 1987 Reagan
challenged Gorbachev
to tear down the Berlin
wall. Gorbachev did not
take him up on the offer.
Again this was
something un-thought
of.
 Withdrawal of Afghanistan
• On May 15 1988 the
Soviets started to
withdraw their troops
from Afghanistan. In
1989 they fully
withdrew all of their
troops completely. This
was a turning point for
the Cold War
 Malta Conference
• December 3rd 1989, at the
end of the Malta
Conference Soviet
leader Gorbachev and
US President George H.
W. Bush declared a long
lasting era of peace had
begun. This was
regarded as the end of
the Cold War. Later on
the Soviet Union
dissolved itself and
Russia broke up.
Post Cold War Map
The End