Mikhail Gorbachev Timeline of Events

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Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

Timeline of Events

1985

3.11.1985

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the Soviet Union's leader.

4.7.1985

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declares a moratorium on the deployment of middle-range missiles in Europe.

11.19.1985

Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.

1986

10.11.1986

Cold War: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe.

12.19.1986

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky.

1987

6.12.1987

Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

1988

5.29.1988

U.S. President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union when he arrives in Moscow for a superpower summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

1989

4.2.1989

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.

12.3.1989

Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between their nations may be coming to an end.

1990

3.15.1990

Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union.

6.1.1990

George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.

9.2.1990

Transnistria is unilaterally proclaimed a Soviet republic; the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev declares the decision null and void.

10.15.1990

Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.

1991

8.19.1991

Collapse of the Soviet Union, August Coup: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Crimea.

8.20.1991

Collapse of the Soviet Union, August Coup: more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup aiming to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.

8.21.1991

Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.

8.24.1991

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

8.28.1991

Collapse of the Soviet Union – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.

12.25.1991

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.