SovUnion2

SOVIET UNION (1950-2008)
**BLUE** for political **RED** for social **GREEN** for economic   Trend from 1950-1985 (Khruschev up until Gorbachev): International ideological turmoil, especially between the communist East and the capitalist West Trend from 1985-1991 (Gorbachev through Yeltsin): Political turmoil within the Soviet Union Trend from 1991-present day (Yeltsin through Putin): Political unrest among the new republics and Russia. (nationalism) 

 1950 - The Soviet Union and China sign a **30 year defense treaty**, raising fear in the West.  1950-53 - Outbreak of the <span style="color: rgb(0, 9, 255)">**Korean War** ; fighting between UN and Communist forces heightens tensions between East and West

[[image:http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkorea.jpg width="260" height="322" caption="The Korean War"]]
1953 - Death of Joseph Stalin brings **Nikita Krushchev**<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)"> (1953-1964) to head of Communist Party. His rise inaugurates a period of de-Stalinization; although the Communist Party maintains a political monopoly, controls are relaxed and the standard of living begins to improve.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> Foreign policy is also reinvented, with Khruschev advocating a peaceful coexistence with capitalism, leading to a relaxation of tensions. However, the relaxed atmosphere also stimulates rebelliousness in the Soviet Union's eastern satellites. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1955 - The <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Warsaw Pact** is organized by Hungary, East Germany, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and the Soviet Union to oppose NATO, an anti-Soviet military alliance formed by the West. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1956- Soviet Union crushes democratic movement in Hungary 1956 - Krushchev delivers a secret speech to the communist party, <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">**denouncing Stalin**. 1957 - First artificial satellite, <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">**Sputnik** is sent into orbit by the Soviet Union, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)">initiating the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union 1958 - Krushchev becomes <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Prime Minister** of the Soviet Union <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1961 - Soviet Union <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**breaks with China** over its peaceful coexistence policy with the West 1961 - New Soviet <span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 0)">**ruble** is issued; value is equated to that of the British pound <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1961 - Construction of the **<span style="color: rgb(234, 46, 46)">Berlin Wall ** symbolizes the divide between the capitalist West and the communist East 1961 - <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">**Yuri Gagarin** becomes the first human in space <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1962 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Cuban Missile Crisis** brings the West and the East to the brink of nuclear war 1963 - Soviet Union, US, and Great Britain <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**ban atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons** ; testing is allowed only underground 1963 - Soviet Union <span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 0)">**legalizes the purchase of wheat** from the West 1964 - Peaceful overthrow of Krushchev brings <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Leonid Brezhnev** (1964-1982) to head of the Communist Party; **Aleksey Kosygin** replaces Krushchev as prime minister <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1965 - Soviet Union **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">funds communist North Vietnam ** in the Vietnam War <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1968 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Brezhnev Doctrine** is announced, giving communist countries the right to intervene in other nations when events threaten international communist movement; **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia ** <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1969 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Border clashes** between China and the Soviet Union occur as tensions rise over Mao's Cultural Revolution <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1972 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Detente**, a reduction of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union , begins with the signing of the <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**SALT-1 arms control treaty** , which prevents both sides from increasing the current number of nuclear weapons they possess 1974 - United States makes the Soviet Union a <span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 0)">**favored trading partner** in return for the Soviet Union relaxing its emigration restrictions 1977 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**New constitution is written**, Brezhnev elected president <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 240, 0)"> 1979 - Detente ends with the <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Soviet invasion of Afghanistan** 1980 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Nikolay Tikhonov** (1980-1985) replaces Kosygin as prime minister 1982 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Yuri Andropov** (1982-1984), chief of the KGB, becomes head of the Communist Party after Brezhnev's death 1984 - After 15 months in office, Andropov dies and is replaced by <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Konstantin Chernenko** (1984-1985)<span style="color: rgb(162, 226, 146)"> 1985 - After only 13 months in office, Chernenko dies. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Mikhail Gorbachev** becomes the last General Secretary of the Communist party 1985 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Andrei Gromyko** becomes Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (president) 1986 - April 26, a **<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes **, causing the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history (radioactive material in large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia) 1987 - Gorbachev <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**signs a treaty** with the United States to reduce their nuclear missiles 1988 - <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Gorbachev** replaces Gromyko as president. <span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 156, 232)"> 1988-1989 - Soviet troops <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**withdraw from Afghanistan**. <span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 156, 232)"> 1989 - The Communist Party in <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">**Lithuania declares its independence** from the Soviet Communist Party. The new governing body (parliament), **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation is formed **. Many Communists lose their government positions during the free elections. <span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 156, 232)"> 1989 - 1990 - The **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Soviet Union starts losing control of Eastern Europe **. By end of 1990, all 15 republics of the Soviet Union have passed laws that take precedence over laws passed by the central government. <span style="background-color: rgb(247, 156, 232)"> 1990 - The Communist Party allows non-Communists parties, ending one-party rule. **<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">Freedom of religion ** is granted. **Boris Yeltsin<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)"> ** is elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and leaves the Soviet Communist Party. 1991 - Gorbachev and U.S. President George Bush sign the **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty **. <span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 156, 232)"> 1991 July - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Gorbachev ** grants all the republics of the Soviet Union **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: rgb(246, 136, 240)">greater independence **. <span style="background-color: rgb(247, 156, 232)"> 1991 August - A **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">coup ** imprisons Gorbachev, but ends with Gorbachev returning to power. However, President Yeltsin increases his power and **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">bans the Soviet Communist Party ** in Russia. **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Ukraine and the Baltic republics gain independence **. 1991 September - The Congress of People's Deputies votes for **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">dissolution of the Soviet Union **. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)"> 1991 December 8 - Yeltsin agrees to form the **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Commonwealth of Independent States with Ukraine and Belarus **. Eventually, all the former Soviet republics join, except for the Baltic states. <span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"> 1991 December 25 - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Mikhail Gorbachev resigns ** as president (last head of state of USSR), and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved. 1991 December 26 - The Russian government takes over for the previous offices of the USSR. <span style="background-color: rgb(179, 248, 250)">1991 - From the **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">former USSR **, the countries of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia are formed. 1993 September - President Yeltsin **<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">suspends parliament and calls for new elections **. 1993 December - Russians approve a **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">new constitution **, giving the president more power. The State Duma replaces the form Soviet Parliament. 1994 - Russia joins **<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">Nato's Partnership for Peace ** program.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"><span style="background-color: rgb(179, 248, 250)"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"> <span style="background-color: rgb(179, 248, 250)">1996 - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Yeltsin is re-electe <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">d ** for president. Russia agrees to a peace treaty with Chechnya, which had previously tried to break away. 1997 - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Border treaty with Lithuania ** 1998 August - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 0)">Ruble is devalued **. Government plans to default on foreign debts. 1998-1999 - Yeltsin dismisses Viktor Chernomyrdin, Sergey Kiriyenko, Yevgeniy Primakov, Sergey Stepashin as prime ministers, finally **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">appointing Vladimir Putin **.

<span style="background-color: rgb(179, 248, 250)">1999 September-October - Putin **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">refuses to give in to the demands of Chechnya **, and gains popularity. Yeltsin resigns. 2000 March - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Putin is elected ** president. 2001 July - Russia signs a **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Friendship treaty ** with the People's Republic of China. 2002 May - Russia and the US reach a new agreement on **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">nuclear weapons reduction **. They agree to scrap 6,000 missiles each in the next 10 years. <span style="background-color: rgb(179, 248, 250)"> 2002 October - Chechen rebels <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">**hold 800 people hostage** in a Moscow theater. 2004 March- Mikhail Fradkov becomes prime minister. **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Putin wins his second term ** as president. 2004 May - Chechen President **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Akhmad Kadyrov is killed ** in a bomb blast. <span style="background-color: rgb(179, 248, 250)">2004 September - **<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">330 people are killed in the Beslan siege **. <span style="background-color: rgb(250, 163, 236)"> 2006 January - Russia cuts off the supply of gas to Ukraine. 2006 March - Putin visits Beijing and agrees to a **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">deal on future supply of Russian gas ** to China. 2008 March - **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255)">Dmitry Medvedev wins presidential elections **.

TEMP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Russian_history
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http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/sovietuniontimeline.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1113655.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1112551.stm http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch33.htm