© László BORHI
© Cold War History Research Center, Budapest

This chronology is based on the following publication: Borhi László: Az Egyesült Államok és a szovjet zóna, 1945-1990 [The United States and the Soviet Zone, 1945-1990], Budapest: História, 1994

January 7.-8. Talks between US Secretary of State Schultz and Soviet foreign minister Gromyko on resuming the disarmament talks in Geneva. The Soviet Union makes concessions and no longer regards the halting of missile deployment a precondition of returning to the negotiating table. They also agree to conduct the talks in the framework of an “umbrella” negotiation on INF and strategic arms and not separately, like previously. Each “umbrella” delegation will comprise of three subgroups: of groups discussing INF, strategic arms and precluding the arms race in outer space. The inclusion of SDI among the topics to be discussed is a concession made by the US. – January 13. Gromyko declares that unless there is progress in the field of space weapons the arms control talks cannot succeed.® March 12, 1985. – Weinberger announces: the program of developing and deploying the SDI system cannot be given up under any circumstances.

January 16. An agreement of principle is concluded between Poland and the Western states on rescheduling the repayment of Poland’s debts.

February 6. Reagan’s state of the union address: “For the last twenty years we have believed that no war will be launched as long as each side knows it can retaliate with a deadly counterstrike. Well, I believe there is a better way of eliminating the threat of a nuclear war. It is a Strategic Defense Initiative, aimed ultimately at finding a non-nuclear defense against ballistic missiles”.

March 1. The Pentagon acknowledges for the first time that an atomic war could cause climatic changes.

March 10. The death of Constantine U. Chernenko. The new general secretary of the CPSU is Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev. Western experts believe that Gorbachev’s election as general secretary means that the old, conservative members of the Soviet hierarchy are starting to lose their grip on power. – Gorbachev declares that his country will pursue the Leninist policy of peaceful coexistence with the Western states in the spirit of détente.® April 7, 1985.

March 12. The Geneva disarmament talks are resumed in Geneva.

March 26. Speech by CPSU Politburo member Grigorii Romanov at the Twenty-third congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party. Romanov praised the Hungarian economic reform and acknowledged that the USSR should modernize its economic mechanism. At the same time he warns Hungary: it should not strive for closer relations with the West at the expense of relations with other socialist states because of the reforms. He urges the socialist countries to reinforce their economic independence of the West.

April 1. Reagan reveals that he has been invited to a summit by Gorbachev. According to White House sources the summit will take place in the Fall of 1985.® November 18.-21, 1985.

April 2. The fourth edition of Pentagon’s Soviet Military Power is published. Relating to the volume Weinberger remarks: The USSR is developing its own space defense system and they might be able to deploy land and space based laser weapons within ten years. According to the study in one year the Soviets raised the number of SS-20s from 378 to 414 and are ready to deploy two new ICBMs (SS-24, SS-25). The SS-24 has ten warheads and can be launched from special railway carriages. Moreover the Soviets raised their land forces by five divisions in 1984, which is now at 199 divisions.® August 11, 1984.

April 7. Gorbachev announces a moratorium on the deployment of INF missiles. He expresses his hope that Washington will join the Soviet move. In a televised interview he states that he is accepting Reagan’s invitation for a summit. “We regard the improvement of Soviet-American relations not only as extremely necessary, but also as a possible matter.” – Washington rejects the moratorium of missile deployment saying that it would preserve Moscow’s 10:1 superiority. According to Thatcher the consequence of Gorbachev’s offer “would not be balance, which is what we seek, but enormous Soviet superiority”.

April 10.-11. British foreign secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe visits Warsaw. He holds discussions with foreign minister Olszowski and Jaruzelski. Howe visits the grave of Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko, which is guarded by the political police. According to Polish speaker Urban the visit to the priest’s grave was “harmful”, but he deems Howe’s visit a “positive event”.

April 23. Gorbachev condemns the US for not responding to his proposals for arms reduction. According to the general secretary of the CSPSU Washington is violating the conditions of the Geneva talks since it fails to negotiate on averting an arms race in outer space.® September 17, 1985.

April 26. Warsaw Pact is prolonged by 20 years.

May 15. The Bucharest ambassador of the US resigns. David Funderburk quit his post because the Reagan administration refused to pursue a hard line against Bucharest. Funderburk claims that in order to receive favorable treatment Bucharest misled the United States to believe that its was pursuing an independent foreign policy. The diplomat also claims that the State Department’s Office of European Affairs plays down reports on human rights abuses in Romania. He criticized a 1983 speech by Vice-President George Bush in which he said that the US was willing to have closer contacts with Eastern Europe if it promotes internal liberalization and if the East Europeans demonstrate a higher degree of openness and independence.

May 31. Yugoslav President Milka Planinc visits the US. Schultz assured the Yugoslav President of strong American support of his country’s economic support. According to Planinc Yugoslavia’s economic problems reached the dangerous level which people still tolerate.

June 10. Reagan announces that the US will continue to observe the SALT II treaty although it was not ratified by the Senate. America would have transcended the SLBM limit set by the treaty, but they decided to dismantle an older submarine in order to avoid this. Weinberger, who earlier opposed the treaty’s observation now assured the President of the Pentagon’s support. The secretary of defense demanded the suspension of the treaty because of Soviet violations and hence was in opposition to secretary of state Schultz, who is for adhering to the treaty. The JCS did not support Weinberger, but 13 Senators wrote a letter to the President in which they asked for the non-observation of the treaty.

August 21. The US accuses the USSR of using a potentially dangerous chemical to trace American diplomats and to identify Soviet citizens who establish contacts with them. The chemical is a yellowish powder, luminates in a violet light and probably causes cancer. It is charged that the powder is deposited in places where American diplomats may accidentally pick it up on their clothes and hands. – Moscow calls the accusation absurd, which is designed “to prepare the ground for yet another slander campaign against the Soviet Union to poison the atmosphere in relations between our countries and kindle enmity towards the [Soviet] people.”® February 15, 1986.

September 17. Reagan declares that the US will not negotiate on the limitation of the SDI program in return for a Soviet concession on nuclear missiles. (Earlier Gorbachev hinted that Moscow was ready for a “radical proposal” on disarmament if the US agreed to limit SDI to basic research.)

September 27. Reagan receives Soviet foreign minister Shevardnadze.

September 30. The USSR proposes a 50% reduction of strategic arms, but he set the halting of SDI research as a precondition. According to US views because of the particular Soviet count of bombs and warheads the proposal would result in a huge Soviet atomic superiority in Europe. Reagan immediately welcomes the initiative.® October 31, 1985.

October 3. In the course of his visit in Paris Gorbachev calls on France and Great Britain for independent disarmament talks. – French President Mitterand rejects Reagan’s invitation for a pre-summit meeting, which would be meant to demonstrate Western unity. At the same time France, like Great Britain rejects Gorbachev’s offer to negotiate on the French and British nuclear force. Both countries assert that they will reduce their own forces after Soviet-American arms reduction only. France is unwilling to condemn the SDI.® July 6.-10, 1986.

October 17. Soviet chief of staff Marshal Akhromeiev in response to questions by the New York Times asserts: the development of a large ABM system with components deployed in outer space and other weapons in outer space makes the reduction of strategic weapons impossible.

October 22. According to the US Office of Technology SDI does not seem to be feasible, and could increase the danger of nuclear war. According to the study a shield that could protect the population and missile sites at one and the same time is infeasible. The SDI program raises the issue whether the 1972 ABM treaty is reconcilable with American national interests. Debate between Edward Teller and Hans Bethe. The two scientists played a crucial role in the development of the atomic and the hydrogen bombs. Teller claims that the arguments against the SDI are of political and philosophical nature and not technical ones, while Bethe thinks that it is not technically feasible either.® August 17, 1986.

October 31. Arms reduction proposal by the US: the limit should be established at 4500-4500 warheads for each superpower. Warheads on ICBMs should be maximized at 3000, strategic bombers to 350, air launched cruise missiles to 1500, IMF missiles to 120 not counting the British and French weapons.

November 14. Reagan characterizes his approaching meeting with Gorbachev in Geneva as a “peace mission”, while the previous day the Soviet leader declared: the focus of the Geneva meeting will be space weapons and he will not go to Geneva empty-handed.

November 18.-21. Reagan-Gorbachev meeting in Geneva. There is no breakthrough in the main political issues but six agreements of minor importance were signed. Reagan invited the general secretary for a visit in Washington. The President acknowledges that there are serious differences in human rights, regional conflicts and arms control. The two leaders issued a joint communiqué on speeding up the talks, on averting an arms race in outer space, freezing the arms race on the ground, the reduction of nuclear arms, the strengthening of strategic balance. – British prime minister Thatcher calls the meeting “very constructive”. – At the summit of the Warsaw Pact the meeting is described as “useful” and “highly important”. According to Izvestia it was an historical event, which could lead to a reduction of East-West tension. – According to the CPSU Politburo the summit was “a major political event in international life”, which “marked the beginning of a dialogue with a view to achieving changes for the better in Soviet-American relations and the world as a whole”.

December 15. Secretary of State Schultz in Bucharest. The secretary agreed with Ceausescu on the establishment of a consultation system on human rights. The agreement came after the US diplomat warned Ceausescu: Romania could lose its most favored nation treatment if it fails to improve the human rights situation in Romania.® February 26, 1988.

December 16. Schultz meets János Kádár in Budapest and expresses optimism relating to US-Hungarian relations, assures his host of his support of the most favored nation status of Hungary.

January 15. Gorbachev proposes the banning of nuclear weapons in the whole world by the year 2000. The precondition of the proposal is halting SDI. The general secretary envisions three phases: between 1985-1995 the US and the Soviet Union would reduce their arsenal by 50%, to 5000 atomic weapons each. In this phase French and British arms need not be reduced. After 1990 the nuclear powers would reduce then eliminate INF weapons and would start to destroy tactical atomic weapons. By the end of 1995 the elimination of nuclear arms would be finished, by the end of 1999 there would be no atomic weapon on Earth. Gorbachev underlined that the local monitoring of disarmament would not cause a problem.® February 24, 1986. – Gorbachev proposes that Great Britain should eliminate its nuclear arms thus the Soviet Union would not regard it as a nuclear target.

February 15. It is announced at the US embassy in Moscow that the so called Soviet “spy dust” is harmless. Reagan proposes the liquidation of Soviet and American INF weapons in three years and a moratorium on the deployment of short range nuclear weapons. The parties would liquidate all INF missiles by the end of the third year. The West European allies fear that a zero solution would leave them unguarded against the Soviet superiority in conventional forces and tactical atomic weapons. – Gorbachev calls the proposal propaganda and declares he would meet the US President in case there he sees a chance for an agreement.

March 26. The fifth edition of the Pentagon’s Soviet Military Power. The study claims that the Soviets are working on the development of at least two types of ICBMs and deployed 70 SS-25 missiles. By the beginning of 1986 the ten warhead mobile SS-26 could be ready for deployment. The Soviets did a lot to fortify their missile launch sites, they caught up with the US in cruise missile technology, are perfecting the SS-20s and are testing new SLBMs.

April 26. Reagan’s discussion with his chief advisors on whether the US should observe the SALT II treaty. The question came up because Washington wants to deploy a new atomic submarine, which would mean that the limit set by SALT II would be exceeded. The Navy proposed the dismantlement of two submarines and this is supported by Secretary of State Schultz. Weinberger and CIA director William Casey recommend that the submarines be placed in dry-dock. Several American politicians and experts claim that the USSR is violating the SALT II treaty. On May 7 Reagan announces that the US is dismantling its two Poseidon type submarines and thus abides the treaty. At the same time the US accuses the Soviets of violating it by deploying the SS-25s and encoding the test data of their ICBMs.

April 18. Gorbachev announces that the USSR is ready to pull out its SS-20s from Europe. It is also ready to reduce the number of Soviet troops and airplanes attached to the Warsaw Pact. He states that the Soviet Union would never under any circumstances attack Western Europe if NATO does not attack the Soviet Union and its allies.

April 28. The USSR proposes new talks on the reduction of conventional and tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

April 29. After an almost five-year pause civilian air traffic between the Soviet Union and the US is restored.

May 30. At the closed press conference of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers Schultz announces that SALT II’s obsolete limitations were not ratified and the Soviet Union disregards them. Earlier Reagan envisioned the violation of the treaty by the deployment of a new bomber. – The USSR announces that if the US fails to observe the treaty, it will no longer feel obliged to observe its limitations. According to the communiqué Reagan’s threat is very dangerous because it could nullify the existing treaty system and could nullify the agreements on disarmament. Moscow warns that Reagan’s position on SALT I could torpedo the approaching summit. Deputy foreign minister Bessmertnikh claims that the US is doing all it can to undermine the 1986 summit.

June 11. Reagan declares that he has not made a final decision on the observation of the SALT II treaty. Reagan claims that the treaty is flawed and legalizes the arms race. The following day the White House says that SALT II is dead, it no longer exists. The spokesman says that the decision to deploy the B-52 bombers equipped with cruise missiles is unalterable. Reagan also states that they will try to replace SALT II with a better treaty. – The Warsaw Pact’s disarmament proposal: in the forthcoming year both sides should reduce the number of their troops by 100-150 thousand. By 1990 both sides could reduce their armies by 500 thousand. A related proposal concerns the elimination of tactical nuclear weapons. The proposal includes the graduated elimination of chemical weapons, and the question of monitoring. The Soviets would accept the local monitoring of disarmament in all phases and are ready to discuss other means as well.

June 30. In his speech delivered in Poland Gorbachev accuses the US of destroying the remaining limits of the arms race: the SALT II treaty and other Soviet-American agreements. Moscow offers to talk separately about the defensive and offensive space weapons and suggests US-Soviet negotiations on the observation of SALT II.

July 6.-10. Mitterand’s visit in Moscow, where he negotiates over 15 hours with Gorbachev. The Soviet politician declares that Europe cannot let itself be used as a “theater of war” and the time has come to take its destiny into its own hands once more. Mitterand rejects negotiations on the French nuclear arsenal once again and criticized the Reagan administration for threatening to violate SALT II. The French President asserts that SDI is the “main obstacle” to disarmament talks.® November 25.-26, 1988.

July 13.-16. Soviet foreign minister Shevardnadze’s visit in London. Since the mutual expelling of diplomats in 1985 this is the first Soviet visit in England above the ambassadorial level. Shevardnadze has talks with his counterpart, Geoffrey Howe and prime minister Thatcher. Three agreements are signed: an economic-trade agreement, another on precluding dangerous incidents between the naval vessels of the two countries and one on the settlement of Tsarist debts pending for 69 years. According to the agreement London practically renounced its claims. London pays 2.6 million pounds to the USSR for Russian property and 45 million to the British holders of the securities.® March 28.-April 1, 1987. – Shevardnadze announces that although the USSR insists on the freezing of the British and the French nuclear arsenals, it has no wish to prohibit their modernization. The minister put pressure on his British negotiating partners to use their influence in making the Americans abide the existing Soviet-America treaties and to give a positive reception to the latest Soviet arms control proposals.

July 16. The White House announces the launching of Soviet-American talks on the comprehensive ban on nuclear tests.

July 25. Reagan’s letter to Gorbachev in which he offers to delay SDI by five years. In return the President wants the reduction of nuclear arms production and Moscow’s guarantee that the Soviets will not urge the modification of the 1972 ABM agreement in the forthcoming five to seven years. Furthermore the President proposed the reduction of warheads and delivery vehicles by 50% and the full dismantlement of INF missiles.

July 30. Soviet-American talks on the fate of SALT II fail.

August 1. According to Reagan’s decision the US will sell the USSR maximally four million tons of state subsidized grain. Other countries that sell larger amounts of grain to the Soviets protested because of the Senate’s proposal of state subsidization.

August 5. Moscow and Washington sign 13 agreements on cultural and scientific exchange programs.

August 17. Five former US officials propose the limitation of the SDI program. Former secretaries of defense Brown, Laird and Schlesinger, former secretary of state Vance and former national security advisor Scowcroft recommend the ground protection of nuclear missile sites instead of the protection of the population from space. (This solution would not violate the ABM agreement, since the principle of MAD would stand, and according to the logic of deterrence stability would grow because, since the protection of missile sites would increase the credibility of US counter-value capability.)

September 19.-20. Talks between Shevardnadze and Schultz in Washington. The meeting came about for the preparation of the summit, but the main theme was the case of a US journalist arrested in the USSR. In contrast to the original plan Shevardnadze met with Reagan. – Twenty-five members of the Soviet embassy in Washington are expelled with the charge of espionage.® October 19.-22, 1986.

September 22. The CDE conference in Stockholm ends with an agreement. The aim of the conference was to decrease the risk of accidental war by establishing a framework of notification and verification of troop movements and military exercises by the Warsaw Pact and NATO. The agreement was made in such a way that the conference clock was stopped one minute before the official expiration point. According to the agreement the signatories are obliged to provide the rest of the participants with an annual program of their military activities. The program needs to be handed in by the fifteenth of November each year. The participants have to be notified in writing through diplomatic channels of exercises larger than 13 thousand troops and 300 tanks 42 days in advance. Ones mobilizing between 40 and 75 thousand troops must be signaled one year, those of over 75 thousand two years in advance. All participants are obliged to receive observers at exercises that are larger than 17 thousand. All signatories must undergo aerial and ground monitoring three times a year. The receiving nation has the right to deny access to secret military or defense establishments.® January 19, 1989.

October 11.-12. The Reykjavik meeting of Gorbachev and Reagan. The meeting that was originally conceived as preparatory turns into a full-fledged summit. The main theme is arms reduction. There is an agreement on reducing INF forces to 100 warheads each. The missiles will be pulled out of the European continent. Strategic forces will be reduced by half, the number of warheads have an upper limit of 6000 each. Gorbachev accepts that this number will not include cruise missiles launched from the sea. There is no breakthrough in arms reduction because of the dispute over SDI. Reagan claims that the space defense system is the precondition of reducing offensive arms. Because of the debate there is no agreement on the date of the new summit.® December 8.-10, 1987. – Gorbachev asserts “we were on the verge of taking major, history-making decisions. Since the American administration, as we understand now, is out to make a breakthrough via SDI to military superiority, it even went so far as to bury the accords on which we already reached agreement”. The Soviet leader tied the strengthening of the ABM treaty to the acceptance of agreements relating to INF and strategic forces. Furthermore he insisted for the US to observe the ABM treaty for another ten years. The agreement failed because the Soviet position contained the treaty’s strict interpretation that is it would have prohibited the continuation of the SDI program in laboratory conditions. The dispute nullified agreements on arms control and human rights. From Reagan’s speech: The US proposed the “most sweeping and generous arms-control proposal in history” but he preferred “no agreement than to bring home a bad agreement to the United States”. – A few days later a dispute arose whether he recommended the elimination of all nuclear arms or only half of them. Schultz claims that the latter is true while a Senator alleges that the former. The USSR publishes the alleged text of the negotiations according to which Reagan proposed full elimination. The US accuses the Soviets of violating diplomatic rules because of the publication of the text.

October 19.-22. A “war” of expelling each others’ diplomats between Washington and Moscow. The US expels 80 Soviet, the USSR 10 American diplomats.

November 15. In the course of her talks in Washington Margaret Thatcher voices the Western European allies’ anxiety about the elimination of nuclear forces. According to NATO nuclear disarmament should be in harmony with the reduction of conventional forces, so that Western Europe should not become vulnerable to the Warsaw Pact’s superiority in that field. Thatcher expresses support for SDI.

November 28. The US violates the SALT II treaty by deploying the new B-52 bomber armed with cruise missiles. Gorbachev calls the decision a “major mistake”. Great Britain and France condemn the American move.

December 5. Moscow announces that it continues to observe the SALT II treaty. Weinberger labels the announcement “ultimate hypocrisy” and “another Soviet lie”.

December 30. The USSR rejects the US proposal for the leaders of the two great powers to greet the other’s population with a new year’s message as it was done in 1986. The Soviets say that there is no need to nurture illusions in the existing state of Soviet-American relations.

January 1. Radio Moscow broadcasts the edited version of Reagan’s message to the Soviet people.

January 28.-31. US deputy secretary of state John C. Whitehead visits Warsaw. This is the highest level Polish-American meeting since 1981. The main theme of the diplomat’s talks with Jaruzelski is the lifting of sanctions imposed on Poland. Jaruzelski states that Poland conceives of the possibility of normalizing bilateral relations only if the US ban on export and credit for Poland is eliminated and if Warsaw obtains the most favored nation status again. The US diplomat informs Jaruzelski after the talks that he favors lifting the sanctions. The deputy secretary gets a chance to see Polish opposition politicians. Lech Walesa urges the elimination of the sanctions.® February 19, 1987.

February 5. Moscow announces that in response to the US atomic test explosion it renounces its unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests.

February 19. The Reagan administration lifts the economic sanctions that were in force against Poland. The President explains the decision with the fact that Poland implemented progressive steps in human rights, including the release of political prisoners.

February 28. Gorbachev proposes the elimination of INF forces in Europe. He wants to decouple the issue from other problems of arms reduction. The official report of TASS: The Soviet Union proposes that INF missiles be taken out of the package and we should conclude an agreement on them without delay. It is a surprising development compared to Reykjavik that Gorbachev no longer insists on the solution of the SDI issue. The general secretary of the CPSU states that in case of an agreement he is ready to withdraw Soviet SRINF missiles from the GDR and Czechoslovakia.® April 27, 1987. – Washington expresses its desire for a rapid conclusion of the agreement. Reagan announces that the US will take the opportunity. – March 2. Soviet chief of staff Marshal Akhromeiev announces that the Kremlin does not insist on including British and French forces, although the two countries will have to join the process. Akhromeiev wants local monitoring of the treaty.

March 9.-10. British secretary of foreign affairs Howe visits Budapest. He is received by party general secretary Kádár.

March 15. According to Western sources 1000-1500 people demonstrated for democracy in Budapest.

March 17. The USSR proposes the establishment of an international committee to stop nuclear weapons from being deployed in outer space.

March 24. According to the Pentagon’s Soviet Military Power the Soviet SS-19s are less accurate than previously assumed and the SS-24 ICBMs will be operable in one year only. The Soviets dismantled 100 mobile SS-25s, but deployed a generation of SLBMs.

March 26. The seventh round of the disarmament talks in Geneva ends. The parties were unable to agree on the elimination of “Euromissiles”. The reason: the question of SRINFs. The West believes that the USSR has 130 480-960 km range missiles trained on Western Europe, while the West has 72 such missiles under West German control. The Soviets wish to freeze these rockets while the US wishes to convert some of its INF missiles to short range ones to balance Soviet superiority. The Soviets accuse the US of not wanting to agree, claiming that the zero solution was a “bluff from the outset”.

March 28.-April 1. Thatcher’s visit in Moscow. The events is favorably received by both the Soviet and the British press. Thatcher asserts that the West cannot trust the USSR in the field of disarmament, while Moscow fails to improve the human rights situation. Thatcher calls on the hosts to pull out of Afghanistan and to give up the idea of spreading socialism. The British premier supports the American interpretation of the ABM treaty, which makes the SDI program possible, but at the same time proposes a solution for the “star wars” issue. The preparations would be suspended and after a while both sides would prepare deployment, but would inform the other side of the experiments. Thatcher expresses doubts about the zero solution. Gorbachev refutes Thatcher’s claims about human rights as well as the proposal on SDI. Bilateral treaties are signed on diplomatic, cultural, scientific and educational cooperation and about the modernization of the London-Moscow hot line.® April 5.-7, 1989.

April 9.-11. Gorbachev’s talks with Gustav Husak in Prague. In the course of the negotiations differences between the two states were tabled in relation with the reforms suggested by Gorbachev.® December 17, 1987. – Gorbachev’s new proposal on arms control: the decoupling of INF and SRINF talks.® December 8, 1987.

April 15. In the course of Schultz’s talks in Moscow Gorbachev proposes the dismantlement of SRINF missiles. The Soviet proposal includes tactical nuclear missiles (of a range below 500 km) and would allow the implementation of the ground based SDI.

April 27. The Soviet Union’s new condition for the INF treaty: demands the elimination of the West German owned Pershing I/a rockets. Since these are in German hands they were not part of the Soviet-American talks.® August 27, 1987.

May 5. According to the NATO general secretary the Soviets are aiming at the denuclearization of Europe by insisting on the elimination of SRINFs. He claims this could be “fateful” for Europe.® July 22, 1987.

May 8. The US comes up with an arms reduction proposal: the number of warheads and nuclear delivery vehicles should be halved in seven years. In the meanwhile the ABM treaty would be observed, but after the seven years are up both sides would deploy an ABM system.

May 25.-27. Gorbachev’s visit in Romania. The Soviet leader on relations with Romania: “We must not pretend that everything is going smoothly. We all care for Socialism and want to make it as attractive as possible, but if we are silent about some shortcomings, they will inevitably grow. A half truth is worse than a lie.”

July 22. In an interview Gorbachev declares that he is willing to accept the global double zero solution that is he will not station INF and SRINF weapons in Europe or Asia if the US will not station such weapons either.® December 8, 1987.

August 11. The USSR announces that it started to deploy its SS-24 ICBMs. The rockets are mobile and have 10 warheads each. They can be launched from railroad carriages.

August 26. Reagan calls on the Soviet leadership to employ the policy of glasnost in domestic-and foreign policy as well. He declares that the West cannot “be content anymore with accepted spheres of interest a world only half free”. The President calls on the Kremlin to take concrete steps for the sake of expanding the policy of liberalization and to terminate local conflicts. Among other things Reagan urges Moscow to stick to the promise at Yalta and allow “democratic rule and free elections” in Eastern Europe.

August 27. Bonn announces that in order to assist the INF treaty it renounces its Pershing I/A missiles.

September 15.-17. Shevardnadze-Schultz meeting in Washington. The two diplomats agree on the elimination of INF forces.

August 21. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee warns Reagan that if he reinterprets the ABM treaty the ratification of the INF treaty in Senate could be protracted. The background of the warning is the traditional debate between the chief executive and the Senate on the right to conclude treaties.

October 23. Gorbachev-Schultz meeting in Moscow. The previous day Schultz negotiated with Shevardnadze and agreed on the following: the Germans will not be included in the INF treaty, but at the time of implementation Bonn will dismantle its missiles. Their warheads will be destroyed two weeks after the INF weapons are eliminated. Moscow is allowed to retain a maximum of 100 SRINF missiles for thirty months after the treaty comes into force. The Soviet-American INF weapons will be destroyed in three years the SRINFs, with the exception of the few that can be retained, will be liquidated in 18 months.

November 30. Gorbachev’s interview on NBC television. He admits that the USSR is conducting experiments similar to SDI. “Practically the Soviet Union is doing all the US is doing and I guess we are engaged in research, basic research, which relates to these aspects which are covered by the SDI of the US.” At the same time he claims that the USSR will not deploy an SDI system and he urges the US to do the same.

December 8.-10. The Washington summit of Gorbachev and Reagan.® May 29.-June 2, 1989. – Gorbachev arrives in Washington as a popular man: his popularity index is 59%, only 4% lower than his host’s. – A demonstration of 200 thousand is organized in the US capital for human rights in the Soviet Union. Vice-President Bush, the leader of the Senate minority, Senator Dole and Representative Jack Kemp speak at the demonstration. They read a letter by the President in which he puts pressure on Gorbachev for the emigration of all refuseniks and for the full freedom of religious and cultural self expression.

December 8. Gorbachev and Reagan sign the INF treaty, which is the result of six years’ of negotiations. Reagan claims that the elimination of a category of nuclear arms is a historical deed. According Gorbachev the treaty “is a historic milestone…for a world without wars.” – According to the treaty both sides will eliminate their short and intermediate range missiles (500-5000km) nuclear missiles. The FRG’s Pershing missiles are not part of the agreement. The treaty provides that the monitoring period will last for 13 years and will allows local inspection so that it is to be announced immediately prior to the event. According to the appendix attached to the treaty the US deployed 429, the Soviets 470 INF missiles. The US figure is higher, the Soviet is lower than the ones hitherto cited. The local monitoring does not extend to the factories that produce the missiles, the research and development facilities, but does include INF bases, storage and repair installations. The Americans are allowed to monitor 70 facilities in the USSR and seven in other Warsaw Pact states (six in the GDR, one in Czechoslovakia). – On his way to the US Gorbachev met Thatcher. He is the first Soviet leader to step on British soil since 1956. – The French cultural minister opines that that the INF treaty is in itself useless because the Soviet nuclear threat on Europe remains practically unchanged and is dangerous because it constitutes the weakening of the US position. The French leadership finds the time opportune to upgrade the French nuclear deterrent and to extend the French nuclear umbrella to the FRG. (Numerically the INF treaty eliminates only a small part of the great powers’ nuclear stockpiles – the US had 23,470 warheads in early 1987 – but by raising the nuclear threshold reduced the danger of an atomic war. At the same time it is the end of the doctrine of graduated deterrence.) – The foreign ministers of NATO call the treaty an unprecedented agreement in the history of arms reduction and call for rapid ratification in the US Senate.

December 17. Because of the INF treaty the Bulletin of Atomic Science sets back its symbolical doomsday clock. The clock can be seen in the Chicago office of the organization. The bulletin’s staff adjusted it from 23’57” to 23’54”. “Zero hour” at midnight signifies the moment of atomic war. – The general secretary of the Czechoslovak communist party, Gustav Husak resigns. He is succeeded by the conservative Milos Jakes. According to an opposition politician Jakes is the greyest of all candidates.® November 24, 1989.

February 15.-19. British foreign minister Howe’s talks in the Soviet Union with Gorbachev and other Soviet leaders. Gorbachev accepts an invitation to London. Howe announces that his country is not contemplating the reduction of its nuclear arsenal.® October 20.

February 21.-22. Schultz’s talks in Moscow with Shevardnadze, Gorbachev and prime minister Rizhkov. Topics: strategic arms reduction, observation of the ABM treaty and the solution of local conflicts.® April 21.-22.

February 26. The State Department announces that Romania renounces the most favored nation status. Romania is no longer eligible for export credit from the Commodity Credit Corporation and Export Import Bank. The US Congress was deliberating on depriving Romania of the privilege when Bucharest renounced it.® March 9, 1989.

March 3. NATO leaders decide to concentrate on the reduction of military equipment rather than that of troops at the conventional arms reduction talks.

March 23.-24. The Moscow visit of Hungarian party Politburo member Károly Grósz. Grósz informs press representatives that Gorbachev will not veto the introduction of the muti-party system.® February 11, 1989.

March 29. Grósz reveals that Gorbachev pledged not to interfere in the reform processes under way in Hungary and other East European states.® February 8, 1989.

April 6. Secretary of Commerce William Verity Jr. is empowered by the administration to negotiate the increase US trade with the USSR. The five areas involved: Energy, food processing, equipment for the construction industry, services like insurance, and medical products. Verity wants to raise the bilateral trade turnover to 5 billion dollars a year. The departments of state and treasury supported the plan, only the Pentagon was opposed.

April 21.-22. Schultz’s visit in Moscow, where he discusses issues of human rights, local conflicts and the acceleration of the Geneva talks on strategic arms reduction. The factors that impede progress: SDI, cruise missiles and the question of monitoring.

April 26. Strike breaks out in the Lenin Steel Plant of Nowa Huta Poland. An estimated 15 thousand workers participate. The strike spreads to other cities, on May 1 the demonstrators clash with police, on the 6^th of May police forces end the Nowa Huta demonstrations by force. The Polish government rejects talks with Solidarity. – May 4. Reagan expresses anxiety over the clashes in Poland between the police and the demonstrators.® October 12, 1988.

May 12. Vice-President Bush’s speech on Soviet-American relations. He believes the time has to come to give up the doctrine of containment and proposes that the USSR should be integrated into the commonwealth of nations. He pledges that “as the Soviet Union becomes increasingly open and democratic, as soon as they are conform with the norms of responsible international conduct, we shall give the appropriate response. “ He proposes two measures for the amelioration of relations: the renewal of the open skies initiative first recommended by Eisenhower in 1955, which would allow the aerial monitoring of military installations and movement. Secondly he proposes the abolition of the Jackson-Vanik amendment so that Moscow can obtain the most favored nation status.

May 22. János Kádár is forced to resign from his post as party general secretary and is succeeded by Károly Grósz. Kádár is given the honorary title of party president.

May 27. The US Senate passes the INF treaty by a vote of 93:5. Only one significant amendment is added to the treaty, which restricts the possibility of presidential reinterpretation of the treaty. – May 31. Nine bilateral agreements are signed. One of these provides that the launching of all SLBMs and ICBMs must be announced 24 hours in advance. Reagan says “my personal impression of Mr. Gorbachev is that he is a serious man seeking serious reform”. He adds “now the allies are strong and [Soviet] expansionism is receding around the world…There is hope and we look for this trend to continue. Let us embrace honest change when it occurs, but let us also be wary. Let us be strong. And let us be confident too.”

July 6.-11. At the invitation of the chairman of the JCS Marshal Akhromeiev visits the US. He is the first Soviet military leader that leads a delegation to the US since World War II. He visits several military bases and views the B-1B strategic bomber. He announces a two year military exchange program with his host.® August 1.-4, 1988.

July 20.-27. The general secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, Károly Grósz visits the US. With the exception of Gorbachev, Grósz is the only East European leader to receive an invitation to the US from the Reagan administration. Grósz first visits Chicago where he is present at the signing of a contract on the establishment of a 115 million dollar US-Hungarian glass factory. – The Hungarian leader is received by Reagan and Vice-President Bush. Reagan hailed Grósz’s “openness to new ideas” and announced “a new era” in Soviet Hungarian relations. The President reminds his guest that he saw “a society that is free” in the US “committed to upholding fundamental human rights and open to diverse opinions and talents”. In his response Grósz states “I will reorganize its economy. This can only be done…if the people enjoy more rights, more freedoms. Therefore, we are modernizing our political system and our political practice.” Grósz alludes that in his July visit in Moscow he discussed the withdrawal of Soviet troops with Gorbachev. At the same time he asserts that there was no agreement on this with Gorbachev and in his view for this to happen a similar measure from the part of the West would be required.® December 6.-8, 1988.

August 1.-4. US defense secretary Frank C. Carlucci visits Moscow where he has talks with Soviet minister of defense Dimitrii T. Iazov. He is taken to several military and naval bases, where he viewed the strategic bomber Blackjack and the MIG-29 fighter. Carlucci recounts that at the airbase he visited his questions were answered with “remarkable frankness”. The secretary met the President of the Supreme Soviet, Andrei Gromyko. At his speech given at the Voroshilov Military Academy Carlucci questions the defensive nature of Soviet military doctrine.

August 1. The annihilation of INF missiles is started in Kazakhstan.

October 12. Lech Walesa meets US deputy secretary of state Whitehead. Whitehead also negotiates with the representatives of the Polish government. At a press conference the American diplomat declares that Washington supports the legalization of Solidarity but warns that both sides need to be patient at the impending round table talks. He claims that the US would support the Polish economy if the talks end with success.® January 18; April 17, 1989.

October 20. It is announced that the USSR is getting 2.1 billion dollars of commercial loans to buy British goods. In reference to the credit foreign secretary Howe announces that he is opposed to the idea of a “Soviet Marshall Plan”.

November 2.-4. Thatcher’s visit in Poland. In a radio speech Jaruzelski warns the British prime minister against interfering in Polish internal affairs. Thatcher meets Prime Minister Rakowski, Cardinal Jozef Glemp and Jaruzelski. Thatcher rejects a Polish request for assistance to the Polish economy. At the banquet given in her honor, Thatcher declares “President Gorbachev had talked about building a common European house. But the only wall so far erected is the Berlin wall, which divides and separates.” She adds “We want to see the barriers, which have divided Europe for the last 40 years dismantled so that Poland and other East European countries can once again share fully in European culture, Europe’s freedom and Europe’s justice.” She asserts “greater prosperity comes to those nations which have greater freedom”. She urges Poland to observe the Helsinki accord and to “form free and independent trade unions”.

November 25.-26. French President Mitterand’s visit in Paris. His aim: the improvement of Franco-Soviet relations.® July 4.-6, 1989. – November 6. French banks float a 2 billion dollar loan to the USSR.

November 25. NATO reveals figures on the balance between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. According to the report the Warsaw Pact has 3.09 million troops, while NATO has 2.21 million. Moscow and its allies have 51,500 tanks, the West has 16,624. The situation is similar in terms of APCs: the Warsaw Pact possesses 22,400, the West deployed 4143. The NATO report claims that the Warsaw Pact enjoys a superiority over its adversary in artillery and the air force as well.

December 6.-8. Gorbachev meets Reagan and Bush in New York. Reagan entrusts his successor, President elect Bush with continuing US-Soviet relations. – In his speech given in the UN Gorbachev declares that although the October Revolution greatly influenced the 20^th century, “Today we face a different world, for which we must seek a different road to the future…Today further world progress is only possible through a consensus, as we move forward to a new world order.” As the highlight of his address the party general secretary announces that in 1990 he is reducing the size of the Soviet army by 500 thousand troops, will withdraw 10 thousand tanks, 8500 pieces of artillery and 800 warplanes from the GDR, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.® April 25, 1989. Gorbachev envisions the transformation of Soviet military doctrine. He emphasizes that this is not contingent on a similar move by NATO.

December 8. NATO proposes the reduction of tanks in Europe to an aggregate of 40 thousand and that no state should have more than 12 thousand.

January 11. From Reagan’s farewell address to the American people: “Nothing is less free than the pure form of communism, and yet we have, the past few years, forged a satisfying new closeness with the Soviet Union. I have been asked if this is not a gamble, and my answer is no, because we’re basing our actions not on words but deeds. The détente of the 70s was based not on action but promises…Well this time, so far its different: President Gorbachev has brought about some internal democratic reforms and begun the withdrawal from Afghanistan …My view is that President Gorbachev is different from previous Soviet leaders. I think he knows some of the things wrong with his society and is trying to fix them”.

January 18. The resolution of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Pparty on the gradual legalization of Solidarity.® March 9.-April 5, 1989.

January 19. The CSCE conference in Vienna ends. The participating 35 countries sign an agreement on human rights. The agreement is not legally binding, but with the exception of Romania the signatories oblige themselves to observe it. The main points of the final document: the members of the CSCE protect and promote the ethnic, cultural, language and religious identity of the national minorities on their territories and will respect the free exercise of the rights of the minorities living in these areas. They will take effective measures to avoid religious discrimination, to assure the equality of believers and non-believers. They will guarantee the equality of genders in politics, the economy, social life and culture. All we have the right to travel domestically and abroad, the right to return to their homeland. The participants will revise all requests for family unification within three months, their citizens will be free to choose their sources of information and the freedom of access to information, possession of information, its reproduction and distribution will be guaranteed. The signatories will guarantee the confidentiality of postal communication, condemn and fight terrorism without reserve. – Romania announces that it will not abide by the agreement since it disagrees with the contents. Schultz declares that the West welcomes the progress made in the field of human rights in Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union and expects further progress. At the same time “We regret the timidity of the GDR, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in not taking similar steps.”® June 5, 1990.

January 20. From the inauguration speech of George Bush: “a new breeze is blowing and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man’s heart if not in fact the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing…Great nations of the world are moving towards democracy – through the door of freedom…”.

January 23. The State Department urges the release of human rights demonstrators arrested in Czechoslovakia.

February 8. Academician Oleg Bogomolov announces that the USSR would accept an Austrian or Swedish type transformation in Hungary.

March 6. New East-West arms reduction talks begin in Vienna on European conventional forces (CFE). The CFE talks replace the old MBFR talks. The Eastern proposal is forwarded by Shevardnadze. The Soviet foreign minister proposes a three-stage plan: in the two-three year initial phase the two alliances would reduce their armed forces by 10-15%: tanks, fighter planes, APCs, etc. In the second phase the reduction would be 25% within the same time span, while in the third the armed forces would be given a defensive posture and naval units would be reduced as well. Although the talks do not deal with nuclear arms, Shevardnadze proposed the withdrawal of tactical nuclear arms from Europe. According to the Western proposal weapons should be given an upper limit: this limit would be 40 thousand tanks, 33 thousand artillery pieces and 56 thousand APCs. No country would be allowed to have an arsenal exceeding 30% of the weapons at the disposal of the whole alliance. No member state should have more than 3200 tanks, 1700 artillery pieces, and 6000 APCs. The NATO plan does not mention the reduction of troops. – US secretary of state James Baker calls on the Soviet leadership to renounce the Brezhnev doctrine. – According to Pravda the Warsaw Pact has 3.5 million troops, 51,500 tanks, 70,330 APCs, 7846 warplanes, and 2785 helicopters. In the Warsaw Pact’s estimate NATO has 3.6 million troops, 30,690 tanks, 18 thousand APCs, 7130 warplanes and 5270 helicopters.

March 9. The UN human rights committee orders the review of the human rights situation in Romania. The draft resolution was presented by Western states and Hungary supported it.

March 9.-April 5. The round table talks in Poland end. It is agreed that the Senate would be freely elected, 65% of the mandates in the Sejm will be guaranteed for the communist party, the remaining seats will be decided by elections, the head of state will be elected by the legislature and Solidarity will be legalized.® July 19; August 17, 1989.

April 5. The State Department proposes that in the forthcoming year 150 thousand people be admitted into the US with a special immigrant status. Most of these would be Soviet citizens. In 1988 the Reagan administration abolished the automatic refugee status of Soviet emigrants. At the same time the Soviet immigration quota was raised to an annual 25 thousand, while that of East Asians was reduced from 25 thousand to 19,500. Bush’s plan envisions an annual 30 thousand special visas without regard to the origin of the emigrant if the immigration serves the interest of US foreign policy.

April 5.-7. Gorbachev’s talks in London. In the course of his meeting with Thatcher differences of opinion arose about disarmament. Contrary to expectations the Soviet leader failed to mention the common “European House” concept. Gorbachev invited the Queen to the USSR.

April 11. The declaration of the foreign ministers of the Warsaw Pact to the foreign ministers of NATO for the elimination of tactical atomic weapons.

April 17. Bush announces an 8 point economic aid program for Poland. It is announced in a Polish inhabited suburb of Detroit, Michigan. In case of congressional approval US duty on certain Polish goods would be eliminated, loans for Poland would be guaranteed by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Each loan would need to be approved by Congress. They would promote the expansion of the activity of American companies in Poland, the US would take part in working out a sustainable credit policy, they would support IMF and other loans to Warsaw.® June 20, 1989.

April 25. The Soviet Union commences the East European troop reductions announced by Gorbachev in Hungary.

May 2. Hungary starts to eliminate the barriers on its frontier with Austria.

May 4. Secretary of Defense Cheney says sorry for forecasting Gorbachev’s fall in a television interview. The White House and the State Department distances itself from the statement.

May 8. The Central Committee of the Hungarian party forces Kádár to resign. Kádár is forced to renounce his party presidency and membership in the Central Committee.® October 7, 1989.

May 11. Baker-Gorbachev meeting in Moscow. Gorbachev announces that the USSR is unilaterally reducing the number of its East European nuclear arsenal by 500 units. This includes 284 theater nuclear warheads. Moreover he proposes that the following cap should be put on the Warsaw Pact and NATO by 1997: 1.35 million troops, 1500 warplanes, 1700 helicopters, 20 thousand tanks, 24 thousand artillery units, 28 thousand APCs. – Western experts claim that Gorbachev’s offer is only a gesture because Moscow has 10 thousand nuclear devices in Eastern Europe, and the offer is directed at increasing conflict within NATO, which surfaced because the FRG wants to negotiate the elimination of tactical nuclear arms.

May 23. The USSR’s disarmament CFE proposal: NATO and the Warsaw Pact should reduce the number of tanks to 20 thousand, artillery units to 24 thousand and APCs to 28 thousand. The deadline would be 1997. In order to reach the proposed limit the USSR should dismantle 17,500 tanks, 27 thousand APCs, and 25 thousand artillery pieces. Moscow accepted two of NATO’s demands: no member state own more than 30% of the conventional arms belonging to its respective alliance and that no country may station more than 3200 tanks outside its national boundaries. Earlier the White House spokesman called Gorbachev a “drugstore cowboy” for making one attractive offer after another.

May 29. Bush’s arms reduction proposal. A more radical reduction of artillery than the Warsaw Pact offer, the reduction of helicopters and ground based fighter planes 15% below the present NATO level, the liquidation of planes pulled out from Europe. The two great powers would be allowed to station 275 thousand troops in Central Europe each. – According to a Soviet counter-proposal the number of troops in Central Europe would be maximized at 570 thousand, that of fighters would be 420, the number of helicopters could be 800, APCs would be maximized at 8700, APCs at 14,500 artillery units at 7600. In the Warsaw Pact definition the GDR, the FRG, Belgium, Holland Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark and Hungary would be understood under Central Europe. NATO’s definition does not include Hungary and Denmark.

June 12. US-Soviet agreement is signed on accidental conflict. It prohibits the use of military force in such cases or in conflicts arising because of misunderstanding. The agreement refers to naval, air and other clashes.

June 14.-16. French President Mitterand’s visit in Poland. The President announces that Warsaw’s 1.15 billion dollar debt will be rescheduled and held out a 100 million dollar bank loan.

June 19. START talks are resumed. The disputed issues: monitoring, sea launched cruise missiles, mobile launch sites, strategic bombers and the SDI. In the talks the US insists on being able to deploy the SDI after a period of 9-10 years. The US JCS recommended that Washington should renounce its deployment.® September 22, 1989.

June 20. The US House of Representatives grants trade and investment benefits for Poland and Hungary.® July 9.-10., July 11.-13; July 21, 1989.

July 4.-6. Gorbachev’s Paris visit. The General Secretary of the CPSU gives a speech in the Council of Europe. He deems “Any interference in domestic affairs and any attempt to restrict the sovereignty of states – friends, allies or any others – are inadmissible.” He renounces the use of force or the threat to use force both within and outside of the alliance. At the same time he warns the Western states not to push “overcoming socialism” in the East bloc, which “would be a course to confrontation”. Gorbachev declares at a press conference: “how the Polish people and the Hungarian people will decide to structure their societies and lives will be their affair”.

July 9.-10. Bush’s visit in Poland. The President delivers a speech in the Polish parliament in which he asserts: “the future beckons with hope and uncertainty. Poland and Hungary each find themselves at crossroads: Each has started down its own road to reform without guarantee of easy success. The people of these nations and the courage of their leaders command our admiration…The way is hard but the moment is right, both internally and internationally, for Poland to walk its own path.” Bush outlined an economic program of aid: with the approval of Congress 100 million dollars in investment in the Polish private sector; US assistance to reschedule the Polish debt; American support for a 325 million dollar World Bank loan; 15 million dollars to eliminate industrial pollution around Krakow; the establishment of cultural information centers. – The Polish government is disappointed at American lack of generosity. According to the Polish spokesman Bush offered “very little concrete material”. The US national security advisor admitted that the 100 million dollar fund is “symbolic”. Bush had talks with Jaruzelski and Walesa.

July 11.-13. Bush’s visit in Hungary where he met several leading government and opposition politicians. In a speech given at Karl Marx University the President announced: “the Iron Curtain started to ascend” and in this “Hungary takes a leading role”. Bush held out a 25 million dollar fund to promote investment in the Hungarian private sector. In case of liberalization of Hungarian emigration policy Bush will ask Hungary’s long-term exemption from the Jackson-Vanik amendment. The President made a pledge for the establishment of an international environmental protection center in Budapest and asks Congress for 5 million dollars for this end. In the spring of 1989 the first group of the Peace Corps arrived. Bush claims that the “Iron Curtain has begun to part” with “Hungary leading the way”. Bush is “absolutely amazed” by the changes taking place in Eastern Europe, credits the USSR with making changes possible.

July 15. The joint declaration on the meeting of the seven leading industrial states as a departure from previous practice dealt with Eastern Europe and not the Soviet Union. The declaration pledged to support the economic transformation of the Polish and the Hungarian economy, for the maintenance of the political reforms. The declaration condemns Romania and Bulgaria, which are opposed to democratic movements and are implementing oppressive measures. The seven leading states admitted Poland into the American debt reduction program and held out food aid for the Poles. – Gorbachev’s letter to the seven in which he states that the Soviet Union is interested in integration in the world economy. “Our Perestroika is inseparable from a policy tending toward our full and complete participation in the global economy.” – Bush deems Gorbachev’s initiative premature.

July 19. Polish parliament elects Jaruzelski President. Simultaneously Jaruzelski resigns from his party posts.

July 21. US congress approves a 14.3 billion dollar aid program. Poland receives ten million, Hungary five million dollars, that is 1% of the aid.

August 17. Jaruzelski accepts the formation of a coalition government with Solidarity. Simultaneously the Polish prime minister resigns, his successor is Tadeusz Mazowiecki.

September 6. Prime minister Thatcher calls on the Western world to unite its forces to assist the Polish economy. She recommends Western food aid, the lifting of import restrictions and new loans for Poland.® October 3, 1989. – September 14. At congressional pressure Bush announces that in the next fiscal year he will double food aid to Poland, which will amount to 100 million dollars.® October 14, 1989.

September 10. Hungary allows the East German refugees to leave Hungary. The FRG welcomes the move, the GDR condemns it. Foreign minister Gyula Horn announces that Budapest is renouncing a twenty year old agreement with the GDR which obliged Hungary to stop GDR citizens from emigrating to the West. TASS later reported that the Hungarian leaders consulted with the Soviets before making the move.

September 21.-23. Shevardnadze’s talks in Washington with Bush and Baker focusing on the START negotiations.

September 22. The Soviet side accepts that an agreement on SDI should not be a precondition of a START treaty. Another concession made by Gorbachev is that the Soviet Union no longer requires the observation of the ABM treaty for a specified time period. Moreover the Soviets demolish a radar station in Krasnoiarsk that violates the ABM treaty.

September 27. According to the 1989 edition of the Pentagon’s Soviet Military Power the chance for a conflict between the US and the Soviet Union is lower than at any time since the war. – The Slovenian parliament accepts a constitutional amendment, which makes it legally possible for the republic to secede from Yugoslavia.

October 3. The foreign ministers of the EEC approve a 325 million dollar aid for Poland and Hungary for 1990.

October 4. Bush announces that he asked for 200 million dollars more from Congress for the economic assistance of Poland. The White House speaker declares that Poland can get the new aid if it can agree with the IMF on economic austerity measures. (Earlier the foreign relations committee of the Senate approved of 1.2 billion dollars in aid for Poland and Hungary over three years.)® October 11, 1989.

October 7. The Hungarian Socialist Workers Party dissolves itself and is succeeded by the Hungarian Socialist Party. Its President is Rezso Nyers.

October 7.-11. The President of the US Federal Reserve Board visits the USSR. The aim: consultations on constructing a market oriented financial system in the Soviet Union.

October 11. The foreign relations committee of the House of Representatives grants an 837.5 million dollar aid to Hungary and Poland.® November 13.-20, 1989.

October 16. Baker announces that Washington recognized the “historical opportunity” to strengthen Soviet-American relations with the help of Gorbachev’s reforms. “We want perestroika to succeed. We have reached this conclusion not because it is our business to reform Soviet society or to keep a particular Soviet politician in power – we can really do neither – but because perestroika promises Soviet actions more advantageous to our interests. We are prepared to provide technical assistance in certain areas of Soviet economic reform…”. The statement was in sharp contrast to the position expressed by other members of the Bush administration including the president himself.

October 18. The Central Committee of the East German party removes general secretary Erich Honecker. He is succeeded by Politburo member Egon Krenz.® November 9; December 3, 1989. – The Hungarian parliament amends the 1949 constitution. The amendment allows the foundation and operation of political parties and opens the door for free elections.® March 25, 1990.

October 23. On the anniversary of the 1956 revolution the republic is proclaimed in Hungary.

October 27. The declaration of the foreign ministers of the Warsaw Pact. “One of the essential prerequisites for the building of a secure, peaceful and indivisible Europe is to respect the right of each nation to independently decide about its fate and freely choose the road of its social, political and economic development, with no external interference”.

November 9. The GDR’s frontiers are opened including the crossings at the Berlin Wall. Earlier Bush declared that he does not “share the concern that some European countries have about a reunified Germany because I think Germany’s commitment to, and recognition of, the importance of” the NATO alliance is “unshakable”.

November 10. The general secretary of the Bulgarian communist party, Todor Zhivkov resigns. Zhivkov was also the country’s president since 1971, but he resigned from this post as well. He is succeeded by foreign minister Petar Mladenov.® January 15, 1990.

November 12. Baker declares that the US has no wish to exploit East European events for unilateral advantage. Two days earlier Bush said in Dallas that he does not “want to exacerbate tension” in Eastern Europe. In a telegram to Bush Gorbachev assures the President that Moscow supports changes in East Berlin and the rest of the East European states.

November 13.-20. Walesa’s visit in the US. He aims to garner economic support for Poland. Walesa delivers a speech in the Congress, where he urges a new Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe.

November 14. Gorbachev meets the French foreign minister in Moscow. Gorbachev warns him against the West taking advantage of East European changes. “It is useless to shout about victory in the Cold War, about the disintegration of one or the other social system. Everything should be analyzed realistically and interests should be balanced. When [Western] accusations of ’exporting revolution’ are replaced with calls for ’exporting capitalism’ we have at hand a dangerous manifestation of old thinking.”

November 15. The US General Electric Co. announces that it is purchasing 50% of the world renown Hungarian Tungsram plant (which makes lighting equipment). Tungsram had been owned by GE prior to its nationalization in 1948.

November 22. Bush’s Thanksgiving speech: “America believes that liberty is an idea whose time had come in Eastern Europe. Change is coming swiftly. And with this change the dramatic vindication of free Europe’s economic and political institutions…I want President Gorbachev to know exactly where the United States stands. And let me be clear: America stands with freedom and democracy. We are not meeting [at Malta] to determine the future of Europe. After all the peoples of Europe are determining their own future…We will miss no opportunity to expand freedom and enhance the peace. But to those who question our prudent pace, they must understand that a time of historic change is no time for recklessness.”

November 24. Czechoslovak party leader Milos Jakes resigns.® December 9, 1989.

December 2.-3. Bush and Gorbachev meet in Malta. The two leaders are accommodated on a Soviet and a US ships respectively that are anchored in the harbor. Bush proposed signing the START treaty till June 1990 and the agreement on conventional forces till the end of the year. He pledges to abolish the Jackson-Vanik amendment if the USSR liberalizes its emigration policy. According to Gorbachev “the characteristics of the Cold War should be abandoned…The arms race, mistrust, ideological and psychological struggle all these things should be of the past”.

December 3. The resignation of East German leader Egon Krenz.® January 30; March 18, 1990.

December 9. A coalition government is formed in Czechoslovakia, at the same time the country’s president, Gustav Husak resigns. Czechoslovakia’s new prime minister is Marian Calfa.® December 29, 1989.

December 15. An uprising breaks out in Timisoara, Romania since the political police attempts to arrest the protestant priest, László Tőkés.

December 18. The EEC signs a ten year agreement with the Soviet Union.

December 21. The anti-Ceausescu rebellion spreads to Bucharest, the Ceausescu regime falls. The US assures Romania of its support on the road to democratization. – December 24. The US announces that it would support the Soviet Union if it were to join the anti-Ceausescu forces in their armed struggle. - Moscow announces that the USSR does not intend to interfere.

December 25. The US establishes diplomatic relations with the Romanian National Salvation Front. - Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena are executed.

December 29. The Czechoslovak parliament elects Vaclav Havel Czechoslovakia’s President.® June 8.-9, 1990.

January 1. Bush’s new year message to the USSR: Neither the US nor its allies will exploit the “extraordinary changes” in Eastern Europe. – Referring to the changes in Eastern Europe Gorbachev asserts “the world is forging ahead in pursuit of happiness, freedom and democracy” and adds: it would be “naive, preposterous and dangerous to stop that quest”.

January 6. Shevardnadze declares in Bucharest: “What political parties will lead Romania is the business of the Romanians themselves”. Talking about the Warsaw Pact the Soviet foreign minister declares “It seems to me that the Warsaw Treaty is not arbitrarily linked to any political system. There are some common interests. I think these interests – national, geopolitical – are to be preserved so long as another political and military alliance, NATO, exists”.

January 11. France announces an economic aid package for Romania.

January 15. The Bulgarian parliament eliminates the political monopoly of the Bulgarian communist party.® June 17, 1990.

January 18. At the CSCE conference Hungary proposes that the USSR pull out all its troops from Hungary. – January 23. Prime minister Miklós Németh announces that in theory the USSR consented to the troop withdrawal.

January 30. Gorbachev on German unification, which according to him “was not unexpected. Nobody casts any doubt upon it”.

January 31. In his state of the union address Bush recommends that the US and the Soviet Union reduce the number of its troops to 195 thousand each and to maximize the number soldiers stationed in Europe at 225 thousand each. Thus the USSR would need to carry out a reduction of 370 thousand, the US of 60 thousand.

February 6.-11. Baker’s tour of Eastern Europe. – In Prague he negotiates with President Havel and outlines the US aid program meant for Czechoslovakia. Trade restrictions on Czechoslovak goods will be lifted. Prague will be eligible for American commercial loans. Bilateral education and diplomatic relations will be made more intensive. At the Charles University of Prague the US secretary of state announces a four point program for Eastern Europe: they will assist free elections, provide reconstruction aid, offer political-economic cooperation, rethink military policy. – In Sofia the US secretary of state informs his hosts that Bulgaria’s communist system can gain international recognition if clean elections are held and if it respects the results. – In Bucharest the secretary of state announces a 93.5 million dollar food aid.

February 7. The communist party of the Soviet Union renounces its political monopoly at the vote taken at the Central Committee.® March 13.-15. – The US congress approves a 10 million dollar aid to Eastern Europe.

February 11.-13. East-West foreign ministers’ meeting in Ottawa. They agree on the German unification talks.® February 21. – A similar breakthrough occurs in European troop reduction: the USSR is favorably disposed to the idea that the US has 225 thousand troops in Europe. 195 thousand would be stationed in Central Europe, the same amount as the USSR. After implementation the US would have 30 thousand more troops in Europe than the Soviets.

February 20.-21. Vaclav Havel’s visit in the US. He is accompanied by Czechoslovakia’s prime minister and foreign minister. Havel delivers a speech in Congress in which he proposed an international conference in order to eliminate Europe’s post-war division and to create a pan-European union. The Czechoslovak president urges the US administration for a palpable support of Soviet economic liberalization. He opines that a reformed Soviet Union would reduce the military burden on the American people. “To put it metaphorically, the millions you give to the East today will return to you in the form of billions of savings”.

February 21. Polish premier Mazowiecki declares that until the solution of the German question the Soviet troops will remain in Poland. With the prospect of German unification Polish fears are revived of potential German territorial claims. (Poland received 104 thousand square kilometers of German territory after World War II as compensation for the territories of the east that were attached to the Soviet Union. Bonn did not formally recognize the new border.) Mazowiecki declares: his country would like it if only its own troops remained in Poland, but adds: the presence of Soviet troops, Poland’s membership in the Warsaw Pact is “significant” from the perspective of the “security” of the country’s boundaries. The premier demands that from the German part the unequivocal recognition of the Polish-German boundary should take place before the unification.

February 24. The opposition organization called Sajudis gains a majority in Lithuanian parliament. The organization that won in free election wants Polish independence.

March 11. Lithuania’s independence is proclaimed. Gorbachev calls the Lithuanian decision “illegitimate and invalid”. – The State Department assures Lithuanian autonomy of its support, but does not recognize its independence. “US practice has been to establish formal relations with a lawful government of a state once that government is in effective control of its territory and is capable of entering into and fulfilling international obligations. When we are satisfied that the Lithuanian government can meet these requirements, we will establish formal diplomatic relations." the State Department spokeswoman said.® April 17, 1990. – Great Britain and other states welcome Lithuania’s strive for independence.

March 13.-15. According to the decision of the Soviet parliament the communist party must give up its political monopoly. The road is clear for a multi-party democracy in the USSR.

March 18. Free election in the GDR, which is won by the alliance of three conservative parties.

March 20.-21. Mazowiecki’s visit in the US. Bush states that Poland has a “fundamental right” to its present boundaries. In the course of the visit agreements on investment are signed. US investors get equal rights with the most favored Polish and foreign investors. Poland must lift restrictions on the repatriation of profit. In the transition phase US companies may transfer their profit.

April 12. US-Czechoslovak commercial treaty is signed. Duty on Czechoslovak products on goods is lowered, business relations are strengthened and tourism is promoted.

April 17. Bush envisions reprisals against the USSR because of the Lithuanian crisis since Moscow halted Lithuania’s gas and oil supply and envisioned economic sanctions against Vilnius. – April 29. Bush backs down about the sanctions. “I am concerned that we not inadvertently do something that compels the Soviet Union to take action that would set back the whole cause of freedom around the world…I am old enough to remember [the invasion of] Hungary in 1956, when we exhorted people to go to the barricades and a lot of people were left out there all alone” against the Soviet tanks. The spokesman of the White House discloses that the Western allies do not support the idea of sanctions.

April 20. According to the common report of the CIA and the DIA the state of the Soviet economy is close to the critical level. According to the report the performance of the Soviet economy in 1989 can be compared to that of a developing country like Mexico. The Soviet GNP is half of the American, their energy production went down for the first time since 1940, oil production was 2.5% lower in 1989 than in 1988, the modest development of agriculture is counterbalanced by the difficulties of transport and the distribution of the products. – Secretary of defense Cheney says Gorbachev shied away from profound economic reform, thus decline will continue and this will conceivably lead to his demise.

May 4. Latvia proclaims independence.

May 10. The State Department announces that the US ambassador in Bucharest will be temporarily called home because reports on the preparation for the election in Romania cast a doubt on whether it will be free and clean. – May 11. The British foreign office summons Romania’s chargé d’affaires to inform him of Great Britain’s anxiety about violence in the electoral campaign. In connection with this the Romanian President declares: Nobody has the right to interfere in Romania’s affairs. This is our business and not Her Majesty’s.

May 15.-18. In the course of his talks in Moscow Baker makes concessions in the field of strategic arms reduction. This includes that Washington is willing to negotiate on air-launched cruise missiles with a range above 500 kilometers. A preliminary agreement is made that both sides reduce their warheads by 30% to a maximum of 6000. The US accepted the further testing of SS-18 ICBMs, but there is no agreement on maximizing the SS-24 and SS-25 mobile ICBMs to 800.

May 20. The National Salvation Front wins the Romanian election. There were abuses, but no cheating at the election. Romania’s new President is Ion Iliescu.

May 22. NATO’s defense ministers review the alliance’s military strategy, since the threat from the Warsaw Pact significantly diminished.

May 24. Bush announces that he is opposed to normalizing commercial relations with the Soviet Union. A draft agreement is to be signed at the next summit. The reason: the Lithuanian question and the fact that the Soviet leadership did not present at the parliament the issue of emigration.

May 29. France reschedules Poland’s 1.5 billion dollar debt.

May 31.-June 3. Bush-Gorbachev summit in Washington. Agreement is made on the reduction of strategic arms, which limits the number of delivery vehicles at 1600 and maximizes warheads at 6000 for ICBMs, SLBMs and strategic bombers. Both sides immediately suspend the production of chemical weapons and by 2002 they will limit their arsenals to 5 thousand tons. An agreement is signed for the normalization of trade relations, but Bush signals that he will not have it ratified by Congress and will not abolish the Jackson-Vanik amendment until Moscow liberalizes its emigration policy. Several senators assert that Lithuania is also among the conditions.

June 5. At the meeting of the CSCE states Shevardnadze announces that the USSR is reducing its tactical nuclear arsenal by 1500 warheads, 250 theater artillery pieces and 1400 delivery vehicles. The announcement was unexpected for the State Department.® November 19.-21, 1990.

June 7. Message by the foreign ministers of NATO: NATO is “offering cooperation to the Soviet Union and all European states”. – The leaders of the Warsaw Pact announce that they no longer regard the West as “ideological enemy”.

June 7.-10. Thatcher’s visit in Moscow. The prime minister meets Gorbachev and other Soviet leaders. The talks focus on German unification, Soviet economic reform and the changing structure of Europe.

June 8.-9. Parliamentary and local elections in Czechoslovakia. The election is won by the Civic Forum and the Slovakian Public Against Violence. The communist party comes in second. The winning coalition got 46.3%, the communists received 13.6% of the vote.

June 17. The ruling socialist party wins the election in Bulgaria, but President Mladenov is forced to resign because of the demonstrations of the opposition.

June 26. The Hungarian parliament unanimously empowers the government to initiate talks on withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.

July 1. A common economic and financial system comes into force between the GDR and the FRG.

July 3. The Slovenian parliament accepts a declaration of sovereignty announcing that its own constitution and laws are above the laws and constitution of the Yugoslav federal government.

July 6. The London declaration of the NATO leaders: in the light of changes in Eastern Europe the organization transformed its military doctrine. It is giving up the doctrine of “forward defense”, modifies the principle of “flexible response” and renounces the first use of the nuclear weapon, which would be used only a last resort. NATO offers to the Warsaw Pact a joint communiqué to declare that they are no longer enemies and to reaffirm that they will not use force or threaten with force the territorial integrity or independence of any state. An invitation is issued to Gorbachev and the leaders of East European states. At the same time the US and Great Britain are against a direct economic aid to the USSR.

July 16. Gorbachev consents to the reunified Germany’s membership in NATO. Thus the last obstacle to German unification is eliminated.

July 17. An international agreement is made between the two Germanys, Poland and the four former allies on the guarantee of the Polish-German boundary.® September 12, 1990.

July 19. Secretary of defense Cheney presents a draft to Congress on the reduction of the US armed forces by 25% in five years.

August 1. The Bulgarian parliament elects Zheliu Zhelev the country’s President.

August 3. The Hungarian parliament elects Árpád Göncz as President of the Republic.

September 12. The two Germanies and the four former allies sign a treaty whereby the obligations in Germany of the four powers are terminated. Correspondingly Germany is given full sovereignty in its domestic and foreign affairs.

September 16. Wojciech Jaruzelski, who has been Poland’s President since 1989 as a result of a compromise announces his resignation.

October 3. As a result of 45 years of division Germany regains its national unity. The country’s official name: Federal Republic of Germany. – Shevardnadze and Baker announce that an agreement is made on the reduction of conventional forces. As a result the alliances are each allowed to retain 20 thousand tanks, 30 thousand APCs, 20 thousand artillery units and 20 thousand helicopters.

October 4. According to Marshal Akhromeiev Warsaw Pact will cease to exist in 1991.

October 18. President Bush receives Hungarian prime minister Antall in Washington. The President declares: “Hungary is no longer an emerging democracy. Hungary is a democracy”. Bush announces that the US is extending 47.5 million dollars in agricultural credits and loan guarantees to Hungary for the purchase of 500 thousand tons of US feed grain.

October 24. Czechoslovakia is granted the most favored nation status. (In Eastern Europe Poland and Hungary have this privilege). In Czechoslovakia’s case Congress suspends the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which ties the most favored nation status to observation of human rights.

November 18. Bush’s visit in Prague. He announces that he will ask Congress for a 60 million dollar fund to aid private enterprise in Czechoslovakia.

November 19.-21. The Paris summit of the CSCE. The main topics are European security, Eastern Europe’s economic problems and the Gulf crisis. The participants sign the CFE treaty on the reduction of conventional forces. The treaty refers the non-nuclear forces deployed by NATO and the Warsaw Pact between the Urals and the Atlantic Ocean. The unneeded arms must be destroyed or converted for non-military use. NATO and the Warsaw Pact may keep the following armaments each: 20 thousand tanks, out of which 16,500 may be active, the rest must be kept out of it. Thirty thousand other armed vehicles, out of which 27,300 could be active, a maximum of 18 thousand out of the 30 thousand can be infantry fighting vehicles. There can be 20 thousand artillery pieces out of which 17 thousand could be active, 6800 warplanes and 2000 helicopters. No single member state is allowed more than 13,300 tanks, 20 thousand APCs, 13,700 artillery units, 5150 warplanes or 1500 helicopters. The agreement must be implemented in 40 months, starting 10 days after signature. In his speech given at the CSCE plenum József Antall states that the Warsaw Pact, at least as a military alliance will cease to exist by 1997. Vaclav Havel called the eastern alliance “an outdated remnant of the past”. At the same time Polish premier Mazowiecki warns that “our common future maybe darkened by the sinister clouds of the resurging conflicts of bygone days unless the split into a rich and poor Europe, an ’A’ class and a ’B’ class Europe is overcome”. Antall warns: the ideological iron curtain could be replaced by the welfare iron curtain. – After the summit the Charter of Paris for a New Europe is signed, which declares: “The era of confrontation and division in Europe has ended. We declare that henceforth our relations will be founded on respect and cooperation”.

December 12. Bush announces a 1 billion dollar credit guarantee for the Soviet Union to buy American food. In order to do so he temporarily suspends the Jackson-Vanik amendment.

December 21. According to a joint report by the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD and the EBRD it is not worth giving the Soviet Union a direct financial assistance before it implements radical change in the direction of market economy. The study claims that in 1990 the performance of the Soviet economy dropped by 4% and is expected to go down by 5% in 1991. Unemployment reached 1.5%, but could go up to 4% in 1991, which would involve 6 million workers. Military spending is 20% of the Soviet budget, the Soviet debt is 52 billion dollars and the currency reserve is not more than five billion dollars. The four institutes recommend technical assistance, plus IMF and World Bank membership to the USSR.