Poland was the first Eastern European country to break free from Soviet control in 1989, leading to a wave of democratic revolutions across the region.

The Velvet Revolution was a nonviolent resistance movement in Czechoslovakia that led to the overthrow of the communist regime in 1989.

Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the policies of perestroika and glasnost in an attempt to reform the Soviet economy and society.

The INF Treaty was signed between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 and aimed to reduce the number of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the official end of the Cold War.

The United States adopted the policy of containment during the Cold War, which aimed to prevent the spread of communism.

Romania experienced a violent revolution in 1989, leading to the overthrow of the communist regime.

Solidarity was a political movement in Poland that played a key role in the country's transition to democracy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.

The Soviet Union adopted the policy of détente during the Cold War, which aimed to promote peaceful coexistence with the West.

Hungary experienced a peaceful transition to democracy in 1989, without widespread violence or upheaval.

Hungary was a Soviet satellite state in Eastern Europe that experienced a popular uprising in 1956.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked a significant turning point in the Cold War and symbolized the end of the division between East and West Germany.

Yuri Andropov succeeded Leonid Brezhnev as the leader of the Soviet Union in 1982 and initiated a series of reforms.

Romania experienced a military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 1989, resulting in the deaths of several demonstrators.