There were several events that contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. The most important ones ( with the dates included) are as follows:
- December, 1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan to help the country's communist government to fight the guerrilla forces.
- January , 1981: Ronald Reagan becomes U.S. president. During his two terms he implemented a weapons policy that the Soviet Union economy couldn't afford.
- March , 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Union at 54 years old. He introduces glasnost (meaning openness) and perestroika (menaing reestructuring) in an effort to overcome economic and political problems.
- February , 1989: The last Soviet soldier leaves Afghanistan.
- May , 1990: Boris Yeltsin is elected chairman of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. (URSS)
- December , 1991: After surviving a coup, Mr. Gorbachev resigns as Soviet president, marking an end of the Soviet Union.
