USSR signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The USSR joined the United States and United Kingdom in signing the treaty barring the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit and establishing principles for peaceful use of outer space. It...

Israel launched attacks against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The USSR supported Arab governments diplomatically and supplied arms, while regional societies and Palestinians bore the consequences of...

Moscow broke relations with Israel during the war and pressed for a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Soviet policy aligned with Arab states but remained shaped by Cold War...

The anniversary celebrations presented the USSR as a model of anti-imperialist transformation and social development. Official commemoration celebrated the revolution while downplaying the coercion,...

The Czechoslovak Communist Party chose Dubček as First Secretary and began reforms that widened debate and promised a more participatory form of socialism. The movement reflected Czechoslovak demands;...

Soviet and allied forces entered Czechoslovakia to end the Prague Spring reforms. Romania did not take part. The intervention affirmed Moscow’s claim to limit the sovereignty of socialist states and...

After detention and transport to Moscow, Czechoslovak leaders signed a protocol that reversed key reform measures and accepted a continued Soviet military presence. The agreement was made under...

A Pravda article by Sergei Kovalev argued that the sovereignty of a socialist country could not override the interests of the wider socialist community. It supplied a public rationale for intervention...

The U.S. mission became the first crewed flight to orbit the Moon. Soviet leaders and scientists continued a competing lunar program; the episode illustrates how technological rivalry was sustained by...

Chinese and Soviet troops clashed on the disputed island known in China as Zhenbao and in the USSR as Damansky. The confrontation reflected unresolved border claims and a widening political split;...