NATO begins Able Archer 83 as Soviet leaders fear a surprise attack

Brezhnev’s death ended an eighteen-year period of leadership. The succession occurred amid economic slowdown, a costly war in Afghanistan, and growing questions about the social contract and political...

The Central Committee selected former KGB chief Andropov two days after Brezhnev’s death. His short tenure pursued discipline and limited administrative changes without loosening one-party control.

The Soviet Union signed UNCLOS on the day it opened for signature. The convention set rules for maritime zones and the seabed, a major issue for coastal and island states whose claims had shaped...

A Soviet interceptor destroyed a civilian airliner that had strayed into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 people aboard. Moscow’s initial secrecy and denial compounded the loss and intensified...

A Soviet early-warning system indicated a U.S. missile launch; duty officer Petrov judged it a false alarm rather than escalating the alert. The incident shows how nuclear risk depended on human...

After NATO began deploying U.S. intermediate-range missiles in Europe, the Soviet delegation left the talks. The arms-control breakdown heightened fear among European communities living under the...

Warsaw Pact states declined to set a resumption date for negotiations on mutual troop reductions in Europe. The suspension narrowed a major arms-control forum during a period of heightened nuclear...

Andropov died after a short and often illness-interrupted tenure. His government’s limited discipline campaign did not resolve deeper economic problems or the war in Afghanistan.

The elderly Chernenko succeeded Andropov, continuing the rapid leadership turnover of the early 1980s. The choice highlighted the aging of the political elite and the narrowing space for reform.

The USSR cited security concerns and alleged anti-Soviet hostility as reasons for non-participation. The boycott was retaliatory in the context of the 1980 Moscow boycott and again made athletes carry...