(Soviet and American delegation during negotiations in Reykjavik)
The Reykjavík Summit was held between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Grigory Romanov on 11-12 October 1986, where many topics were discussed, including: current situation in Afghanistan, arms control, reduction of nuclear warheads stockpiles and weaponization of outer space. At Reykjavík, Romanov wanted to convince the Americans to stop their support for the Taliban and other rebel forces in Afghanistan, nevertheless Reagan promised to consider the Soviet request only after the last Soviet soldier left Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Soviet delegation wanted to discuss the SDI Program and weaponization of the space by the United States, which once again rebuffed by the Americans, as President Reagan accused the Soviets of working on nuclear torpedoes, which could hit America without any warning. General Secretary Romanov and the Soviet delegation were baffled on how the Americans were able to find about Soviet top secret military project. Nevertheless, both Reagan and Romanov wanted to pursue arms control and reduction of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. Finally, after 2 days of intense negotiations, both delegations were able to achieve a compromise:
a) the U.S. Would reduce its support to the Taliban only after Soviet forces leave Afghanistan in Spring of 1989;
b) both United States and USSR would reduce their nuclear warheads stockpile by 25%;
c) both superpowers would reduce amount of missiles in Europe;
d) formal communication channels between NATO and the Warsaw Pact would be established;
e) United States and USSR would establish a joint nuclear fusion project on condition that the Soviet government would immediately halt works on nuclear torpedoes program or hands all blueprints to the American government.
(Andrei Sakharov - a symbol of fight for freedom in the USSR - now willing to stop political activism for sake of his wife)
In the meantime, a
referendum on the status of the Crimean Peninsula was held. The official result was 66% vote for transfer of the peninsula to Russian SFSR, with an 93% voter turnout. The results were met very positively in Russian SFSR, as well as among Russians living in various Soviet socialist republics. Nevertheless, the transfer of Crimea brought about large demonstrations in Western Ukraine organized by Ukrainian Nationalists, who protested against the referendum and the communist rule over Ukraine. The protest were quickly quelled, nevertheless, Ukrainian nationalist and independence organizations gained much popularity in Western Ukraine. Just as the Soviet leadership was busy with the situation in Ukraine,
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, Soviet physicist and Nobel Prize Winner for his political activism for individual freedom, human rights, civil liberties and reforms in Russia, for which he was deemed a dissident and faced persecution from the Soviet establishment, send a letter to General Secretary Romanov a letter in which he promised to focus on the scientific work and stop public protests if his wife was allowed to go to Moscow to improve her health.
The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau, or Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, was a treaty between Portugal and the People's Republic of China over the status of Macau. The full name of the treaty is Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Portuguese Republic on the question of Macao. Signed on 26 March 1987 the Declaration established the process and conditions of the transfer of the territory from Portuguese rule to the People's Republic of China. The Joint Declaration served also as the main source of fundamental rights that were implemented in the Macau Special Administrative Region Basic Law. The process was otherwise similar to the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty by the United Kingdom in 1997.
The declaration provided for Portuguese administration to officially end on 20 December 1999. Although it would become a full part of the People's Republic of China, Macau would enjoy the status of a Special Administrative Region (SAR), with full autonomy and self-governance in domestic affairs, economic policy and internal security. The system of "One country, two systems" would be established, exempting Macau from the socialist system and several laws decreed by the central government in Beijing. The capitalist, legal system and liberal society enjoyed by Macau would remain unchanged for a minimum of 50 years after the transfer. The Chinese government would not levy taxes on Macau nor make laws pertaining to Macau's governance. The Macau SAR would enjoy a great degree of autonomy in all but foreign affairs and defence, which would remain under Chinese control. Bearing the name of "Macau, China," Macau would enjoy the right to conclude agreements and arrangements with Portugal and international organisations for its own development. The Chinese National People's Congress would enact a "Basic Law" that would formalise the respecting of some basic principles of Chinese government in Macau, but leaving other areas untouched.
The Romanov's partial restoration of the cult of Joseph Stalin was positively received by older generations, though it led to rise in popularity of the New Left among the younger population, especially of
the Neo-Communist Party of the Soviet Union (NCPSU), which was a far-left group, which proclaimed that the with the power should belong to the Soviet people, not the bureaucracy. The rise of popularity of the NCPSU was followed with a rise of interest among the younger generations in works of Leon Trotsky and Mao Zedong. Leaders of the NCPSU called for destruction of the current political system, and creation of the new one, where students would become a new vanguard of the new revolution, which was more and more popular idea among the Soviet students, which lead to rise of underground New Left student groups, where students began to organize into more cohesive groups, which did not go unnoticed by the KGB.
(War of the Cities)
In the meantime, Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein, thanks to extensive purchase of weapons from the USSR, ordered the Iraqi army to conduct another campaign of air raids, missile attacks, artillery shelling and chemical attacks on Iranian major cities and urban areas, which resulted in a thousand of civilian deaths. Nevertheless, Iran launched retaliatory air raids on Iraq, while primarily shelling border cities such as Basra. Iran also bought some Scud missiles from Libya, and launched them against Baghdad. These too inflicted damage upon Iraq. In spite of financial and military support for Iraq from the USSR, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Persian Gulf states, Hussein was not able to defeat Iran. By 1986, Iran quickly expanded its air defense network, which lead to fewer Iraqi air attacks, which were used only on more important targets. By spring 1987, Iran was prevailing in the war against Iraq. Iran launched several attacks across the front against Iraqi forces, which were slowly overwhelmed. Iran's army had also reached the Meimak Hills, only 113 km (70 mi) from Baghdad. Iraq responded by launching a strategic bombing campaign. In one attack, Tehran's main oil refinery was hit, and in another instance, Iraq damaged Iran's Assadabad satellite dish, disrupting Iranian overseas telephone and telex service for almost two weeks. Civilian areas were also hit, resulting in many casualties. Iraq continued to attack oil tankers via air. Iran responded by launching Scud missiles and air attacks at Iraqi targets.
Meanwhile, Iran continued to attack as the Iraqis were planning their strike. In 1987 the Iranians renewed a series of major human wave offensives in both northern and southern Iraq. The Iraqis had elaborately fortified Basra with 5 defensive rings, exploiting natural waterways such as the Shatt-al-Arab and artificial ones, such as Fish Lake and the Jasim River, along with earth barriers. Fish Lake was a massive lake filled with mines, underwater barbed wire, electrodes and sensors. Behind each waterway and defensive line was radar-guided artillery, ground attack aircraft and helicopters, all capable of firing poison gas or conventional munitions. The Iranian strategy was to penetrate the Iraqi defences and encircle Basra, cutting off the city as well as the Al-Faw peninsula from the rest of Iraq. Iran's plan was for three assaults: a diversionary attack near Basra, the main offensive and another diversionary attack using Iranian tanks in the north to divert Iraqi heavy armor from Basra. For these battles, Iran had re-expanded their military by recruiting many new Basij and Pasdaran volunteers. Iran brought 150,000–200,000 total troops into the battles.
(Sino - Indian border dispute)
A very serious diplomatic and military incident took place
in the Sumdorong Chu Valley, Tibet, where Indian and Chinese troops exchanged gunfire for several hours, sparking worldwide fears of another war between China and India. The incident was a part of a larger Sino – Indian border dispute, which was a territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory between China and India –
Aksai Chin and south of the McMahon Line. Both President Reagan and General Secretary Romanov offered help to mediate between China and India in order to avoid conflict between two Asian great powers, and also to gain diplomatic advantage over the other superpower in Asia.
(Honecker's hardline stance led to his forced resignation)
Grigory Romanov's reforms and reorganization of the Soviet system were negatively received by the leader of German Democratic Republic –
Erich Honecker, who perceived all the changes as a threat to the stability of the East German political system. Under the pressure from Romanov, Honecker introduced only very limited changes and reforms. Initially under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a program of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries – though still far behind West Germany. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalization toward culture and art. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. Nevertheless, Honecker refused to introduce any changes to economy similar to the ones introduced in the USSR and other socialist counties, which hampered the East German development. Furthermore, Honecker continuously pursued a line of totalitarian rule in East Germany, where every citizen was under constant surveillance of the state security service
(Stasi). As a result of Honecker's unwillingness to pursue the new political line set up by Romanov, a decision was made in Moscow to replace Honecker with someone more compliant.
(Protest in Estonian SSR against opening of large phosphorite mines)
The Phosphorite War was the name given to a late-1980s environmental campaign in the then-Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, against the opening of large phosphorite mines in the Virumaa region. The campaign, peaking in 1987, strengthening the Estonian nationalist movement. The campaign focused on two major issues. The large-scale environmental degradation that the new mines would cause was the most common subject in the public discussion. The other, more covert issue was the fear that the new mines' need for a workforce would start a wave of migration, bringing tens of thousands of workers from other parts of the Soviet Union to Estonia. In the view of Estonians this would have greatly worsened the already fragile demographic balance.
Phosphorite deposits (Obolus sandstone at the Upper Cambrian/Lower Ordovician boundary) could be found in several places in Northern part of the Estonian SSR. The Rakvere deposit, lying mostly in Lääne-Viru County, is the largest phosphorite deposit in Europe. Phosphorite mining in Estonia started in 1924 near Maardu. In 1940 a new larger mine was opened, which operated together with a factory producing low-grade phosphorus fertilizers.The central government of the Soviet Union in Moscow took interest in exploiting the phosphorite deposits in Lääne-Viru County in the early 1970s. The first proposals suggested mining the Toolse deposit (north of Rakvere), but in the early 1980s, plans for the Toolse mine were cast aside and instead mining the Rakvere deposit was seen as more favourable. The plans were not made public, but among Estonian scientists and environmentalists involved in the decision-making there was considerable opposition to the plan. Notably, there were people in the Estonian Academy of Sciences, like Endel Lippmaa, who were aware of and opposed to the plan.
The phosphorite issue became known to the general public on 25 February 1987, which is often used to mark the start of the Phosphorite War. On this day Moscow’s plans to expand phosphorite mining in Northern Estonia were revealed on Estonian TV. Although the Estonian Communist Party publicly held a position that the decision about mining had to be made by Estonians, it appeared that the central government had already finalized the plans. Numerous protests broke out and petitions were signed against the new mines. The question came to a head in spring 1987 in an unprecedented public debate. In April students from Tartu University held a meeting in the main hall of the university and unanimously condemned the actions of the leadership of the Estonian SSR. At traditional May Day demonstrations, students carried slogans against phosphorite mining and wore yellow T-shirts with the text "Phosphorite – no thanks", which became extremely popular. On May 8, against the orders from Moscow, a cartoon by Priit Pärn was published in the newspaper Sirp ja Vasar (Hammer and Sickle). Entitled Just shit (Estonian: Sitta kah!), the cartoon showed a peasant shoveling on his field a piece of manure shaped like Estonia. The cartoon was widely discussed and was probably the most famous cartoon ever published in Estonia.
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org