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The Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik) in Berlin

Eastern Europe

East Germany

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

"The Bundeshaus (Federal Building) in Bonn, West Germany, May 1961. "

Western Europe

West Germany

Aerial view of National Mall

North America

United States

Portrait of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, China, 1972.

East Asia

China

Placeholder image for when a places image is not available

Eastern Europe

Poland

Aerial photograph of CIA headquarters

United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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George H.W. Bush and Lech Walesa

CIA Reports on the Collapse of Communism in Europe

Mikhail Gorbachev, 1986

Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich

1931- 2022

Sino-Soviet Relations

Sino-Soviet Split, 1960-1984

Berlin Wall between Mitte and Kreuzberg

Berlin Wall

Erich Honecker, 1976.

Honecker, Erich Ernst Paul

1912- 1994

Nikita Khrushchev at the UNGA, 1962.

Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich

1894- 1971

Intelligence Operations in the Cold War

Photograph of Gorbachev-Bush summit at Malta, 1989

End of the Cold War

Leonid Brezhnev, 1974.

Brezhnev, Leonid Il'ich

1906- 1982

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Mielke, Erich

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Documents

June 2007	On Human Rights. Folder 51. The Chekist Anthology. Outlines the KGB’s response to the USSR’s signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975. The accords obligated signatories to respect their citizens’ human rights. This gave Soviet dissidents and westerners leverage in demanding that the USSR end persecution on the basis of religious or political beliefs. Some of the KGB’s active measures included the establishment of a charitable fund dedicated to helping victims of imperialism and capitalism, and the fabrication of a letter from a Ukrainian group to FRG President Walter Scheel describing human rights violations in West Germany. The document also mentions that the Soviet Ministry of Defense obtained an outline of the various European powers’ positions on human rights issues as presented at the March 1977 meeting of the European Economic Community in London from the Italian Foreign Ministry. The KGB also initiated Operation “Raskol” [“Schism”], which ran between 1977 and 1980. This operation included active measures to discredit Soviet dissidents Andrei Sakharov, Yelena Bonner, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, measures designed to drive a wedge between the US and its democratic allies, and measures intended to convince the US government that continued support for the dissident movement did nothing to harm the position of the USSR.
July 1, 1953	Telephonogram from Miroshnichenko and Lunkov to Semenov, [early July 1953] On 17 June, the Soviet military had stopped all cross-sector travel, causing widespread resentment among many East Germans who worked in the Western sectors or crossed them on their way to work. Under pressure from the East German population in the days following the uprising, SED leaders and local Soviet High Commission officials urged Semenov, then in Moscow for the Extraordinary CPSU Plenum, to normalize the traffic situation in Berlin. Semenov, following Molotov’s orders, informed Ulbricht that the question of free movement across the sector border “must be decided by the [German] comrades themselves, taking the situation into account.” On 7 July, tram and metro traffic between the sectors in Berlin was restored.
March 25, 1955	F. Zeiler to SED First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, 'Return of the German Specialists from the Soviet Union' Report for Walter Ulbricht on the return of German Specialists from the Soviet Union. The report informs Ulbricht of conversations with returning German scientists on their future plans in East Germany.
December 31, 1954	Report on the Specialists returning from the Soviet Union Report on the return of German scientists from the Soviet Union. The report informs the SED leadership which of the German scientists desire to return to the West and which will stay in the East. The report also discusses the political atitudes of the scientists. It makes suggestions as to ways to secure their cooperation with the East German government.
June 24, 1957	Minutes of the Meeting of the CPSU CC Plenum on the State of Soviet Foreign Policy The Soviet leadership discusses the state of Soviet foreign policy after the Hungarian crisis and Khrushchev’s visit to the US. Molotov criticizes Khrushchev for recklessness in foreign policy direction. Soviet inroads in the Middle East and the Third World are analyzed. The effects of the crises in Eastern Europe are placed in the context of the struggle against US imperialism.
February 16, 1979	Note about the Meeting between Comrades Erich Honecker and Muammar al-Gaddafi on 16 February 1979 in Tripoli Gaddafi describes Libya’s geopolitical position and requests arms, which Honecker agrees to provide. Gaddafi states that he financially supported the Iranian Revolution and intends to support movements in Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique as well. At Honecker’s suggestion, Gaddafi is willing to sign a “Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation” between their two countries.
June 15, 1979	Memorandum of the meeting between Erich Honecker and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Israel, Meir Vilner The conversation starts with Honecker's report on the political and economic situation in the GDR. Meir Vilner informs Honecker about current events in Israel, especially about the position the Communist Party takes toward Zionism, and about his opinion on some foreign policy issues, namely relations with China and Romania and the Middle East peace process.
November 30, 1987	Information on the 20th Session of the Committee of the Ministers of Defense of Warsaw Pact Member States Report on the course and results of the 20th Session of the Committee of Ministers of Defense of Warsaw Pact Member States held in Bucharest on November 24-25, 1987.
June 2007	Once More about Radio Liberty. Folder 66. The Chekist Anthology. Contains information on KGB active measures to undermine the activities and credibility of Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe, and Voice of America during the mid 1970’s and early 1980’s. In one operation, personally authorized by KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, the Spanish journal “Arriba” and 42 other Spanish journals published articles stating that Radio Liberty broadcasts into the USSR violated the Helsinki Accords because they impinged upon Soviet sovereignty, and were contrary to Spanish national interests. Following this activity, the Spanish leadership decided not to extend its agreement with the US which allowed Radio Liberty to broadcast from Spain. During a 1976 operation, an East German agent who worked as an international lawyer spread disinformation about Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty’s ‘illegal’ activities in 35 foreign embassies in Vienna. In October 1977, the KGB sent letters to a variety of Western news outlets, including the Washington Post, claiming to be from a group of Radio Free Europe employees. These letters were directed specifically at US Senators Edward Kennedy, Charles Percy, and Frank Church, and Representatives Edward Derwinsky, Clement Zablocky, Herman Badillo, and Berkley Bedell. In 1981, with the help of the journal “Pravda,” the KGB exposed the role of Radio Liberty in the ‘events’ in Poland.
August 1, 1967	Letter, Walter Ulbricht to Leonid Brezhnev Ulbricht writes to Brezhnev about the delegation to the UAR, led by Mr. Weiss. Ulbricht assesses the political situation in the UAR with respect to Nasser and the weak situation of the Arab Socialist Union. Ulbricht also informs Brezhnev about the situation in the SAR, which seems to be worsening due to a lack of concepts for postwar recovery. Ulbricht suggests sending economic and political experts in order to strengthen the cooperation between the UAR, the SAR and the socialist countries.