Carter-Brezhnev Correspondence In January 1977, newly elected U.S. President Jimmy Carter sent the following letter to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev through the Soviets' ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin. A few days later, Dobrynin delivered Brezhnev's response. The leaders state their positions and hopes for peace as the new president takes office.
Manifesto of Charter 77 In January 1977, 230 prominent Czech intellectuals signed and published a manifesto announcing the formation of Charter 77, a "loose, informal and open association of people" committed to human rights. Signatories included the playwrights Vaclav Havel and Pavel Kohout.
Brezhenv-Jaruzelski Communication In 1980, strikes in the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk marked the beginning of the Solidarity trade union -- which would become a powerful political force in Poland. Led by Lech Walesa, the movement grew to 10 million people opposing the communist regime in 1981 and demonstrations intensified. Hard-line communist Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland's prime minister, promised to stop protests as the Soviets prepared to intervene. Jaruzelski declared martial law on December 13, 1981, and arrested thousands of protesters. Weeks before this declaration, Jaruzelski had the following contacts with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
Moscow-Kabul Exchange Throughout 1979, Afghan leaders asked for Soviet assistance as Islamic groups fought communist reforms.While the Soviet Union supplied weapons, it resisted more involvement until December 1979. The following transcript is an example of communication between the two countries during this period.
U.S. memos on Afghanistan The following memos are from U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to President Jimmy Carter regarding the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the reports, Brzezinski explains implications of the invasion to American interests -- both domestic and international -- and possible actions Carter could take.
Soviet report on Afghanistan The following report to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union by Yuri Andropov, Andrei Gromyko and others sheds light on why the Soviets felt the need to intervene in Afghanistan in 1979.
Oleg Penkovsky's Letter In 1960 Oleg Penkovsky, a Soviet Colonel in military intelligence, grew disillusioned with the Soviet system and began working with Western governments by sharing secret Soviet documents. The following letter from Penkovsky, translated from the original Russian, was sent to top government officials in Great Britain and the United States -- requesting military rank and citizenship in exchange for information he could provide.
KGB 1967 Annual Report The KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) or Committee of State Security, was officially created in 1954 to investigate domestic and international activities against the Soviet government. It remained a powerful branch of the Soviet Government well into the 1980's. The following annual report explains in detail the activities of the KGB for 1967 as they were reported to the Central Committee of the CPSU.