Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From rising political tensions to landmark diplomatic breakthroughs, IWM Curator Lyn Morgan explores the key moments, movements and decisions that ultimately brought this decades long global standoff to an end.
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - The Cuban Missile Crisis
02:50 – The SALT agreements
05:31 – Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative
06:23 – CND Protests
07:54 – Mikhail Gorbachev’s Reforms
11:22 – The Berlin Wall Falls
13:59 – Germany Reunifies
15:02 – The Soviet Union Collapses
16:45 – Did the Cold War Truly Ever End?
Plan your visit to IWM London here: iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london
Explore and licence the film clips used in this video:
film.iwmcollections.org.uk/collections/_xA5q7DA6
Follow IWM on social media:
x.com/I_W_M
instagram.com/imperialwarmuseums
facebook.com/iwm.london
tiktok.com/@imperialwarmuseums
Attributions:
President Reagan Meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit on November 20th, 1985, Courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Erich Honecker, 1976, from Wikimedia Commons Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R0518-182 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de
Leipzig, ausgeschlachteter PKW Trabant (Trabbi), 1990, from Wikimedia Commons, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F086568-0046 / Kirschner, Harald / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de
Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration, 1989, from Wikimedia Commons, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-0922-002 / Friedrich Gahlbeck / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de
Leningrad 1980s, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Nemzeti Ünnep-Szabadság tér 1989.03.15_(4) by Derzsi Elekes Andor, from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 485307 Mikhail Gorbachev from Wikimedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #485307 / Yuryi Abramochkin / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 642790 Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan from Wikimedia Commons,
RIA Novosti archive, image #642790 / V. Kiselev / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 644463 First stage in the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan from Wikimedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #644463 / Yuriy Somov / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 828797 Mikhail Gorbachev addressing UN General Assembly session from Wikimedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #828797 / Yuryi Abramochkin / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Boris Yeltsin waves 1991 from Wikimedia Commons, Kremlin.ru CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Boris Yeltsin-1 1993 from Wikimedia Commons, Kremlin.ru CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Fruitseller, Zubovsky Boulevard, Moscow (31931959961), from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Anti-nuclear weapons protest, UK 1980, from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Berlin Wall 1979 01, © Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Revolutia Bucuresti 1989 000, © The National Museum of Romanian History
From rising political tensions to landmark diplomatic breakthroughs, IWM Curator Lyn Morgan explores the key moments, movements and decisions that ultimately brought this decades long global standoff to an end.
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - The Cuban Missile Crisis
02:50 – The SALT agreements
05:31 – Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative
06:23 – CND Protests
07:54 – Mikhail Gorbachev’s Reforms
11:22 – The Berlin Wall Falls
13:59 – Germany Reunifies
15:02 – The Soviet Union Collapses
16:45 – Did the Cold War Truly Ever End?
Plan your visit to IWM London here: iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london
Explore and licence the film clips used in this video:
film.iwmcollections.org.uk/collections/_xA5q7DA6
Follow IWM on social media:
x.com/I_W_M
instagram.com/imperialwarmuseums
facebook.com/iwm.london
tiktok.com/@imperialwarmuseums
Attributions:
President Reagan Meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit on November 20th, 1985, Courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Erich Honecker, 1976, from Wikimedia Commons Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R0518-182 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de
Leipzig, ausgeschlachteter PKW Trabant (Trabbi), 1990, from Wikimedia Commons, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F086568-0046 / Kirschner, Harald / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de
Leipzig, Montagsdemonstration, 1989, from Wikimedia Commons, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-0922-002 / Friedrich Gahlbeck / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de
Leningrad 1980s, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Nemzeti Ünnep-Szabadság tér 1989.03.15_(4) by Derzsi Elekes Andor, from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 485307 Mikhail Gorbachev from Wikimedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #485307 / Yuryi Abramochkin / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 642790 Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan from Wikimedia Commons,
RIA Novosti archive, image #642790 / V. Kiselev / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 644463 First stage in the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan from Wikimedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #644463 / Yuriy Somov / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
RIAN archive 828797 Mikhail Gorbachev addressing UN General Assembly session from Wikimedia Commons, RIA Novosti archive, image #828797 / Yuryi Abramochkin / CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Boris Yeltsin waves 1991 from Wikimedia Commons, Kremlin.ru CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Boris Yeltsin-1 1993 from Wikimedia Commons, Kremlin.ru CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Fruitseller, Zubovsky Boulevard, Moscow (31931959961), from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Anti-nuclear weapons protest, UK 1980, from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Berlin Wall 1979 01, © Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Revolutia Bucuresti 1989 000, © The National Museum of Romanian History
