Primary Sources

US-Soviet Summit in Washington, DC

Description

In December 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in Washington, DC. The treaty eliminated both nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic missiles with a range of 300-3,400 miles. This was a major achievement in terms of reducing the military build-up in each of these Cold War superpowers. This Soviet poster from the fall of 1987 promoted the importance of the upcoming meeting. The text simply reads: "Soviet-American Summit (literally "meeting at the highest level"): December 1987, Washington." However, the significance is clearly in the image, where a new flower springs from the ground where the two flags are planted. The image suggests a new thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations, which the disarmament agreement of the INF Treaty made a reality.

Source

"Soviet-American Meeting at the Highest Level," courtesy of the Wende Museum, Los Angeles, CA, December 1987.

How to Cite this Source

"US-Soviet Summit in Washington, DC," Making the History of 1989, Item #87, https://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/items/show/87 (accessed May 28 2021, 3:27 pm).