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The dissolution of the Soviet Union was on December 25, 1991, when the federal government ceased to exist and the sovereign state was divided into 15 republics/states like Russia, Armenia, and Ukraine. Gorbachev led to the collapse of the Soviet Union because of his policy Glasnost and the program Perestroika, and because of his decision to allow elections and presidency in the Soviet Union.
Glasnost was a policy of openness and government transparency, which lessened censorship and allowed citizens to speak openly about issues with their political system. It led to the collapse of the Soviet Union because the state became open to criticism and reform movements.
Perestroika was a program introduced by Gorbachev to restructure the economic and political policies in the Soviet Union. It led to collapse of the Soviet Union because of the increase in government spending and decentralized power.
This event was a victory for democracy because the communist Soviet Union was the most powerful communist country and the dissolution of it signified a win for the United States in the Cold War and the end of communism.

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The Chinese Civil War (Aug 1, 1927 – Dec 7, 1949) was fighting between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) for government rule over China. It was caused by tensions between Communist and Nationalist occupied areas in China growing, and after Japan was defeated and left China, conflict broke out over who was to control the government.
Chiang Kai-Shek was a nationalist and leader of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), later ruler of Taiwan. Chiang and his followers fled to Taiwan as Zedong’s power was growing in China. Later, China wanted to take back Taiwan from Chiang Kai-shek with Soviet aid, however the Soviets refused. This contributed to the divide growing between China and the Soviet Union.
Mao Zedong was the communist leader of the People’s Republic of China who started the Cultural Revolution campaign and the Great Leap Forward plan.
The Cultural Revolution was a campaign started by Mao Zedong to rid China of his opponents (anti-communists) and to reassert authority. Zedong shut down schools and called for a mobilization of the youth that formed paramilitary groups (Red Guards) who attacked people who believed in old culture, habits, and ideas. About 1.5 million people were killed during this campaign.
The Great Leap Forward was an economic plan proposed by Mao Zedong to improve industrial production in China to help China catch up and compete with other nations such as the United States and the Soviet Union. Zedong focused on manpower rather than machines. It was a massive failure as production rates of food and steel decreased and there was a devastating famine that killed 30 million.
This event was a victory for Communism because the Chinese Communist Party won the civil war and established the People's Republic of China.

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The Vietnam War (November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975) was a war in which North Vietnam’s communist government was fighting South Vietnam because they wanted to unify the country under one communist government. The North was supported by the Soviet Union and China, and the South was supported by the United States. Growing tensions between the communist North and the democratic South Vietnam, and Kennedy’s fears about the domino theory were causes of the war. Kennedy believed that if Vietnam fell to communism then other Asian countries would as well.
The 17th Parallel was the dividing line between North and South Vietnam established in 1954 at the Geneva Conference, named after the circle of latitude.
Ho Chi Minh was the former President of North Vietnam who was part of the People's Army of Vietnam and the Vietcong, and who wanted to reunite Vietnam under one communist government. The Vietcong, or National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, was an armed, communist revolutionary organization in South Vietnam, who fought against the United States and South Vietnam. Vietnamization was a policy passed by Nixon to gradually withdraw American troops from Vietnam in order to transition the fighting and responsibility to the Vietnamese.
This event was a victory for Communism because the North eventually captured Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City, and unified Vietnam as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under a communist government.

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The Korean war was a war fought between North and South Korea over disagreements relating to the spread of communism, with the Soviet Union supporting the North and the United State supporting the South, from June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953.
After the collapse of the Japanese Empire, Korea was left with no native government. Then in 1945, the United States and Soviet Union agreed to split the country into two because of two separate divides growing in the country. The Soviets used the divide to make the North communist. Later North Korea invaded South Korea because the North was advised to and given supplies to by the Soviet Union, starting the Korean War.
Douglas MacArthur was an important US military leader during the war. He took over the city of Inch’ŏn because he believed it would help win the war, and then was able to take Seoul and Suwŏn from the North Koreans, liberating South Korea. The United Nations joined the war on the side of South Korea with the United States as the principal participant, took responsibility over South Korea, and helped make South Korea independent from the North before the war.
This war ended up being neither a win for democracy or communism, as the war ended in a stalemate in which Korea was split in two, one communist state and one democratic state. It was divided along the 38th Parallel, the border created between North and South Korea, named after the circle of latitude that the border lies on. However, it can be considered a victory for democracy in the long run because South Korea (democratic) became a prosperous and economically successful country when compared to North Korea (communist).

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The Berlin Wall came down because the Cold War began and the president of the US made a speech to the Soviet Union stating that they could make a statement and a symbol of peace in the world by taking down the wall. President Ronald Reagan made a speech to the Soviet Union saying “tear down this wall” at the beginning of the Cold War and later they agreed to open it up while citizens from both sides came together to celebrate. Germany would reunite about one year later. The construction of the wall started August 13, 1961 and it came down November 9, 1989. Ronald Regan and Mikhail Gorbachev were both crucial individuals to this event. It was a victory for democracy because by taking down the wall it forced Germany to become a unified nation again and signified the fall of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev was the communist leader of the Soviet Union and was the final president before the fall of the Soviet Union Ronald Reagan was the president of the United States and made famous tear down this wall speech.

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The separation of Germany after WWII caused turmoil between the nations occupying Germany and the city of Berlin. The Soviets wanted to keep Britain, France, and the US out of the Soviet Union's section of Berlin. Eastern Germany began to build a wall around the west side of Berlin to prevent the western citizens from interfering with the communist leadership being enforced on the east.

It lasted from 1961-1989 and included Kennedy and Khrushchev. It was a victory for communism because the Soviet Union succeeded in containing the western allies so they could not interfere with the side of Berlin that communist Soviet Union had. The Berlin Airlift was an effort by the US to bring food and necessities to western Berlin because of the Soviets creating land blockades The Berlin Wall was built around western Berlin to separate the western and eastern sides from one another. It was an effort by the Soviet Union to keep out the western allies.

The Iron Curtain was a political divide between eastern and western Europe because Stalin wanted to protect the Soviet Union from foreign invasion. The Marshall Plan was a bill that helped to prevent the spread of communism by the US's contribution of 15 billion dollars to western Europe to help them rebuild after WWII and prevent those nations from being taken by communism.

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The US discovered a missile base that the Soviet Union had in Cuba and was in close proximity to the US. They discovered a missile base on Cuba that was close enough to land fire on the US. This occurred after the US and Soviet Union had come to an agreement. An incident of miscommunication had almost sent the US and Soviets into a nuclear war with one another that could have wiped out the entirety of both countries. This crisis lasted from Oct 16, 1962 - Oct 28, 1962, and included the US, Soviet Union, Cuba, Castro, Kennedy, and Khrushchev. This event was a win for democracy because the Soviets eventually agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba. The Bay of Pigs was an attempt by the US to overthrow Fidel Castro - the nationalist leader of Cuba. It failed when the US soldiers became severely outnumbered and Castro had learned about the attack ahead of time giving him the opportunity to create a defense plan. The US government had planned to keep the attack a secret from the American people however and an un-spotted radio station broadcast the events to Cuba. In addition the reinforcement troops sent in to help the US landed in the wrong place and resulted in many people being killed and even more being taken prisoner. Fidel Castro was the nationalist leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008 and he wanted to reduce the American influence on Cuba. His leadership was disliked due to his leadership being detrimental to the political and economic growth of Cuba. John F. Kennedy was the president of the US and he discussed with Khrushchev and diffused crisis.

Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was directly involved in the Cuban missile crisis by placing missiles on Cuba that were in close proximity to the us. He took over power from Stalin by keeping himself in a high ranking position and was able to take over after Stalin's death then became head of the soviet communist party.

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The arms race was caused by a number of influences including the industrial revolution which created new weapons, competition between Germany and Great Britain’s navy, the creation of nuclear weapons and “superbombs” and the Soviets sending Sputnik to space. The US and Soviet Union were in competition to see who could first develop the strongest nuclear weapon after WWI, whereas other European nations had been in competition to see whose naval army could be the strongest. This sent the US and Soviet Union into competition, and after the US bombed Japan and ended WWII, the Soviets became more competitive and began the space race. After the Soviet Union landed their first satellite in space, the US became determined to do the same while the Soviets developed even deadlier weapons. This event lasted from 1956-1990 and included the United States and the Soviet Union. This event was a win for democracy because both countries agreed to reduce arms and reduce the production of nuclear weapons, and the communist Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. Brinkmanship was a foreign policy used by nations to take calculated aggressive risks in order to negotiate for the option in their favor. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an example of this during the Cold War when the Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba after the US tried to overthrow Castro. Deterrence was used by the US and Soviet Union because they both held enough nuclear power that if one were to set off a bomb the other could easily retaliate causing the same amount of damage which kept both side accountable for their use of nuclear weapons. SALT I was an agreement between the Soviet Union and the US limiting the number of missiles that destroy approaching missiles. The second (SALT II) was signed stating that the quantity of missiles already possessed was the maximum and no more could be acquired. Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative) was a plan US President Ronald Regan put into place to help combat a potential nuclear war. The goal was to place lasers in space that would destroy any nuclear missiles headed towards them. However the project failed when it was decided that research and technology needed to complete the project was not yet accessible and after spending 30 billion dollars, President Clinton decided to stop the project.