Timeline - 1970-1979

1970

• 5th March - The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty agreed by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States, among others, entered into force.
• 18th March - In a coup d'état Lon Nol took power in Cambodia. Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese Communists attacked the new regime, which wanted to end North Vietnamese presence in Cambodia. He overthrew Norodom Sihanouk, the former royal turned social democrat who had forged ties with the Soviet Union and China.
• 30th April - US and South Vietnamese troops made their first incursion into Cambodian territory.
• 15th June - Sixteen Soviet citizens attempted to flee Russia by hijacking a small civilian plane and piloting it to Sweden. The plot was uncovered by the KGB and they were arrested before boarding the plane. They were tried for treason and given long prison terms.
• 19th June - Sir Edward Heath became UK Prime Minister.
• 12th August - The Soviet Union and West Germany signed the Treaty of Moscow, a non-aggression pact.
• 21st October - A United States Air Force plane made an emergency landing in Soviet Armenia. The crew was held for three weeks before being released.
• 24th October - After several attempts, Marxist politician Salvador Allende became the president of Chile.
• 12th November - Andrei Amalrik, a Moscow-born writer, was sentenced to three years in a labour camp for "defaming the Soviet state".
• 18th November - United States' aid to Cambodia to support the Lon Nol regime began.
• 7th December - Poland and West Germany signed the Treaty of Warsaw, a non-aggression pact that also resolved a disputed border.

1971

• 8th February - South Vietnamese forces entered Laos to briefly cut the Ho Chi Minh trail.
• 11th February - The US, Soviet Union and 92 other nations signed the Seabed Treaty, banning the testing or deployment of nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.
• 20th February - The US Emergency Broadcast System was accidentally initiated at 9.33am. Millions of Americans waited to hear news of a possible attack before the broadcasts are shut down after 40 minutes.
• 25th March - Third Indo-Pakistani War, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan.
• 24th April - In Washington DC and San Francisco, a protest against the Vietnam War attracted more than 400,000 people.
• 15th May - Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat launched a reform movement that purges the government of pro-Soviet officials and policies.
• 19th May - The Soviet Union launched Mars 3, an unmanned probe to explore Mars.
• 25th May - Leading Soviet space scientist Anatoli Fedoseyev disappeared while visiting Paris. He appeared the following month in London and announced his defection.
• 13th June - The New York Times began publishing extracts from the "Pentagon Papers", a leaked dossier highlighting US policy failures in Vietnam.
• 30th June - Three Soviet astronauts on the Soyuz 11 capsule were suffocated while reentering the atmosphere. Their deaths ended manned space exploration in the USSR for two years.
• July 15th - US president Richard Nixon announced his intention to visit the People's Republic of China early in 1972.
• August - The KGB attempted to assassinate Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with an unnamed biological agent. Solzhenitsyn becomes gravely ill but survives.
• 9th August - The Soviet Union and India signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, in part due to US military aid to Pakistan.
• 3rd September - An agreement on Berlin was signed by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France, and the United States, known as the Four Powers Agreement on Berlin. This agreement, which came into effect in June 1972, restored communication and transit between parts of Berlin.
• 11th September - Former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev died in Moscow, aged 77.
• 22nd September - National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger became the US Secretary of State.
• 25th October - The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 2758, recognising the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China.
• 16th December - Bangladesh and Indian joint forces defeated Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh was officially recognised by the eastern bloc.

1972

• 20th January -  The Pakistan government announced its intentions to research and build nuclear weapons.
• February 21st -  US president Richard Nixon arrived in China, where he held meetings with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other Chinese leaders. It was the first visit by a U.S. President since the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
• An unmanned Soviet probe, Luna 20, landed on the Moon.
• 30th March -     The Easter Offensive, FNL went on the offensive in South Vietnam, only to be repulsed by the South Vietnamese regime with major American air support.
• 10th April -  The US, the Soviet Union and 107 other nations signed the Biological Weapons Convention, agreeing to ban production of these weapons.
• 26th May -     Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) agreement signaled the beginning of d'étente between the U.S. and USSR.
• 3rd June -  The Four Power Agreement on Berlin came into effect. This agreement recognised the existence of two Germanies and the Allied presence in West Berlin.
• July -   American actress Jane Fonda caused controversy by touring communist North Vietnam. Fonda was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. Fonda later expressed regret for her visit and the photograph.
• 18th July -  Following on from his reforms of May 1971, Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat ordered 20,000 Soviet advisors out of the country.
• 1st September -  American chess player Bobby Fischer defeated Soviet player Boris Spassky 12-8, to become the first American-born world champion.
• 2nd-28th September -   The Summit Series, an ice hockey tournament between Canada and Soviet Union. The series was won 4-3 by Canada, amid claims of cheating, rough play and gamesmanship.
• 18th December -  Richard Nixon announced the beginning of a massive bombing campaign in North Vietnam.   
• 21st December -  The signing of the Basic Treaty, with East Germany and West Germany recognised each other as sovereign states. This marked the beginning of Ostpolitik.

1973

• 27 January -     The Paris Peace Accords ended American involvement in the Vietnam War. Congress cut off funds for the continued bombing of Indochina.
• 29 March -  The last American combat troops left Vietnam. A small contingent remained in Saigon to protect American diplomats and civilians.
• 24th June -  Leonid Brezhnev became the first Soviet leader to address the American people on television. Among other topics, Brezhnev spoke about the recent improvement in US-Soviet relations.
• 11th September -  The democratically-elected Marxist president of Chile, Salvador Allende, was deposed and committed suicide during a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, supported by the US CIA.
• 6th October - Yom Kippur War, Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria, the war ended with a ceasefire.
• 9th October -  The Soviet Union was almost drawn into the Yom Kippur War after one of its merchant ships, the SS Ilya Mechnikov was sunk by the Israeli Navy. The US later threatened intervention, if the Soviets attacked Israel.
• 22nd October -  Egypt defected to the American camp by accepting a U.S. cease-fire proposal during the October 1973 war.
• 21st  November -  The Soviet Union refused to allow its football team to play a World Cup qualifier against Chile, a protest against the September 1973 coup. As a consequence, the Soviet team was expelled from the World Cup by FIFA.

1974

• 4th March -  Harold Wilson (Labour) became UK Prime Minister.
• April 24th -  West German government employee Gunter Guillaume was revealed to be an East German spy.
• 7th May -  Implicated in the Gunter Guillaume affair, Willy Brandt resigned as West German chancellor.
• 27th June -  Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon held a six-day summit in Moscow.
• 9th August -  US president Richard Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal. Gerald Ford is sworn in as president.
• 12 September -  The pro-Western monarch of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was ousted by a Marxist military junta known as the Derg, a left-wing military junta.
• 3rd November - The  USS James Madison (SSBN-627) with sixteen Poseidon ballistic missiles, collided with a Soviet Victor-class submarine, off Holy Loch.
• 23rd November -  Leonid Brezhnev and new US president Gerald Ford held a two-day summit in Vladivostok. They reach in principle agreement on a new strategic arms limitation treaty (SALT).

1975

• 17th April -  The communist Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. They immediately ordered civilians to evacuate the capital Phnom Penh. Genocide ensued, later referred to as "The Killing Fields".
• 30th April -  North Vietnam won the war in South Vietnam. The South Vietnam regime fell with the surrender of Saigon and the two countries were united under a Communist government.
• 12th May -  The Khmer Rouge, a communist group led by Saloth Sar aka Pol Pot, seized an American container ship the SS Mayaguez, prompting American intervention to recapture the ship and its crew. In the end, the crew was released from captivity. More than forty US Marines and airmen died or were reported missing in action.
• 17th July -  The US and USSR undertook their first joint space mission, the Apollo-Soyuz project, marking the end of the "Space Race".
• 1st August -  The signing of the Helsinki Accords, with 35 states agreeing to improve relations and communication with communist nations.
• 29th November -  The Pathet Lao, a nationalist-communist group, seized power in Laos.

1976

• 8th January - Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai died of cancer.
• 11th January -  Ice hockey team the Philadelphia Flyers defeated HC CSKA Moscow 4-1. The match was marred by tension and a threatened walk-off by the Soviet team.
• 24th March -  In Argentina, a military junta headed by General Jorge Videla overthrew President Isabel Peron.
• 5th April - James Callaghan (LABOUR) became UK Prime Minister.
• 25th June -  The socialist government in Poland raised food prices, sparking several days of strikes.
• 2nd July -  North and South Vietnam were formally reunified. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed.
• 6th September -  A Soviet military pilot, Viktor Belenko, defected to the US after landing his MiG jet in Japan. Belenko was later given US citizenship by an Act of Congress.
• 9th September -   Chinese leader Mao Zedong died.
• 2nd November -   Jimmy Carter was elected as 39th president of the United States, defeating the incumbent Gerald Ford. Carter carried fewer states (23 to Ford's 27) but won a greater share of electoral votes.

1977

• 1st January -  Charter 77 was signed by Czechoslovakian intellectuals, including Vaclav Havel.
• 6th January -  A group of 242 Czechoslovakian citizens published "Charter 77", an open letter criticising the pro-Soviet government for failing to protect human rights. Several people involved in drafting or signing the charter were persecuted, arrested and jailed.
• 20th January -  Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as US president.
• 17th March -  In an address to the United Nations general assembly, Jimmy Carter promised his foreign policy would focus on protecting human rights around the world.
• 6th June -      U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance assured sceptics that the Carter administration would hold the Soviet Union accountable for its recent crackdowns on human rights activists.
• 30th June  -  The South-East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO) was formally dissolved.
• 23 July -     The Ogaden War began when Somalia attacked Ethiopia.        
• 21st September  -  The "London Club" (aka the Nuclear Suppliers Group) nuclear non-proliferation agreement layed down guidelines for the sale and transfer of nuclear materials and equipment. The agreement was signed by the US, USSR and 15 other nations, there are currently 48 members.

1978

• 15th March -    The Ogaden War ended with a cease-fire.
• 7th April -  US president Jimmy Carter suspended production of a planned neutron bomb.
• 14th April -  Around 20,000 Georgian nationalists protested in the capital Tbilisi, in response to a proposal to give the Georgian and Russian languages equal status.
• 20th April -  Korean Air Lines Flight 902 made an emergency landing on a frozen lake in northern Russia, after being shot and crippled by Soviet air defences. The passengers and crew are rescued by Soviet helicopters and later released.
• 28th April -     President of Afghanistan Sardar Mohammed Daoud's government was overthrown when he was murdered in a coup d'etat led by the socialist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.
• 30th April -  The formation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan under Nur Muhammad Taraki, a communist politician.
• 18th May -  Yuri Orlov, a prominent Russian scientist, was sentenced to seven years in a labour camp for criticising the Soviet government. His imprisonment provoked outrage and protests around the world.
• 21st June -  Soviet air defense forces shot down an Iranian army Chinook helicopter, killing the crew after it strayed into Soviet airspace during an exercise.
• 17th September -  After almost two weeks of negotiations at Camp David, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli leader Menachem Begin signed a landmark peace agreement, known as The Camp David Accords.
• December -  After weeks of tension and skirmishes between Vietnamese troops and the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam launched an invasion of Cambodia.

1979

• 1st January -  The United States and the People's Republic of China formally commenced diplomatic relations.
• 7th January -      Vietnam deposed the Khmer Rouge and installed a pro-Vietnam, pro-Soviet government.
• 16 January -      The Iranian Revolution ousted the pro-Western Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and installed a theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini. CENTO was dissolved as a result.
• Sino-Vietnamese War (War of Dragons), China launched a punitive attack on North Vietnam to punish it for invading Cambodia
• 4th May -  Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain, after the Conservative Party won a general election.
• 9th May -     24 demonstrators were killed and many wounded after police opened fire on anti-government protesters outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador The protest was organised by the left-wing group known as the left-wing Popular Revolutionary BlocThe United States and Soviet Union reached a basic accord on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty.
• 2nd June -  Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit a communist country, arriving for nine days in his native Poland.
• 18th June -  US president Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT-II treaty, limiting nuclear weapons.
• 3rd July -  Marxist-led Sandinista revolutionaries overthrew the U.S. backed Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua. The Contra Insurgency began shortly thereafter.
•                 Jimmy Carter authorised the CIA to provide aid and equipment to the mujahideen in Afghanistan, Operation Cyclone, it ran until at least 1978.
• September -   Nur Mohammad Taraki, the Marxist president of Afghanistan, was deposed and murdered. The post of president was taken up by Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin.
• 4th November - Islamist Iranian students invaded the American embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian Revolution and detained 53 Americans. The Iran hostage crisis lasted until January 20, 1981
• 9th November -  US defence computers at NORAD reported an incoming Soviet nuclear attack, leading to the mobilisation of planes and missile crews. Cross-checking soon revealed the "attack" was triggered by a training simulation, mistakenly uploaded to NORAD's computers.
• 15th November -  Margaret Thatcher addressed the House of Commons and exposed art historian and Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Anthony Blunt as a former Soviet spy.
• 24th December -  Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan to support the weakening communist government there.