On November 19

On this day in ...
... 1990 (20 years ago today), at a summit meeting in Paris, leaders of more than a score of countries signed an agreement billed as "the end of the cold war that divided East and West for more than four decades." The agreement between the member states of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and those of the Warsaw Pact promised to destroy "tens of thousands" of "nonnuclear weapons." Signing along with U.S. President George H.W. Bush was Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. (credit for photo of the 2 leaders at a 1989 Malta summit) At the signing in Paris, the latter proclaimed:

'What a long way the world has come!'

A thought worth pondering given the current, new uncertainties about the fate of New START, the disarmament pact we've been tracking (prior IntLawGrrls posts).

(Prior November 19 posts are here, here, and here.)

On October 23

On this day in ...

... 1983 (25 years ago today), in the midst of civil war in Lebanon, bombs in Beirut devastated barracks of American and French armed forces, killing 241 American servicemembers, nearly all of them Marines, and 58 parachutistes. Although President Ronald Reagan "insist[ed] Marines will remain," the United States withdrew all troops from the country within months. (credit for photo of the President and 1st Lady Nancy Reagan reviewing caskets of U.S. troops who died in the bombing)

... 1989, in 1 country that had led movements in Eastern Europe away from the Warsaw Pact and toward market economies, Hungary became a republic by proclamation of interim President Mátyás Szűrös. The declaration came on the 33d anniversary of the unsuccessful uprising against Soviet control. Free elections would be held the following year. Hungary (flag at left) became a member of NATO in 1999 and of the European Union in 2004.

On September 13

On this day in ...
... 1743 (265 years ago today), in the southwest Germany city after which it was named, the Treaty of Worms was signed by Austria, Britain, and Sardinia. Maria Theresa (right), Archduchess of Austria and "the only woman ruler in the 650[-year] history of the Habsburg dynasty," ceded lands in exchange for payment by Britain of an annual subsidy.
... 1968 (40 years ago today), Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact, an alliance of countries within the Soviet orbit. The immediate cause of the withdrawal was Moscow's August invasion of Czechoslovakia; however, Albania (map at left) had been drifting further away from the Soviet Union, and closer to Communist China, for years. Contemporary contrast: this past April, Albania "was invited to start accession talks" with NATO.

On August 1

On this day in ...
... 1975, more than 3 dozen states, including all of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, signed the Helsinki Final Act. The document, which included "a list of agreements concerning political freedom, mutual cooperation, and human rights; it can be considered the major achievement of détente," the name given to the Cold War thawing process. Part of the process included establishment of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, later renamed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a body whose 56 member states hail from Europe, Central Asia, and North America. (credit for photo of signing by, from left, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, East German leader Erich Honecker, and U.S. President Gerald Ford)
... 1291, the Old Swiss Confederation was founded as an alliance for peace and free trade among various communities in Europe's Alps. Today remains a national holiday in Switzerland. (map credit)