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| 1988, Feb. 23 |
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| Unrest was reported in Azerbaijan in a region that was 80 percent Armenian. | 1 |
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| April 15 |
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| Soviet troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan. The withdrawal was completed in February 1989. | 2 |
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| May 17 |
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| More than 100,000 protesters in Yerevan, the capital of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, were dispersed by Soviet troops. | 3 |
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| June 13 |
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| Gorbachev opened a dialogue with the Vatican, ending years of hostility. | 4 |
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| Dec. 7 |
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| In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Gorbachev promised to cut Soviet forces in Europe by 500,000. Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, head of the forces, resigned after Gorbachev's speech, though he later publicly supported the military cut. In January 1989 Gorbachev announced that the Soviet military budget was to be cut by 14.2 percent and personnel, by 12 percent. | 5 |
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| Dec. 7 |
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| An earthquake destroyed part of northern Armenia, killing 11,000 people in Spitak and leaving half a million homeless. | 6 |
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