The World in the 1980s

U2Sunday Bloody Sunday

You are listening to the U2 song, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”.

The song describes an incident in Northern Ireland, in 1972 in which 26 civil rights protesters were shot by members of a British Regiment during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march.

Thirteen people, six of whom were minors, died immediately.

The World in the 1980sThe United Kingdom:

Politics

• By the late 1970s, England’s economy was in bad shape partly because of the costliness of running

a welfare state with nationalized industries.

• 1979: Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister in the history of

England… more on “Thatcherism” later.

The World in the 1980sThe United Kingdom:

The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland

Background

• The British had oppressed the people

of Ireland since the rule of Oliver Cromwell

in the 1640s.

• The Irish Potato Famine from 1845 – 1849

intensified Irish anger against the British

(even though it wasn’t really England’s fault).

• 1916: Easter Uprising: Small group of Irish nationalists launches a

revolt against British rule… 15 rebel

leaders were executed by the British.

The World in the 1980sThe United Kingdom:

The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland

Background

• 1919: The new Irish Republican Army (people who wanted Irish independence) start a revolution against the British.

• 1922: England agrees to grant independence to the majority of Ireland.

• The northern counties (Ulster) remain under British rule (Northern Ireland).

The World in the 1980sThe United Kingdom:

The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland

Background

• Leads to a prolonged conflict in Northern Ireland between Catholics who want to join the Republic of Ireland and Protestants who want to remain part of the United Kingdom.

• Sinn Fein – Political division of the IRA.

• Para-military groups:•Republican - Provisional IRA (Catholic).•Loyalist – Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Ulster Defence Association (UDA) (all Protestant).

clip

The World in the 1980sThe United Kingdom:

The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland

Responsible Party Number of Deaths

Republican Paramilitary Groups

2,055

Loyalist Paramilitary Groups

1,020

Security Forces 368

Persons Unknown 80

• Between 1969 and 2001, 3,523 people were killed as a result of the “Troubles”.

The World in the 1980sThe United Kingdom:

Politics“Thatcherism”• Margaret Thatcher (“The Iron Lady”) ushered in a new era of conservatism in British politics during career as prime minister from

1979 – 1990.•She reduced social welfare programs.•She returned government-run industries to private control.•She cut taxes.•She fought against labor unions.

•Thatcher appears at number 16 in the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons", which was the highest placing for a living person.

•She also appears at number 3 in the 2003 List of "100 Worst Britons", which was confined to those living.

The World in the 1980s

The Falkland Islands War

• 1982: Military leaders in Argentina seize the Falkland Islands, ruled by the British since the 1800s.

• Argentina assumes that England will not fight to keep the Falklands… Argentina is wrong.

• England defeats Argentina within two months, boosting Thatcher’s popularity.

clip

The World in the 1980sFrance

• 1981: Francois Mitterand is elected president, the first socialist president of the French Fifth Republic.

• Mitterand abolishes the death penalty and imposes a wealth tax.

• Mitterand, unlike de Gaulle, establishes closer ties with the West and does not attempt to ease relations with the Soviet Union.

Eventually world learns Mitterand has two completely separate families – c’est la vie!

The World in the 1980sFrance

•The “Great Projects” of Francois Mitterand:

The Channel Tunnel between England and France

The Pyramid at the Louvre

The Grande Arche

The World in the 1980s

Developments in the Cold War

The End of Détente

• 1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to stop rebellion against the Soviet-controlled govt.

• The U.S. responds to the invasion by boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in the Soviet Union and

Eastern Europe

• 1980: Economic hard times prompt electrician Lech Walesa to organize “Solidarity”, an independent labor union. (Unions are illegal in the Soviet Union.)

• The Soviet Union pressures the Polish govt. into outlawing the union and arresting Walesa.

• But, the Soviet Union eventually backs down due to political pressure created by Pope John Paul II… Walesa becomes a national hero in Poland.

Poland clip

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in the Soviet Union and

Eastern Europe

• 1985: A new energetic leader comes to power in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.• Gorbachev launches a two-pronged reform effort:

•1) Glasnost – “openness”, the ending of censorship.•2) Perestroika – “restructuring”

•An attempt re-shape the dismal Soviet economy.•To produce more and higher-quality goods, Gorbachev gives factory managers, instead of govt. officials, the ability to make business decisions.•Farmers are allowed to sell food on the free market.

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in the Soviet Union and

Eastern Europe

•1986: Meltdown at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

•The disaster released as much as 300 times more radioactive fallout than the atomic bomb of Hiroshima.

•Soviet-era cover-up makes it difficult to know how many people havebeen affected.. A 2005 report attributed 56 direct deaths and estimated that as many as 9,000 people will die from some form of cancer.

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in the Soviet Union and

Eastern Europe

East Germany

• 1989: Mass protests against East German govt. force

• Erich Honecker to resign.

• November 9, 1989: New East German govt. announces that East Berliners would be allowed to cross the border with proper permission (???).

• Tens of thousands of East Berliners heard the announcement and flooded the checkpoints. The guards don’t know what to do… so they let them all pass into West Berlin.

• In the next few days, people showed up with sledgehammers to destroy the Berlin Wall.

The World in the 1980s

A portion of the wall is on display outside the EU Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

clip

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in AsiaChina

• 1989: Students and intellectuals lead pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.

“The Goddess of Democracy" erected in the Square during the protest.

•The Chinese govt. eventually unleashes the army on the protestors, killing as many as 3,000 and injuring up to 10,000 ??

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in South Africa

The End of ApartheidBackground

• In the 1800s, British imperialists

clashed with Boers (descendents of Dutch settlers)

• 1899 – 1902: Boer War… the British win.

• 1902 – WWII: Whites in South Africa (Afrikaners) assert more control over native South Africans.

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in South Africa

The End of ApartheidBackground•1948: Afrikaners impose apartheid – a system of complete segregation based on race.

-- More than 80% of South Africa, including cities, mines and the richest farmland was reserved for whites.

•1962: anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela is arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

The World in the 1980sDevelopments in South Africa

The End of Apartheid

• 1984: Bishop Desmond Tutu wins Nobel Peace Prize for non-violent opposition to apartheid.

• 1989: South African President F.W. de Klerk abandons apartheid.

The World in the 1980s

Meanwhile….back in the States….

Breedlove at his Freshman Homecoming Dance…. 1981

The World in the 1980s

Breedlove at his Senior Prom, 1985… with the “love of my life”….

The World in the 1980s

Breedlove’s Graduation Photos