Mark Henderson answered
The 1980s was a turbulent political decade. As the Cold War began to dissipate, a whole new era of international relations was ushered in.
The most famous political events of the 1980s included...
The most famous political events of the 1980s included...
- 1980: Ronald Reagan was elected as President of the United States of America.
- 1982: The Falklands War - The Argentine military junta invaded the British overseas territory, which resulted in a military response from the UK. The islands were eventually reclaimed with the loss of 258 British servicemen and 649 Argentinian soldiers.
- 1983: Beirut barracks bombing. The terrorist organisation "Islamic Jihad" bombed a joint United States and French barracks in the Lebanese capital, killing 299 servicemen.
- 1986: The aerial assault on Libya - The United States responded to Libyan sponsored terrorist attacks on US troops in Germany and Turkey.
- 1988: The Lockerbie Diaster - A Boeing 747 was destroyed during a transatlantic journey whilst flying over the village of Lockerbie in Scotland, killing a total of 270 people of 21 different nationalities. This remains the worst terrorist attack on UK soil.
- 1988: The Iran-Iraq war - The war that had been raging since 1980 came to a conclusion. The conflict was one of the bloodiest wars in recent memory.
- 1989: The Soviet war in Afghanistan - The Soviet Union withdrew its troops from the country after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Islamic Mujihadeen Resistance, who were armed by the United States of America.
- 1989: The Tiananmen Square Protests - Pro-democracy protesters demanded political reform in China and were brutally silenced by the Chinese army.
- 1989: The fall of the Berlin Wall - Perhaps the most iconic sign of the Cold War in Europe was destroyed, paving the way for full German unification - which took place a year later.
