In the early 1980s Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher maintained a strong anticommunist stance against the Soviet Union
Fall of the Berlin Wall The building of the Berlin Wall started in August 1961 5 It separated communist East Germany from the democratic West Germany The Berlin Wall came to represent the Cold War’s division of Eastern from Western Europe In October 1989 East Germany’s communist leadership was forced out of power and by November 1989 the East German borders were open and people could travel freely across them This opened up the channels for a spread of culture Western world culture could now influence the previously isolated Eastern European countries First Gulf War 1990 1991 The First Gulf War started after Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq at the time The United States under President George H W Bush and its allies used military force to defeat Hussein 6 Disasters During this period there was a series of natural and man-made disasters which made people think more about the environment For example the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Soviet Union in 1986,7 spread radioactive pollution across the Soviet Union and Western Europe
In 1986 the U S space shuttle program was temporarily grounded following the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger which killed all crew members aboard including Christa McAuliffe a school teacher
Music In the 1980s and 1990s there was a wide range of Western music styles available to play from pop to heavy metal to grunge to Britpop Music played a big role in popular culture and influenced how people dressed what magazines they bought what clubs they went to and what radio or TV stations they tuned in to Pop new wave and metal The popular charts were dominated by big name pop stars such as Madonna Prince Michael Jackson Whitney Houston George Michael and Janet Jackson These artists had a strong visual appeal and were helped by the rise of the music video When a new company called MTV began broadcasting music videos in the United States in 1981,1 it was no longer enough just to be a talented musician Innovative videos helped sell the music and a strong image was essential
