Europe in 1970 – 1995

Europe in 1970 – 1995

Can Europe Get It Together?

With the fall of the Berlin wall, Germany is unified. Is Europe next? It is no real surprise, given the relatively short time since democracy swept over Eastern Europe, that Western Europe remains the continent’s economic power. But even in the poorer eastern countries, literacy rates are high, and life expectancy hovers around 70 or above.

For the last quarter century (1970 – 1995), the search for European unity and the failure of communism in the Eastern Bloc nations have shaped European politics. Economically, the continent is more united than ever. The 1993 enactment of the Maasstricht Treaty for European Unity was a giant step forward, making it easier to transport produce and manufactured goods across national borders.

Political union is proving more elusive, however. The fall of communism has been a boon to Eastern Bloc countries such as Poland and Hungary. But elsewhere the glue of communism has given way to chaos. The civil war ravaging the former Yugoslavia has proved a Gordian knot for European diplomats, who have been unable to agree on any plan – military or diplomatic – to stop the carnage. Commentators say that the continent’s multi-ethic, multicultural makeup makes continued factional violence almost inevitable.

Inside Europe today: The tiny state of San Marino has been independent since 301; the Czech Republic gained its independence in 1993. A lot of history lies in between. The people of Europe speak nearly as many language as there are countries on the continent. Christianity, the continent’s dominant religion, serves as a common thread.

European ladies. Photo by Elena

1970 – Food Riots Plague Poland : Price increases on meat products spur widespread unrest. Riot in Gdansk soon spread to neighboring cities. The government responds to riots in Szczecin with tanks. Ten days after the price increases are instituted, the party reshuffles its leadership and declares food prices frozen for two years.

1972 – 74 – Britain Occupies Northern Ireland: Severe civil unrest leads the British government to assume direct rule over Northern Ireland and suspend the constitution. British Prime Minister Edward Heath declares that British forces will remain in Northern Ireland until innocent people are no longer terrorized by extremist Catholics or Protestants.

Increased terrorist attacks in England by the Irish Republicn Army (IRA), trigger the British Parliament to pass the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gives police added powers of arrest, detention, and expulsion. The new Law also bans the IRA and forbids the wearing of any IRA symbols as the black beret.

1977 – 78 – Italy Breaks from Vatican: Italian authorities and the Roman Catholic Church agree to end the classification of Roman Catholicism as the national religion. The agreement revokes the status granted the church in 1929 by Benito Mussolini.

In 1978, controversial legislation allowing free abortion on demand to women over 18 becomes law in Italy. Some Roman Catholic doctors take advantage of a special clause allowing the to opt out of the new plan onn grounds of conscience.

1980 – Yugoslavia’s Tito Dies: When Yugoslavia’s strong leader Marshal Tito dies in May, commentators speculate about how the multi-ethnic, autonomous communist state will survive without him. By the early 1990s, ethnic difference prove too strong, resulting in bloody wars and the break up of the country into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

1981 – France Elects a Socialist President: Marking a major turning point in French history, François Mitterrand becomes the nation’s 21st president and the first socialist president ever to be elected by universal suffrage. During Mitterrand’s first year in power, the National Assembly abolishes the death penalty, decreases the number of nuclear power plants to be built in France, and votes to nationalize major industries, private banks, and two finance companies.

1983 – Greens Rally in Germany: Antinuclear advocates stage massive demonstrations in West Germany to protest the imminent arrival of Pershing II missiles from the United States. In Bonn, a human chain links embassies of the major nuclear powers – the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, China, and France. By the end of the year, nine missiles are operative.

1989 – The Berlin Wall Falls: Mass demonstrations calling for political change and the huge number of East Germans trying to flee the country finally force East German authorities to open the Berlin Wall on November 9. “For 28 years since the wall was built we have earned for this day,” says Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin.

1990 – Communists Lose in Czechoslovakia: Following 1989’s “velvet” revolution, parliamentary elections give the largest voting block to Civic Forum, the leader of the revolution, and its Slovak equivalent, Public against Violence. The communist party is left with only 47 of de Federal Assembly’s 300 seats. Together with new President Vaclav Havel, the government begins planning the move to a market economy through privatization and price liberalization. The human rights situation has improved dramatically, but there are still concerns about the treatment of Gypsies.

1994 – Russia: Symbolic and legislative progress in 1994 was overshadowed by concerns about appalling prison conditions, abuses of military draftees, and state-sponsored ethnic and gender discrimination.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Human rights conditions continued to deteriorate in the remains of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro. Continued oppression against Sandzak Muslims and Kosovo Albanians continued, contradicting Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s claim that “ in Serbia there is no policy of ethnic discrimination.”

1994 – War in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The gruesome war between Bosnian Muslims and Serbs continues, with Serbs perpetrating bulk of the atrocities. Abuses against Bosnia’s three ethnic groups – Muslims, Serbs, and Croats – continue but the overwhelming majority are still perpetrated by Bosnian Serbs. Most of these abuses are associated with “ethnic cleansing,” whose main objective is the removal of an ethnic group from a given area through murder, population exchanges, forced displacement, and terrorization.

1994 – Croatia: There were some human rights improvements in 1994, but the government continues to evict persons living in housing formerly owned by the Yugoslav army and to impede the functioning of a free press.

1994 – Albania: The country has undergone radical change since democratic reforms began in 1990. But there are still serious human rights abuses.

Europe:

Largest Lake – Ladoga, European Russia, 7,100 square miles.

Longest River – Volga, European Russian, 2,290 miles.

Highest Point – Elbrus, Caucasus, European Russia, 18,510 feet.

Lowest Point – Volga Delta, Caspian Sea, European Russia, 92 feet below sea level.

Largest City – Moscow, European Russia, about 10 million.