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| 1989 |
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| YEAR OF POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION. In a remarkable series of rapid changes, many of the established political systems and seemingly permanent networks of relationships experienced significant alterations. END OF COMMUNIST SYSTEMS IN EASTERN EUROPE. In the countries of Eastern Europe, popular demonstrations brought an end to the rule of the Communist Party. In East Germany, the old rulers were out of power by October, and by the end of the year the Berlin wall was being torn down. Hungary had its first free, multiparty elections in 42 years (Nov.). In Czechoslovakia, communist leaders stepped down, and in December, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president. Solidarity won a decisive victory in the elections in Poland in June. Communist regimes also came to an end in Bulgaria (Nov.) and Romania (Dec.). In the SOVIET UNION itself, the Baltic republics were beginning to assert their independence, and the core political system was being rapidly reformed by Gorbachev. | 1 |
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| Feb |
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| Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran issued a ruling condemning Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses, to death for blasphemy. Many Muslims around the world opposed the sale or display of the book. Other groups defended Rushdie's freedom of expression. | 2 |
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| April–May |
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| Pro-democracy demonstrations in CHINA brought thousands of students and workers to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The demonstrations were suppressed by military force after they had captured the world's attention for a number of weeks. | 3 |
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| May |
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| Egypt resumed its membership in the Arab League; it had been suspended after the signing of a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. | 4 |
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| Sept |
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| Summit meeting of the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations held in Belgrade. Declarations were less radical than in previous years. | 5 |
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