A Trabant East German car crashing through a 1.3km length of the former Berlin Wall, restored as an artwork. Sipa Press / Rex
A Trabant East German car crashing through a 1.3km length of the former Berlin Wall, restored as an artwork. Sipa Press / Rex
A Trabant East German car crashing through a 1.3km length of the former Berlin Wall, restored as an artwork. Sipa Press / Rex
A Trabant East German car crashing through a 1.3km length of the former Berlin Wall, restored as an artwork. Sipa Press / Rex

1989: the year that determined much of the way we live today


James Langton
  • English
  • Arabic

We live in turbulent times, or so we are constantly told by the experts and the headline writers about the teenage years of the 21st century, or whatever label history eventually attaches to 2019.

Global terrorism, Sri Lanka, Christchurch, US President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his nukes, fake news, Brexit, melting icecaps, rising seas, Extinction Rebellion, Syria, Palestine, Notre-Dame – the list goes on.

Some days when pulling back the bedroom curtains, it is a relief not to find the four horsemen of the apocalypse grazing their steeds on the garden lawn.

What then, to make of the world 30 years ago? For 1989 was one of those years where the familiar landscape of January was unrecognisable by December. The 1980s ended with 12 months that literally changed everything.

On New Year’s Day, the world was dominated by three great powers. By New Year’s Eve, one was collapsing, the other was apparently triumphant and the third still standing, but shaken to its foundations.

Two of these events were defined by place – the Berlin Wall and Tiananmen Square.

The latter was the gathering place for thousands of protesters calling for greater democracy in China. By late May, the Beijing square, at the epicentre of the communist government, was packed with up to 100,000 protesters, many of them students, as dissent spread to dozens of other Chinese cities.

On May 20, the increasingly unnerved Chinese leaders declared martial law, with troops armed with live ammunition and supported by tanks sent to clear the square on the evening of June 3.

A Chinese man stood alone to block a line of tanks heading east in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man, calling for an end to the recent violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way. This photo, taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press, went on to be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and is now regarded as one of the most recognisable photographs of all time. Jeff Widener/Associated Press
A Chinese man stood alone to block a line of tanks heading east in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man, calling for an end to the recent violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way. This photo, taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press, went on to be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and is now regarded as one of the most recognisable photographs of all time. Jeff Widener/Associated Press

How many died in the next two days and the repression that followed is unknown, with some estimates putting the number of victims at 10,000. One protester remains in the memory as a symbol of Tiananmen, defying a column of advancing tanks armed with nothing more than a shopping bag in each hand. The fate of “Tank Man” as, he became known, has never been determined.

If the Chinese Spring was crushed, it was a different story in the autumn. For more than 40 years, the Cold War had divided the West from Soviet Union and its Eastern Europe vassal states.

Both sides maintained huge nuclear arsenals, with the ideological divide symbolised by one structure. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, cut the city in two. For the communists, it was justified as protection against the decadence of capitalism. For millions of ordinary Germans, it was part of the Iron Curtain that effectively kept them in an ideological prison.

1989 was one of those years where the familiar landscape of January was unrecognisable by December

The first cracks began to show in the summer of 1989. Protests demanding independence from Soviet rule began to spread across Eastern Europe. In Poland, a leader of the once-banned Solidarity Movement was elected prime minister in late August.

From left: Janos Kadar of Hungary, Nikolae Ceaucescu of Romania, Erich Honecker of East Germany, Mikhail Gorbachev of the USSR, Truong Chinh of Vietnam, Wojciech Jaruzelski of Poland, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Todor Zhivkov of Bulgaria, Gustav Husak of Czechoslovakia and J Batmunh of Mongolia pose before a Comecon meeting in Moscow in 1986. Tass / AFP
From left: Janos Kadar of Hungary, Nikolae Ceaucescu of Romania, Erich Honecker of East Germany, Mikhail Gorbachev of the USSR, Truong Chinh of Vietnam, Wojciech Jaruzelski of Poland, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Todor Zhivkov of Bulgaria, Gustav Husak of Czechoslovakia and J Batmunh of Mongolia pose before a Comecon meeting in Moscow in 1986. Tass / AFP

Authorities in East Germany at first attempted to block its citizens from leaving the country by closing its borders, then abruptly allowed free movement. On November 9, the checkpoints along the Berlin Wall were removed and East and West Germans mingled freely for the first time.

Over the coming weeks, the wall was demolished, sometimes with the help of ordinary citizens with hammers, while elsewhere the Soviet empire likewise crumbled.

Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution saw the election of a non-communist government in late November, while the violent overthrow of the Soviet-backed regime in Romania led to the televised execution of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife on Christmas Day. Within two years, the entire Soviet Union would dissolve.

In Africa, another repressive regime of a different political ideology was also beginning to implode. The white apartheid regime was becoming increasingly unstable, the result of external international pressure and growing unrest among the country’s black majority.

Real change began when the ailing hardline president Pieter Botha was forced to retire as leader of the ruling National Party after a stroke in February.

Standing down as president of South Africa in August, Botha held his first face-to-face meeting with the imprisoned African National Council leader Nelson Mandela on July 5, before being replaced with the more liberal Frederik de Klerk, the white leader who would free Nelson Mandela within six months and end apartheid with free elections four years later.

These dramatic political shifts took place against a backdrop of other headline-grabbing events. March 24 saw one of the world's worst environmental disasters when the supertanker Exxon Valdez split open after running aground in Prince William Sound on the coast of Alaska.

Dead oil-soaked sea otters found on Green Island in Prince Williams Sound after the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground
Dead oil-soaked sea otters found on Green Island in Prince Williams Sound after the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground

Nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil polluted 2,100 km of what was a wildlife haven, causing the deaths of about 250,000 seabirds and with an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil still remaining on beaches and coves today. An inquiry found that the tanker’s radar was broken at the time of the accident, the result of Exxon deciding it was too costly to fix.

January alone saw the Gulf of Sidra incident when US fighter shot down two Libyan MiGs, the death of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, a major aviation crash in the UK and the start of the presidency of George HW Bush.

In February, the last Russian forces left Afghanistan and a fatwa was issued by Iran against the British author Salman Rushdie over his Satanic Verses. April saw the Hillsborough disaster, when 96 Liverpool-supporting men, women and children were crushed to death while attending a football match in Sheffield in the UK. In December, the US invaded Panama to overthrow the general and dictator Manuel Noriega.

Families pay their respects at the Hillsborough memorial outside Liverpool's Saint George's Hall on the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy this month. Christopher Furlong / Getty
Families pay their respects at the Hillsborough memorial outside Liverpool's Saint George's Hall on the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy this month. Christopher Furlong / Getty

So tumultuous was 1989 that Francis Fukuyama, a scholar working as a policy adviser for the US state department, was moved to write his essay – later a bestselling book – called The End of History.

But as we are now all too well aware, history did not end 30 years ago. That’s the first lesson from 1989.

The second is this. That we don’t always see the whole story at the time. Little reported 30 years ago were a couple of events that determine the way we live today in 2019.

In November, a company in the US offered the first dial-up connection to the public for something called the internet.

Seven months earlier, a 34-year-old British computer engineer called Tim Berners-Lee had published his blueprint for a way that would make this new creation useful to us all. He called it the world wide web.

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

RESULTS

5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)

5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qais Aboud

6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Almahroosa, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Sumoud, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Adventurous, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe

A%20MAN%20FROM%20MOTIHARI
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdullah%20Khan%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPenguin%20Random%20House%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E304%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
While you're here
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Know before you go
  • Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
  • If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
  • By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
  • Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
  • Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.

 

Cry Macho

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam

Rating:**

Brief scores

Day 1

Toss England, chose to bat

England, 1st innings 357-5 (87 overs): Root 184 not out, Moeen 61 not out, Stokes 56; Philander 3-46

Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:

Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm

Thursday April 25:  Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm

Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm

Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm

ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES

Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)

Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
Al Nasr v Al Wahda (8.30pm)

Saturday, September 23
Hatta v Al Ain (5.25pm)
Ajman v Shabab Al Ahli (8.30pm)

Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%C2%A0specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5-litre%2C%20twin-turbo%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E410hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E495Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Estarts%20from%20Dh495%2C000%20(Dh610%2C000%20for%20the%20F-Sport%20launch%20edition%20tested)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi

  

 

 

 

Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.

 
The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Power: 575bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh554,000

On sale: now