The 1990s was the last decade of the Twentieth Century which lasted from January 1st, 1990 to December 31st, 2000. This period is often remembered as the time of "The Great Detente", where the two main superpowers that were confronted during the Cold War (1945-1991), the United States and the Soviet Union agreed a period of peace and cooperation on the basis of mutual recognition of their political systems. Also, it is remembered as a time of great tecnological and social changes, like the space exploration, the birth of animal and human cell cloning, the discoverement of the AIDS vaccine, the birth of the WWW (World Wide Web), the genic therapy and the first insights on Artificial Intelligence.
In the political sphere, the 1990s saw the surgement of the Peoples Republic of China as a major superpower, the process of expansion of democracy in Europe, Latin America and many parts of Asia, the end of many monarchies in the middle east that transitioned to parliamentary democracies, a series of islamic revolutions in northern africa and the birth, after more than 40 years of occupation, of the new Democratic Republic of Palestine.
Although this period was one of the most peaceful times in human history, with almost no major armed conflicts between nations, the 1990s was marked by civil wars in important places of the world. In this, it is possible to name the Turkish Civil War (1990-1997), between the Kurdish minorities in the Anatolian Region and the central goverment of Turkey, the Peruvian Civil War (1992 - 2000) between Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) forces belonging to the Peruvian Communist Party, and Vladimiro Montesinos regime, and the Algerian Civil War (1992-1995) with the Islamic Salvation Front against the goverment of the NLF and, subsequently, Liamine Zerual´s regime.
The 1990s also saw a surge in cultural and artistic creations. It is remembered as the decade of the "Grunge" movement, with rock bands like Nirvana or Pearl Jam and many others. This had a significative impact on cultural trends, mostly in the youth of this era. With all this changes, modern individualism surged supported by expansion of economic consumerism and political freedoms.
1990[]
United States: A major economic crisis causes unemployment to rise by 12%. President Bush popularity drops significantly, putting its re-election intentions at risk
Germany: After a meeting between FRG Chancellor, Helmut Kohl and DRG President Lothar de Máziere, both countries agree on the creation of the "German Confederacy" under the basis of the recognition of west and east germany as sovereign republics
Chile: After 17 years of military dictatorship lead by General Augusto Pinochet, Cristian-Democrat leader Gabriel Valdés is sworned in as the first democratically elected president.
Perú: Famous writer Mario Vargas Llosa is elected president, defeating engineer Alberto Fujimori
Argentina: After a close election, Eduardo Angeloz, of the Radical Civic Union, is sworned in as president, succeding Raul Alfonsín as the second president of the transition to democracy
Brasil: Lula da Silva becomes the first democratically elected president after more than 20 years of military rule
Rumania: President Illiescu is overthrowned after a military coup lead by far right members of the military forces
Checoslovaquia: Multiparty elections are held on the basis of a federation integrated by both Checz and Eslovaquian nations. Country integrity prevails.
Italy: Sardinian separatist forces declare a state of conflict against the italian goverment
India: New Delhi accords - Kashmir becomes a sovereign state
Saudi Arabia: King Fahd resigns. Democratic elections are held, assuming a pro western goverment. Begining of the First Arab Spring (1990-1993)
Yemen: After reunification efforts, multiparty elections are held. Pro western goverment is formed, but communists retain the 2nd place in votes.
Omán: Mass protests end with abolishment of monarchy lead by King Al Said. Elections are held.
Iraq: Saddam Hussein resigns amidst anti-goverment protests. Izzat Al-Douri is designated as interim president, managing to be elected in the December General Elections
Kuwait: Pro iraqi goverment is elected after ousting of the monarchy. A pact between Iraq is aproved and Kuwait turns into a region dependent of Iraq
Tunisia: Coup d´etat against President Zine Ben Ali. Military junta assumes power in the country, declaring the birth of a Islamic Repúblic
Israel: Mass protests take place in Jerusalem demanding the establishment of a independent state of Palestine. The First Intifada spreads inside Israeli soil, with arab minorities living in the country joining the protests. Primer Minister Itzak Shamir resigns and calls to a snap election, which is won by progressive and leftist parties.
Palestine: In historical referendum, the Democratic Repúblic of Palestine is formed. The remaining Israel forces abandon both Gaza and the West Bank, allowing Palestine to retake control of it´s territory.
Canada: Peaceful protests take place demanding the independence of Quebec
Japan: Discovery of mass animal cloning
North Korea: Kim Il Sung is ousted in a blodless coup. Yon Hyung Muk assumes as president and launches economic and political reforms similar that those applied in China by Deng Xiaoping.
Burma: Aung Sun Kyi is elected president, putting an end to military regime in power since 1965.
1991[]
USSR: In historical referendum, the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics is formed. Mikhail Gorbachov is ratified as president until 1995 when the country will have it´s first multiparty elections
México: Impeachment against Carlos Salinas, accused of corruption and electoral fraud. Interim goverment of Luis Donaldo Colosio, which promotes political and social reforms, including peace talks with the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
Australia: Impact of asteroid Baker 400799 in the outskirts of Queensland. Minor fires and a crater of 500 Mts in the forest of the city
Zaire: After military protests, Mobutu Sese Seko resigns as president. Military junta assumes power in the country and calls multiparty elections by 1992.
1992[]
United States: Ross Perot is elected president, putting an end of bipartisanship in american politics and defeating George H.W. Bush in it´s reelection campaign, affected by an economic crisis
China: Li Peng is elected president of the country, abolishing some of the reforms made by Deng Xiaoping
Venezuela: President Carlos Andrés Pérez is overthrown in a coup leaded by Hugo Chávez. The Bolivarian Revolution begins.
Perú: Coup´d etat against president Vargas Llosa. Vladimiro Montesinos assumes power. Shining Path increases its actions, leading to a full scale civil war.
Chile: Augusto Pinochet is detained by police agents in the middle of the "Pinocheques" scandal. His imprisoment will allow the chilean justice to judge him for crimes against humanity.
Algeria: President Bendjedid resigns after a violent coup. The Algerian Civil War begins between the ISF and goverment forces.
Turkey: Kurdish insurgency provokes a civil war in the Anatolian Region, leading to a conflict with the Turkish goverment
Egipt: President Mubarak is ousted after a massive social rebellion. Military seizes power in the country. The Islamic Republic of Egipt is formed
Rumania: Gheorghe Funar, a far rightist politician, is elected president.
France: Eurovision festival atracts thousands of people
1993[]
United States: Beginning of the "Perot Doctrine", which establishes a non interventionist foreign policy. As a first move, President Perot closes the Guantanamo Base and relaxes some of the economical measures against Cuba.
Chile: Beginning of the "Juicio de la Junta" (Junta Trials). Former dictator Augusto Pinochet, along with the other members of the military regime that overtrow Salvador Allende, are sentenced to life prision.
Korea: Historical meeting between North Korean president Yong Kyung Muk and South Korean president Kim Young Sam, formally agreeing the end of the state of war between both countries and the establishment of freedom of movement in the korean border
Burkina Faso: President Blaise Campoare resigns amidst mass protests against his goverment. Elections are held, won by leftist coalition
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang is ousted by anti goverment protests. Multi party elections are held and won by leftist forces
Zimbabwe: ZANU Leader and incumbent president, Robert Mugabe, is defeated by rightist coalition
Mauritania: Far right islamists seize power in the country
Pakistan: Prime Minister Benazzir Buttho surpasses an impeachment trial and continues to govern until the year 2000
Philipines; Communist party manages to avoid split and continues its ongoing struggle against the central goverment, managing to reach Davao
Checoslovaquia: Leftist candidate Marie Stibirova wins the presidential elections
Iraq: Peace talks between the US, the UK and Iraq goverment for the elimination of chemical weapons in iraqi territory
India: Police and intelligence agents manage to stop a major terrorist attack in Mumbai
United States: Major floods hit the Misissipi river.
Cuba: After the reinaguration of US - Cuba relationships, the embargo against the island comes to an end
1994[]
United States: President Perot and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachov sign a nuclear disarment treaty
Rwanda: Intelligence services avoid president Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira taking an airplane that could have been shoot down by tutsi forces. Peace talks between both Tutsi and Hutu forces continue, avoiding a major conflict
Venezuela: New constitution is ratified in referendum. Presidential elections are held in november of that year, wining incumbent president and military leuteniant Hugo Chávez
Korea: First military joint exercises between both north and south korea are formed
Chile: Socialist candidate Ricardo Lagos is elected president
Turkey: In the Anatolian Region, the Kurdish Democratic Republic is formed.
Brasil: Lula da Silva is re-elected for another 4 year term
United States: Station Polaris I is launched into mars orbit
USSR: General elections. Former cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is elected as the first female president in soviet history, supported by a coalition of both social democratic and liberal parties
China: President Li Peng announces plan to build a lunar space base by year 2000
Canada: Discovery of first prototype of Genic Therapy
Palestine: Yasser Arafat elected for second term as president of the country
Hungary: Far right coalition lead by Fidezs party is elected.
1995[]
Canada: In historical referendum, Quebec declares it´s independence from Canada. The Quebec Republic is formed
Algeria: Last remaining goverment forces are defeated in Algiers. The Islamic Emirate of Algeria is formed, lead by the Islamic Salvation Front.
1996[]
1997[]
Northern Ireland: After mass riots, an independence referendum is held on the unification of Ireland. The "Yes" option wins by more than 90% of the popular vote. IRA and INLA Militia turn into political parties and present to the next general elections. Remaining british troops abandon the country by the end of the year. The new republic of Ireland is founded.
1998[]
1999[]
Russia: President Tereshkova resigns. Prime minister Putin becomes the next president of Russia.
2000[]
United States: In historical meeting in Washington DC, US President Perot, Chinese president Li Peng and Russian President Putin sign the SPACE 1 Deals, with the main goal of establishing a common space base in Mars by the year 2010.