The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989,
inclusive.
Like the 1960s, the decade was an era
of frantic change, characterised by political and economic decentralisation,
especially in countries with mixed and command economies. Political events and
trends of the 1980s culminated in the toppling of military governments and
authoritarian regimes, and the downfall of the military juntas of Brazil, Chile, Uruguay
and Argentina. In most of the
third world, the decade was characterized by debt crisis that began in 1982.
The 1980s is also generally considered to be the transition between the industrial and information ages. The
petroleum supply disruptions which
had marked the 1970s were not repeated,
and new oil-field discoveries boosted supply and helped keep energy prices
relatively low in most places during the decade. The 1980s saw rapid
developments in numerous sectors of technology which have defined the modern consumer
world. Electronics like personal computers,
gaming systems, the
first commercially available hand-held mobile phones, and new audio and data storage
technologies such as the compact disc, are all still prominent well into
the 2000s. On the strength of their
high-technology industries, the Japanese
economy soared to record highs in the 1980s, prompting many American companies
to frantically study and adopt Japanese management practices.
The decade was one of contrasts. Whilst yuppies bestrode the world's stock exchanges, social
consciences were much in evidence: celebrities gathered to record major charity
records and perform major charity concerts such as Live Aid; Environmental concerns became ever more
pressing in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster; the deployment of cruise missiles in
Western Europe led to a resurgence of CND
protests and marches and the start of the long vigil of the Greenham Common women
in England; and political
correctness became common verbal and idealogical currency.
In the United States,
the decade was most poignantly symbolized by the presidency of Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989 (termed as the "Reagan Years") as it epitomized the
rise of conservatism as the
dominant creed in American political and cultural life. This extended somewhat
into the early 1990s with the first George Bush, but
the recession of the late '80s and
early 1990s caused significant backlash against Bush and the Republican Party.
Though much of the 1980s was characterized by Reaganomics in the USA , following the election of Ronald Reagan as President in 1980, Thatcherism in the UK, and social conservatism throughout the world, the late 1980s
played host to several dramatic events, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The era was characterized
by the blend of conservative family values alongside a period of increased
telecommunications and a shift towards liberal market economies and the new
openness of perestroika and glastnost. The transitional passage
also saw massive democratic revolutions like the Tiananmen Square protests of
1989 in China, the Czechoslovak velvet
revolution, and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime in Romania and other communist Warsaw Pact states in Central and Eastern Europe. These
changes continued to be felt in the 1990s
and on into the 21st
Century.
Source:
Wikipedia.com
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