Editing 1990s (section)

====Europe====
*The improvement in relations between [[NATO]] countries and the former members of the [[Warsaw Pact]] led to the end of the [[Cold War]], both in Europe and other parts of the world.
*[[German reunification]] – on 3 October 1990, East and West Germany reunified as a result of the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]] and the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]]. After reintegrating their economic structure and provincial governments, Germany focused on the modernization of the formerly communist East. People brought up in socialist East Germany became integrated with those living in capitalist West Germany.
*[[Margaret Thatcher]], who had been the United Kingdom's Prime Minister since 1979, resigned as Prime Minister on 22 November 1990 after being challenged for leadership of the Conservative Party by [[Michael Heseltine]]. This was because of widespread opposition to the introduction of the controversial [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|Community Charge]], and the fact that her key allies such as [[Nigel Lawson]] and [[Geoffrey Howe]] resigned over the deeply sensitive issues of the [[Maastricht Treaty]] and Margaret Thatcher's resistance to Britain joining the [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]]. Less than two years later, on the infamous [[Black Wednesday]] of September 1992, the [[pound sterling]] crashed out of the system after the pound fell below the agreed exchange rate with the [[Deutsche Mark]].
**[[John Major]] replaced Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1990.
*The [[Perestroika]] (restructuring) of the Soviet Union destabilized, leading to nationalist and separatist demagogues gaining popularity. [[Boris Yeltsin]], then [[Chairmen of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets|chairman]] of the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia|Supreme Soviet]] of [[Russian SFSR|Russia]], resigned from the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] and became the opposition leader against [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. The Communist Party lost its status as the governing force of the country and was banned after a [[August Putsch|coup attempt]] by communist hardliners attempted to revert the effects of Gorbachev's policies. Yeltsin's counter-revolution was victorious, and on 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned from the presidency, which led to the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. Yeltsin [[Presidency of Boris Yeltsin|became president]] of the Soviet Union's successor, the Russian Federation, and presided over a period of political unrest, economic crisis, and social anarchy. On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin resigned, leaving [[Vladimir Putin]] as acting president.
*The [[European Union]] was formed in 1992 under the [[Maastricht Treaty]].
*The [[Downing Street Declaration]], signed on 15 December 1993 by the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], John Major, and the [[Taoiseach]] of Ireland, [[Albert Reynolds]] at the British Prime Minister's office in [[10 Downing Street]], affirmed that (1) the right of the people of Ireland to [[self-determination]], and (2) that [[Northern Ireland]] would be transferred to the [[Republic of Ireland]] from the United Kingdom only if a majority of its population was in favour of such a move. It included, as part of the perspective of the so-called "Irish dimension," the [[principle of consent]] that the people of the island of Ireland had the exclusive right to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent.<ref>
Peatling, Gary (2004). ''The failure of the Northern Ireland peace process''. Irish Academic Press, p. 58. {{ISBN|0-7165-3336-7}}</ref><ref>Cox, Michael, Guelke, Adrian and Stephen, Fiona (2006). ''A farewell to arms?: beyond the Good Friday Agreement''. Manchester University Press, p. 486. {{ISBN|0-7190-7115-1}}</ref> The latter statement, which later would become one of the points of the [[Belfast Agreement|Good Friday Agreement]],<ref>Clark, Desmond, and Jones, Charles (1999). ''The rights of nations: nations and nationalism in a changing world''. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 168. {{ISBN|0-312-22595-4}}</ref> was key to producing a positive change of attitude by the Republicans towards a negotiated settlement. The joint declaration also pledged the governments to seek a peaceful constitutional settlement and promised that parties linked with paramilitaries (such as [[Sinn Féin]]) could take part in the talks so long as they abandoned violence.<ref>Cox & Guelke, pp. 487–488</ref>
*The [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA]] agreed to a truce in 1994. This marked the beginning of the end of 25 years of violence between the IRA and the United Kingdom and the start of political negotiations.
*[[Tony Blair]] became Prime Minister in 1997 following a [[1997 United Kingdom general election|general election]].
*The [[Belfast Agreement]] (a.k.a. the Good Friday Agreement) was signed by the U.K. and Irish politicians on 10 April 1998, declaring a joint commitment to a peaceful resolution of the territorial dispute between [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and the United Kingdom over [[Northern Ireland]]. The [[1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum]] was held on 22 May 1998, with majority approval.<ref name=ARK01>ARK: Northern Ireland Elections, [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fref98.htm The 1998 Referendums] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209230657/http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fref98.htm |date=9 February 2012 }}</ref>
*The [[National Assembly for Wales]] was established following the [[1997 Welsh devolution referendum]], in which a majority of voters approved the creation of the National Assembly for Wales.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/analysis/rozenberg2.shtml Politics 97] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125091119/http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/analysis/rozenberg2.shtml |date=25 January 2011 }} by Joshua Rozenberg: BBC website. Retrieved 9 July 2006.</ref>
*In September 1997, the [[1997 Scottish devolution referendum]] was put to the Scottish electorate and secured a majority in favor of the establishment of a new [[Scottish Parliament]].<ref name="ScotlandReferendum">{{cite web|url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/referendums/Scotland1997.cfm|title=Past Referendums – Scotland 1997|publisher=The Electoral Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207062754/http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/referendums/Scotland1997.cfm|archive-date=7 December 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ScotlandElections">{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-050.pdf|first=Bryn|last=Morgan|title=House of Commons Research Paper – Scottish Parliament Elections: 6 May 1999|date=8 October 1999|publisher=House of Commons Library|access-date=17 November 2006}}</ref>