1991

1991 was a year of major political upheavals, technological advances, and social change that reshaped the remainder of the decade. The most consequential political development was the dissolution of the Soviet Union, bringing an end to the Cold War era. In August 1991, Soviet republics declared independence, and a failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev accelerated the unraveling of the union. By December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the Soviet Union ceased to exist, with its former republics forming the Commonwealth of Independent States and pursuing sovereign paths in a newly reconfigured Europe.

Gulf War: Following Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, a U.S.-led coalition launched Operation Desert Storm in January 1991. The fighting ended in February with the expulsion of Iraqi forces and a UN-brokered ceasefire, though sanctions and regional tensions lingered for years.

Yugoslavia also began to break apart in 1991, as Slovenia and later Croatia declared independence in June. This precipitated armed conflicts and a humanitarian crisis that developed into the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

Natural events: Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in June 1991, ejecting vast quantities of ash and sulfur dioxide and contributing to a measurable but temporary global cooling of the climate.

Science and technology: The World Wide Web was opened to the public in 1991, created by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, enabling a rapid expansion of online information. The Linux kernel was also released in 1991 by Linus Torvalds, marking a cornerstone of open-source software.

Economically, many regions faced a continuing global recession and a transition from centrally planned to market economies in post-Soviet and post-communist states.