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Professor Patrick Salmon

What’s the context? Foundation of the German Empire, 18 January 1871

Artwork showing a large group of military men in a room

This war represents the German revolution, a greater political event than the French revolution of last century. . . . Not a single principle in the management of our foreign affairs, accepted by all statesmen for guidance up to six …

What’s the context? The release of Nelson Mandela, 11 February 1990

Mandela

Nelson Mandela’s release on 11 February 1990, after 27 years in jail, symbolised the end of apartheid in South Africa. It was a tribute to one man’s endurance. It was also the result of decades of political, economic and social change that had brought apartheid to the brink of destruction.

What’s the context? The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 9 - 10 November 1989

People atop the Berlin Wall near the Brandenburg Gate on 09 November 1989

I stood in the square talking to East Germans and asked them what they were going to buy. They said first of all, Südfrüchte . . . tropical fruit, a very understandable thing because they didn’t have nearly as much …