The Rubicon speech disappoints the world
1985 · Event
With the townships in flames and the world told P.W. Botha will announce sweeping reform, he delivers a finger-wagging refusal instead: 'Don't push us too far.' Within weeks the banks call in South Africa's loans and the rand collapses — the moment international capital, not just opinion, turns against apartheid.
On these timelines: The Fall of Apartheid, Sub-Saharan Africa, Economic History, Master
More from The Fall of Apartheid
- Apartheid (1948)
- Soweto uprising (1976)
- Sharpeville massacre (1960)
- Mandela imprisoned (Rivonia Trial) (1964)
- The National Party wins on apartheid (1948)
- Mandela inaugurated as President (1994)
- The Freedom Charter (1955)
- De Klerk takes power (1989)
Around 1985
- Iranian Revolution (1978)
- Yugoslav Wars (1991)
- Gulf War (1990)
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991)
- Chernobyl disaster (1986)
- Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)
- (Everything I Do) I Do It for You (Bryan Adams) (1991)
- Night Fever (Bee Gees) (1978)
- Invention of the World Wide Web (1989)
- Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) (Pink Floyd) (1979)