The Iraq war drives front-page retrospectives this week, as The Independent stands firm in its opposition and brands the conflict a “march of folly”. War also looms in the Balkans, as the US warns Slobodan Milosevic to prepare for airstrikes amid escalating violence in Kosovo. A crisis of a different kind unfolds in a truly bizarre story involving the Italian mafia, where a tale of pollution and corruption threatens Europe’s mozzarella supply. Yet, moments of hope also define the week. Germany stands on the cusp of reunification as East Germans vote decisively for Helmut Kohl, and decades later, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe finally walks free after the UK strikes a landmark deal with Iran. Explore a world in tumult across these front pages of The Independent.
19 March 1990 – East Germany votes for Kohl
East Germans deliver a decisive victory for the conservative Alliance for Germany in the country’s first free elections, backing a platform that promises rapid reunification with the West. The result strengthens the hand of Helmut Kohl and his government in Bonn, paving the way for negotiations that lead to the formal reunification of Germany later that year.
20 March 1990 – Gorbachev pushes Soviet shift to the free market
Facing a deepening economic crisis, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev prepares sweeping reforms aimed at transforming the planned Soviet economy into a market system. Draft laws circulating in Moscow outline a rapid transition inspired partly by the shock-therapy reforms underway in Poland. The proposals reflect the mounting pressure on the Soviet system in its final years, as economic turmoil accelerates the forces that would soon lead to the collapse of the USSR.
20 March 1995 – Sinn Fein pressed on IRA arms
Pressure mounts on Sinn Fein to clarify its position on the decommissioning of IRA weapons. British prime minister John Major warns US president Bill Clinton that talks with Sinn Fein cannot proceed without firm assurances that IRA arms will be put beyond use. The dispute highlights the fragile state of the Northern Ireland peace process in the early months of the IRA ceasefire, as negotiations inch toward what will eventually become the Good Friday Agreement.
22 March 1999 – Nato warns Milosevic of imminent strikes
US envoy Richard Holbrooke delivers a final warning to Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic as Nato prepares airstrikes against Serbian forces amid escalating violence in Kosovo. With diplomacy collapsing and reports of mounting atrocities, the alliance signals it can launch attacks within hours – setting the stage for the Nato bombing campaign that begins days later during the Kosovo war.
17 March 2006 – Blair remains defiant over Iraq war
Tony Blair strikes a defiant tone over the invasion of Iraq, insisting he would “do it all again” even as US forces launch their largest offensive since the conflict’s official end. The front page mirrors recent debates on intervention in the Middle East as Blair urges Keir Starmer to back Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran. However, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has since firmly rejected the former premier’s intervention, asserting that Britain has had to “learn the lessons” of the 2003 war.
20 March 2006 – Three-year retrospective on the Iraq war
In a special three-year retrospective on the Iraq war, The Independent runs a distinctive front-page illustration by Ralph Steadman, well known for his work on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Foreign reporter Robert Fisk labels the conflict a “march of folly”. Condemning the invasion’s ideological origins, Fisk writes, “from its creation by the loonies of the American right – as a pro-Israeli policy to aid the Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu – and then foisted on Bush, to the hell disaster that Iraq now represents, the real war had to be turned into myth”.
22 March 2008 – Mafia mozzarella scandal
In a truly bizarre cover story, a major food scare grips Europe as Italian mozzarella is linked to pollution, corruption and the mafia. The crisis stems from a severe waste management breakdown in southern Italy, where illegal toxic dumping by organised crime rings has contaminated local grazing lands. Following the revelations, several countries temporarily halt imports of the buffalo cheese until emergency safety testing can restore consumer confidence.
17 March 2022 – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is freed
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and another British-Iranian national arrive in the UK, marking the end of their years-long detention in Iran. The diplomatic breakthrough is secured after ministers settle a historic £400m debt owed to the regime in Tehran. This complex agreement finally resolves a decades-old financial dispute over a cancelled 1970s order for British Chieftain tanks, concluding a relentless, high-profile campaign for their freedom.
