1950-1969 Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, TV, Elvis, Moon Landing
It was the reign of King George VI who died in 1952 and was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth II. The longest period of relative world peace and safety in this 20 year period came after the end of the Korean War in 1953 and the start of the Vietnam War in 1965 - 12 years.
In 1950 it was five years after the end of WWII and the start of the Korean War which was all over in 3 years, but although there was never a declared war, the Cold War between the capitalist West and the communist USSR and China then broke out (and persists to this day).
People lived in fear of an atomic war wiping us all out, and Cold War McCarthyism made everyone scared of speaking out against what our government was doing. It was like a witch-hunt. If you spoke out, you were branded a communist. And then, just as we thought all that stupidity was over the ongoing Vietnam War hotted up for real in 1965.
In 1952 King Georve VI died and Elizabeth became queen of England. Then came Stalin's death in 1953; the Hungarian revolution, the Suez crisis and the Cuban Revolution of 1956; Asian flu broke out in 1957 lasting till 1958; the Sharpeville massacre of 1960; the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961; and the Great Train robbery of Ronald Biggs, the Civil Rights Movement and the assassination of JFK in 1963.
Up until the 1960s life was still bleak in Europe. Everything, including food, was rationed and English children saw and ate their first oranges and bananas. Housing remained severely strained by thousands of war-displaced Europeans and former colonial subjects pouring into Europe. Parents often turned the living and dining rooms into bedrooms and lived in the kitchen with a big table in the middle of the room.
On a bright note, the 1950s saw the mass production of Television (black and white) and for the first time ever families stayed at home to watch world events on their TVs rather than go out to the newsreel movie houses. They watched at home the televising of the Queen's coronation, the climbing of Mt Evererst in 1953 by Edmund Hilary and Roger Bannister in 1954 running the 4 minute mile and on the news heard about the exploration of space when Sputnik was launched by the USSR in 1957.
This period also witnessed the birth of rock n' roll with Bill Haley and the Comets and the phenomenon of Elvis Presley; and then came Beatlemania that swept the world in 1964.
Social life for teenagers was free and easy -- despite the Cold War. Kids were raised on TV and it dominated their lives, as did home movies and tape recorders and LP records. Later in the 60s came the hippy generation that experimented with drugs, zonked out at Woodstock, watched man land on the Moon in 1969 and protested against the Vietnam War.
In 1950 it was five years after the end of WWII and the start of the Korean War which was all over in 3 years, but although there was never a declared war, the Cold War between the capitalist West and the communist USSR and China then broke out (and persists to this day).
People lived in fear of an atomic war wiping us all out, and Cold War McCarthyism made everyone scared of speaking out against what our government was doing. It was like a witch-hunt. If you spoke out, you were branded a communist. And then, just as we thought all that stupidity was over the ongoing Vietnam War hotted up for real in 1965.
In 1952 King Georve VI died and Elizabeth became queen of England. Then came Stalin's death in 1953; the Hungarian revolution, the Suez crisis and the Cuban Revolution of 1956; Asian flu broke out in 1957 lasting till 1958; the Sharpeville massacre of 1960; the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961; and the Great Train robbery of Ronald Biggs, the Civil Rights Movement and the assassination of JFK in 1963.
Up until the 1960s life was still bleak in Europe. Everything, including food, was rationed and English children saw and ate their first oranges and bananas. Housing remained severely strained by thousands of war-displaced Europeans and former colonial subjects pouring into Europe. Parents often turned the living and dining rooms into bedrooms and lived in the kitchen with a big table in the middle of the room.
On a bright note, the 1950s saw the mass production of Television (black and white) and for the first time ever families stayed at home to watch world events on their TVs rather than go out to the newsreel movie houses. They watched at home the televising of the Queen's coronation, the climbing of Mt Evererst in 1953 by Edmund Hilary and Roger Bannister in 1954 running the 4 minute mile and on the news heard about the exploration of space when Sputnik was launched by the USSR in 1957.
This period also witnessed the birth of rock n' roll with Bill Haley and the Comets and the phenomenon of Elvis Presley; and then came Beatlemania that swept the world in 1964.
Social life for teenagers was free and easy -- despite the Cold War. Kids were raised on TV and it dominated their lives, as did home movies and tape recorders and LP records. Later in the 60s came the hippy generation that experimented with drugs, zonked out at Woodstock, watched man land on the Moon in 1969 and protested against the Vietnam War.
Labels: 1950, asian flu, berlin wall, cold war, cuban revolution, elizabeth ii, george vi, jfk, korean war, mccarthyism, ronald biggs, sharpeville massacre, stalin, suez crisis, vietnam war
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