1970s

The 1970s refers to the years from  to, also called The Seventies.

In the Western world, the focus shifted from the social of  to social activities for one's own pleasure eg sex, such as cocaine-fuelled, hedonistic all-night parties at  and  parties. The seventies were considered by as the "Me Decade." The one exception is the activism of the movement.

The perception of the established institutions of, and trust in one's government continued to lose ground during this time. Major developments of the included the awareness of the  on social-interactional relationships, and an increase in  rates,, and. By the end of the decade, the had helped change women's working conditions. The movement became prominent, and the  culture, which started in the, peaked in the early 1970s and carried on through the end of the decade. The United States' withdrawal from its extensive military involvement in and the resignation of  helped bring about a sense of malaise and mistrust in political authority.

The experienced an, but the economy of  prospered. The economies of many countries continued to make steady progress in the early 1970s, because of the. They might have thrived and become stable in the way that recovered after the war through the ; however, their economic growth was slowed by the oil crisis.

Worldwide trends
The of the 1970s emerged from a transition of the global social structure. It reflected the transition from the decline of since the end of  to  and the rise of a new middle class in the developing world.

Globally, the 1970s had several features that were similar and definitive across economic levels and regions. These aspects and essence that make up global essence of the 1970s are the defining points of the 1970s: the and its subsequent failure, the impact of the  on social-interactional dynamics, the rising of the Black community and the.

The developing nations experienced economic growth that came in the wake of political independence. However, several n economies declined and political states became dictatorial regimes. Many democracies crumbled into chaotic regimes with pseudo-democratic governments.

The 1970s ethos in much of the developing world was characterized by the constant need to re-define to newer socio-economic systems. As well, people were influenced by the rapid pace of change of the new social influences and the constant aspiration for a more egalitarian society in cultures that were long colonized and have an even longer history of hierarchical.

The first were attempted in the 1970s.

The of the late 1960s brought about self sufficiency in many developing economies. At the same time an increasing number of people began to seek urban prosperity over life. This consequently saw the duality of transition of diverse interaction across social amid increasing  across.

Other common global ethos of the seventies world include: increasingly flexible and varied gender roles for women. More women could enter the work force rather than remain housewives. However, the gender role of men remained as that of a bread-winner. The period also saw unprecedented socioeconomic impact of an ever-increasing number of women entering the non-agrarian economic workforce, and the sweeping cultural-religious impact of the toward the end of the 1970s.

The global experience of the cultural transition of the 1970s and an experience of a global revealed the interdependence of economies since World War II, and showed the huge impact of American economic policies on the.

Economy
The 1970s was perhaps the worst decade of and American economic performance since the. Although there was no severe as witnessed in the, economic growth rates were considerably lower than previous decades. As a result, the 1970s adversely distinguished itself from the prosperous postwar period between 1945 and 1968. Then, the world economy was buoyed by the and the robust American economy. However, the high standing enjoyed by the American economy gradually became discomposed by years of loose domestic spending (particularly the campaign) and funding for the. The s and  added to the existing ailments and conjured high inflation throughout much of the world for the rest of the decade. Soaring oil prices compelled most American businesses to raise their prices as well, with inflationary results.

The average annual inflation rate from 1900 to 1970 was approximately 2.5 percent. From 1970, however, the average rate hit about 6 percent, topping out at 13.3 percent by 1979. This period is also known for "", a phenomenon in which inflation and unemployment steadily increased, therefore leading to double-digit interest rates that rose to unprecedented levels (above 12% per year). The prime rate hit 21.5 in December 1980, the highest in history. By the time of 1980, when President was running for re-election against, the  (the  of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate) had reached an all-time high of 21.98 percent.

In Eastern Europe, Soviet-style command economies began showing signs of stagnation, in which successes were persistently dogged by setbacks. The oil shock increased East European, particularly Soviet, exports, but agriculture became a growing annoyance to such economies.

Oil crisis
Economically, the seventies were marked by the energy crisis which peaked in 1973 and 1979 (see and ). After the first oil shock in 1973, was rationed in many countries. Europe particularly depended on the Middle East for oil; the U.S. was also affected even though it had its own oil reserves. Many European countries introduced car-free days. In the U.S., customers with a license plate ending in an odd number were only allowed to buy gasoline on odd-numbered days, while even-numbered plate-holders could only purchase gasoline on even-numbered days. The experience that oil reserves were not endless and technological development was not without harming the environment ended the age of. As a result, rose substantially.

Environmentalism
The seventies started a mainstream affirmation of the early activists from the '60s, such as  and  had warned of. The that had occurred at the end of the previous decade transmitted back concrete images of the earth as an integrated, life-supporting system and shaped a public willingness to preserve nature. On, , the celebrated its first  in which over two thousand colleges and universities and roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools participated.

Feminism
Feminism in the United States got its start in the, but began to take flight starting in , with the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the (which legalized female suffrage).

With the anthology  and other works being published at the start of the decade, feminism started to reach a larger audience than ever before.

Gay rights
See also: 



The, which occurred in New York City in June , are generally considered to have ignited the modern movement, in America (,  and  had already decriminalised  in ). In the, in western countries and especially so in major urban centers, gay and lesbian people as never before (even as many others remained closeted) and a vocal and visible gay-rights movement coalesced in an unprecedented way.

Considering the profound stigma still attached to homosexuality at the dawn of the 1970s, the movement, although still nascent, saw tremendous gains over the course of the decade. The removed homosexuality from its list of  in. Gay-rights ordinances were passed by several cities, beginning with in, and in   became the first jurisdiction larger than a city or county in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the public and private sectors.

For the first time, a few openly gay people were elected to political office in the United States. In, a politically active gay man in the emerging gay neighborhood , was elected to the Board of Supervisors in. Milk and liberal San Francisco mayor were  the following year. In their assassin,, received a sentence of. The anger the gay community felt about the murders and about White's light sentence further galvanized the movement (see ).

The increasing visibility of gay people also generated a backlash during the seventies. In perhaps the most discussed anti-gay rights campaign of the decade, singer led a successful drive in 1977 to repeal a gay-rights ordinance in. The new openness about homosexuality proved disconcerting to some s who had been accustomed to gay and lesbian people remaining closeted and politically silent. author wrote during the decade that "the love that dare not speak its name" (referencing the famous  quotation, also quoted by  during his court case in ) "has become the love that won't shut up." On, approximately 100,000 people marched in , in the largest pro-gay rights demonstration up to that time.

Technology
The birth of modern computing was in the 1970s. The world's first general — the, came out on November. The was developed early in the decade with the   being rewritten into it in. With "large-scale integration" possible for s (microchips) rudimentary s began to be produced along with s. Notable s released in North America of the era are the, the , the , and and the  in Japan.

The availability of affordable personal computers led to the first popular wave of with the first s. In 1976, Cray Research, Inc. introduced the first supercomputer, the Cray-1, which could perform operations at a rate of 240,000,000 calculations per second. Supercomputers designed by Cray continued to dominate the market throughout the 1970s. The 1970s was also the beginning of the era. established itself as the dominant force in home video gaming, first with its home version of the  and later in the decade with the  console (originally called the "VCS", or Video Computer System). By the end of the decade, the scene was set for the.

The 1970s were also the start of Fiber Optics. In 1970 Corning glass announced that it had created a glass fiber so clear that it could be used to communicate pulses of light. Soon after, GTE and AT&T began experiments to transmit sound and image data using fiber optics, which transformed the communications industry. In automotive technology, post 1973, saw direction in both the United States and Europe turn away from the large and heavy mainstream automobiles, and towards lightweight, fuel efficient and environmentally conscious vehicles. The was an example of a 1970s, producing high performance from a small engine. The of 1974 made the concept of a performance  part of automotive mainstream thinking, though it had many precedents.

The United States lagged badly in the development of compact and fuel-efficient vehicles, a side effect of industrial inexperience on the part of the manufacturers in Detroit, and two giants of the industry, and  both produced vehicles that fell drastically short of customer desires and economic demands; In the case of GM the  and for Ford the. The most easily recognized and iconic compact cars for the 1970s were the and the  produced in the United States by the.

Automotive historians have also described the period as 'the era of poor quality control', and manufacturers internationally produced vehicles that have now become by-words for poor technological integration. Notably, the 1970s saw the introduction in the automotive field of novel technologies that would begin to mature in the 1990s and 2000s as viable alternative propulsion sources, such as, , as well as solar-electric and pure-electric vehicles. The integration of the computer and robot, particularly in Japan, saw unprecedented improvements in mass-produced automotive quality. Japanese manufacturers began at this time to make their presence felt in international markets at about this time.

During the 1970s, s experienced a surge in popularity as price and size decreased rapidly towards the end of the decade. tapes also continued to surge in popularity after their introduction in the. and waged a war as the primary recording and video devices beginning in, but by the end of the decade VHS had become the dominant format.

Emerging social perspectives
became friendlier and less authoritarian towards students. This was reflected in the of the 1970s, where the  between  and s became increasingly flat. This had influence in social interaction and relationship as well. The rose to prominence in the first world and the role of  in nuclear families took radical shift from those of earlier generations. With the rise of nuclear family and liberal attitudes towards social structure came new perspectives to child rearing and education. The 70s saw a decline in attendance to s and a rise of local s. The role of the nuclear family and the parent was increasingly noticed and given new impetus. Social norms and laws were increasingly framed in favour of women.

Music
The seventies were a time when a new generation of young people were exposed to new media and hence newer ideas in almost every field. TV and motion picture brought to varied audiences images, lifestyles and music from diverse regions and peoples. This led to the emergence of a new vocabulary and experimentation in music. After the war the second generation of German musicians began experimenting with music, these included and the tradition of  or Kraut music, rooted in the experimental classical music. This later influenced both and  as well as the  and  genres. The main exponents of progressive rock include, , and. The experimental nature of progressive rock is exemplified in songs such as Pink Floyd's "". Also the start of "Metal" in many forms began with the British bands, and  even though "Metal" was in a very early and experimental state.

One of the first events of the 70s was the in 1970. However, the seventies were also when many legendary bands started, or hit their peak, including, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , the , , , , , , , , and. In, there was a surge of popularity in the early decade for , thanks largely to the rise of , , and , and bands like  and.

We also saw the rise of Alternative Pop music with the soft, velvety tones of the brother and sister duo the. The group went on to become the biggest selling artists of the decade (1970–1980). The first half of the 1970s saw many jazz musicians from the school achieve cross-over success through. Particularly notable were the, , created by , and , built upon the keyboards and saxophone of and , respectively. No European band could rival these American successes, all eventually signed to the label, incidentally. In Germany, started the  label, which quickly made a name for 'chamber jazz' through the likes of,  and. These two movements attracted many fans of progressive rock after its destruction by punk in 1976–77.

Another experimentation in was brought about by composers such as,  and , with what was to be called. This was a break from the intellectual serial music of the tradition of which lasted from the early  to. Minimalist music sought to appreciate simple music with systematic patterns repeated in complex variations.

These experimentations were also used in several movies made in the early 1970s. In world music the musical collaboration of violinists and L. Subramaniam was appreciated by a large audience.

The commercial cinemas around the world tended to imitate nuances of disco beats in their movies to present their movies as western and upbeat. These included the increasingly popular movies in far  and  movies from. One of the most successful European groups of the decade was the quartet. The Swedish group, who are still the most successful group from their country, first found fame when they won the. They became one of the most widely known European groups ever, and were the decade's biggest sellers. "Waterloo" and "Dancing Queen" are two of ABBA's most popular songs.

To many people, the Seventies will be most remembered for the rise in music. First creeping into dance clubs in the mid-seventies (with such hits as "" by ), songstresses like, , and  popularized the genre and were described in subsequent decades as the "disco divas." scored a Top Ten hit with "" and the had a string of #1s following their collaboration on the  soundtrack.

As quickly as disco's popularity came, however, it fell out of favor with the new decade, due to a religious revival and the rise of conservatism. Disco became associated with gays and minorities and conservatives such as spoke out against disco and held demonstrations against it. Due to this tremendous backlash, disco effectively died in. Along with the demise of disco came the end of the orchestrations and musical instruments (such as strings) which had become associated with disco. Electronic and synthesized music quickly replaced the lush orchestral sounds of the 1970s and rock music resurged in popularity with New Wave bands such as and, who both formed their respective bands in the seventies. Many of the aforementioned singers who became popular during the disco era found themselves out of tune with the, and were out of work for many years, until a renewed interest in disco brought many of them back to the forefront. Many songs from the disco era are still very popular dance hits and receive continuous airplay in nightclubs throughout the world.

The mid-seventies saw the rise of from its / roots in the  and early 1970s. , the, and were some of the earliest acts to make it big in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Groups like the Clash were noted for the experimentation of style, especially that of having strong influences in their music. Punk music has also been heavily associated with a certain and absurdist humor which exemplified a genuine suspicion of mainstream culture and values.

Towards the end of the decade, n reggae music, already popular in the and  since the early 1970s, became very popular in the  and in, mostly because of reggae superstar and legend  as well as his band, , his former bandmate  and other artists like  and.

remained very popular in the U.S. In it became more mainstream after  became a solo singer and scored many hits on both the country and pop charts. He achieved the biggest crossover success ever for the genre (although he would later be replaced by ). was very big and released.

Top music acts in Australia/New Zealand included, , , and the.

World cinema
In cinema all over the world, the seventies brought about vigor in adventurous, cool and realistic complex narratives with rich cinematography and elaborate scores. The cultural interaction between aided with TV and visual media and the rise in motion picture technology ushered in a new period of motion picture making.

In, the failure of the brought about nostalgic motion pictures reminiscent of the ones that celebrate the 1970s itself. These movies expressed a yearning and as a premonition to the decade and its dreams. The director  made the motion picture , which is a nostalgic portrayal and a premonition of the fading of the young 1970s ethos of change and a friendlier social structure.

The director  made the motion picture . German movies after the war asked existential questions especially the works of. The movies of the director  reached a new level of expression in motion pictures like . Young German directors made movies that came to be known as the. It was the voice of a new generation that had grown up after the second world war. These included directors like, and.

Wim Wenders made movies that explored psychological states of humans in situations intimate and significant to the characters. He made Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Kick) in. It was based on a novella by. He further explored this realm in the motion picture Alice in den Städten (Alice in the Cities),. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg created a sensation in with the motion picture Hitler: ein Film aus Deutschland (Hitler a film from Germany). It was a seven hour movie which attempted to investigate Hitler under the shadows of art and  nationalism. This was followed by the expressionist movie  by Werner Herzog.

n cinema of the 1970s catered to the rising middle class fantasies and struggles. In the cinema of  this was epitomised by the movies of Bollywood superhero. These movies portrayed adventurous plots with car chase trying to imitate hollywood movies like , presented music with Disco beats and also presented the young middle class man as an "angry young man". The women on the other hand were shown as ones who have adopted western values and outfits especially by heroines like (who was featured on the cover of TIME for a story on Bollywood's success) and.

However towards the very end of the 1970s, especially after the steep rise in land prices in urban areas and the decline in employment security, the heroines were seen more often as -women striving to have a prosperous middle class especially heroines like  and. In this way the cinema of Asian region becomes a statement of the  times of the region and its people.Other movie industry of the region produced fine masterpieces like in. made Swayamvaram in 1972, which got wide critical acclaim. This was followed by the movie Nirmalyam by in 1973.

Hollywood
The decade opened with facing a financial slump, reflecting the monetary woes of the nation as a whole during the first half of the decade. Despite this, the seventies proved to be a benchmark decade in the development of cinema, both as an art form and a business. With young filmmakers taking greater risks and restrictions regarding language and sexuality lifting, Hollywood produced some of its most critically acclaimed and financially successful films since its supposed "golden era."

In the years previous to 1970, Hollywood had began to cater to the younger generation with films such as . This proved a folly when anti-war films like ' and ' became major box-office flops. Even solid films with s, like the epic , flopped, leaving studios in dire straits financially. Unable to repay financiers, studios began selling off land, furniture, clothing, and sets acquired over years of production. Nostalgic fans bid on merchandise and collectibles ranging from sparkling red shoes to  own back lots.

More of the successful films were those based in the harsh truths of war, rather than the excesses of the '60s. Films like ', about the general, and ', about a  field hospital, were major box-office draws in. Honest, old-fashioned films like ', ', and the adaptation, , were commercial and critical hits. (Love Story and Summer remain, as of 2005, two of the most successful films in Hollywood history. Summer, costing $1,000,000 USD, brought in $25,000,000 at the box office, while Love Story, with a budget of $2,200,000, earned $106,400,000).

One of the most insightful films of the decade came from the mind of a Hollywood outsider, Czechoslovakian director, whose  became a bold reflection of life at the beginning of the seventies. The film satirized the American middle class, following a young girl who runs away from home, leaving her parents free to explore life for the first time in years. While the film was never given a wide release in, it became a major critical achievement both in America and around the world (garnering the film high honors at the and several  nominations).

An adaptation of an novel would prove to be one of the most notable films of 1970, and would set the stage for a major trend in seventies cinema. The film, , featured a complex plot, characters, and an all-star cast of Hollywood A-listers and legends. Airport followed an airport manager trying to keep a fictional airport operational during a blizzard, as well as a bomb plot to blow up an airplane. The film was a major critical and financial success, helping pull into the black for the year. The film earned senior actress an Oscar for  and garnered many other nominations in both technical and talent categories. The success of the film launched a slew of -related films, many of which following the same blueprint of major stars, a melodramatic script, and great suspense.

Three Airport sequels followed in, , and , each successor making less money than the last. brought , which starred a young leading an all-star cast to safety in a capsized luxury liner. The film earned an for visual effects (and Best Original Song for "", as well as numerous nominations, including one for its notable supporting star,, but its sequel in  was far less successful.  teamed  and  against a fire in a San Francisco skyscraper. The film cost a whopping $14 million to produce (expensive for its time), and won Academy Awards for Cinematography, Film Editing, and Best Original Song.

The same year, the epic  featured questionable effects (camera shake and models) to achieve a destructive 9.9 earthquake in. Despite this, the film was one of the most successful of its time, earning $80 million at box office. By the late seventies, the novelty had worn off and the disasters had become less exciting. brought a terrorist targeting a ', a ' of bees, and a less-than-threatening  in.

brought a rebirth of the action film: three years after the influential ', ', starring, brought suspense to new heights with an adrenaline-broiling car chase through the streets of , while ' featured gratuitous nudity and ' featured much blood and gore to complement its complex story. filmmakers also found success in the seventies with such hits as ' and ', and more questionable films, such as ' and '. Like other sequels in the seventies, Shaft went on to have two more adventures, each less successful than the last.

An adaptation of a novel, , became one of the best-loved and most respected works of cinema upon its release in. The three-hour epic followed a Mafia boss, played by, through his life of crime. Beyond the violence and drama were themes of love, pride, and greed.  went on to earn $134 million at American box office, and $245 million throughout the world. It won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. Its director was passed over in favor of  and his musical, , which also earned an Oscar for its star,.  followed in, with roughly the same principal cast and crew, earning Oscars for star , its director, composer, screenwriters and art directors. The film also earned the Best Picture Oscar for that year.

Not all of the "street smart" urban related films were 100% live action. Director Ralph Bakshi would initially release the 1st animated full length feature specifically oriented towards adults (Fritz the Cat) then move on to two other features that dealt with the mafia and other ethnic-related urban issues. Both Heavy Traffic and Coonskin (the latter renamed as Streetfight) would prove that this kind of material could be handled effectively in the animation genre. Bakshi would later produce fantasy oriented films (Wizards and The Lord of the Rings) before the decade ended.

returned to the role of in 1971 in  after having  fill in for one outing in 1969. succeeded Connery in 1973 with an adaptation of 's  which was the most successful of his Bond films in terms of admissions. ' was followed by an adaptation of ' in 1974, which at the time garnered the lowest box office taking of any Bond film before it. After its release co-owner of  with  sold his half to  causing a 3 year gap until the next Bond film, the longest gap since the start of the franchise in 1962. The series picked up again in 1977 with ' and ended the decade with ' in 1979, which was the highest grossing Bond film (not adjusting for inflation) of all time until  in 1995.

Other successful films would soon take Bond's place in the seventies. It was at this time that the  was born. While the 1973 horror classic ' was among the top five grossing films of the seventies, the first film given the blockbuster distinction was '. Released on th, the film about a series of horrific deaths related to a massive great white shark was director 's first big-budget Hollywood production, coming in at a cool $9 million in cost. The film slowly grew in ticket sales and became one of the most profitable films of its time, ending with a $260 million dollar gross in the alone. The film won Academy Awards for its skillful editing, chilling score, and sound recording. It was also nominated for Best Picture that year, though it lost to 's  (which also won acting awards for and ).

The massive success of Jaws was eclipsed just two years later by another legendary blockbuster and film franchise. The science-fiction epic ' (at the time called simply ') hit theater screens in May of, and became a major hit, growing in ticket sales throughout the summer and the rest of the year. In time earning some $460 million, the good versus evil fantasy set in space was not soon surpassed. The film's breathtaking visual effects won an. The film also won for uplifting score, as well as art direction, costume design, film editing, and sound. A New Hope effectively removed any specter of studio bankruptcy that had haunted the studios since early in the decade.

When a television film, , was released as a spin-off from A New Hope in, it failed to receive the status of the original film, and was deemed a flop. It would be two years until the Star Wars series would be revived with The Empire Strikes Back. Another success in visual effects came the same year as A New Hope, with Spielberg's , another blockbuster and alien contact set in the wilderness. For the picture, Spielberg received his first Oscar nomination for directing.

Throughout the seventies, the horror film developed into a lucrative genre of film, starting in with the terrifying , directed by  and starring the young. The film saw massive success, and the first of its sequels was released in. brought the equally creepy suspense thriller, , about a man who becomes the target of a former Nazi dentist's torment after his brother dies. The same year, the himself made an appearance in ', about the spawn of, as did its first sequel, 's '.  (also 1978) was a precursor to the "slasher" films of the and  with its psychopathic Michael Myers. Cult horror films were also popular in the seventies, such as 's early gore films ' and ', as well as 's .

In the mid-seventies movies began to reflect the disenfranchisement brought by the excesses of the past twenty years. A deeply unsettling look at alienation and city life,  earned international praise, first at the and then at the, where it was nominated for Best Leading Actor , Best Supporting Actress , Best Score , and Best Picture. ' dealt with the impeachment of, while ' portrayed greed and narcissism in both American society and television media. The film won Oscars for Best Actor, Best Actress , Best Supporting Actress , and Best Screenplay. Thanks to a stellar cast, experienced director, and a poignant story, Network became one of the largest critical successes of.

Another film, , about a clubhouse boxer (played by ) who is granted a world championship title fight won the Best Picture that year. The film also became a major commercial success and spawned four sequels through the rest of the seventies and having a fifth sequel released in theaters Christmas 2006. brought the successful sequel, , which featured the same cast, but without. Another tailor-made blockbuster,  was released, but to less than stellar success. King Kong did mark the first time a film was booked to theaters before a release date, a common practice today.

The success of 's  in stirred a new trend in moviemaking. Annie Hall, a love story about a depressed comedian and a free-spirited woman, was followed with more sentimental films, including 's ', ' starring, the autobiographical story, ', starring  and , and 's ' and .

Younger audiences were also beginning to be the focus of cinema, after the huge blockbusters that had attracted them back to the theater. became popular in the pop-culture landmark films, ', which introduced Disco to middle America, and ', which recalled the world of the 1950s. Comedy was also given new life in the irreverent , set on a college campus during the 1960s. , starring, was another irreverent comedy about marijuana use became popular among teenagers. The new television comedy program, "," launched the careers of several of its comedians, such as, who starred in the hit ' with rising star  ;  and  with their blues musical act made into a motion picture, ' (made in 1979, released in 1980). had played in . Blockbusters like ', starring former ' actor, were also still popular.

The decade closed with two films chronicling the, 's ' and 's '. Both films focused on the horrors of war and the psychological damaged caused by such horrors. and director earned Oscars for their work on the film, which earned a Best Picture. and were also nominated for their work in .  won for cinematography and sound, and earned nominations for and Coppola.

saw the poignant ', the inspiring ', and the nuclear thriller, .  scared summer movie-going audiences of 1979 with its horrible monster from outer space, achieving similar success that Jaws had seen four years earlier. Meanwhile, ' and ' focused on the failures of the American judicial system. The year ended with 's subtle black comedy ' and ', a family film based on the puppet characters.

United Kingdom
In 1967 had started trials of their new colour service, and it was gradually rolled out over the next few years. and followed suit in 1969, so by 1970 the viewer had three colour channels from which to choose: BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. Although U.S. imports occupied a significant proportion of airtime, there was a substantial amount of high quality in-house production too.

The BBC, supported by its licence fee and with no advertisers to placate, continued fulfilling its brief to entertain and inform. The ' was a continuation of the ' which had run from the mid '60s. As the title implied, it presented TV drama which had relevance to current social and economic issues, done in a way calculated to intrigue or even shock the viewer. As well as using established writers, it was effectively an apprenticeship for new ones who were trying to make a name for themselves;, , and  all served time on Play for Today before going on to write their own independent series. In style, the plays could go from almost documentary realism (of which ' is the best known example) to the futuristic or surrealist (', ).

Potter went on to write , one of the landmarks of '70s television drama. It had the now familiar elements of Potter’s style: sexual explicitness, nostalgia, fantasy song and dance scenes, all overlaying a dark and pessimistic view of human motivation. The series was a success, but the BBC was not yet ready for , a story of the rape of a physically and mentally handicapped young woman. After viewing it, the BBC’s Director Of Programmes, pronouncing it to be “brilliantly written … but nauseating”, withdrew it, and it would not be shown on British television until 1987.

The show  reached its peak with actors  and  cast in the role of the Doctor.

Many popular British (sit-coms) were gentle, innocent, unchallenging comedies of middle-class life, avoiding or only hinting at controversial issues; typical examples were ', ', and . A more diverse view of society was offered by series like ', a comedy about prison life, and ', set in a lodging house inhabited by two students, a lonely spinster and a lecherous landlord. More nostalgic in tone were ', about the escapades of pensioners in a town, and ', about a  unit during World War II. Set in a hotel in Torquay,  was a massive success for the BBC, despite only twelve episodes being made.

Things had begun to change in the '60s, with , and the series continued during 1972–75. The rantings of Alf Garnett on race, class, religion, education and anything else at all definitely touched a nerve. Although the show was in fact poking fun at right-wing bigotry, not everyone got the joke. Some — including, notably, — complained about the language (although the level of profanity was quite light) and resented the racial epithets like “wog” and “coon” and the attitudes underlying them. Others, completely missing the point of the show, actually adopted Alf as their hero, thinking he was uttering truths that others didn’t dare to — apparently oblivious to the fact that he never got the best of any argument and was regularly shown up to be stupid and ill-informed. The series regularly provoked controversy in the media, and for millions it became a common gossiping point at work or in the pub.

In police dramas there was a move towards increasing realism.  continued until 1976, but it was essentially a nostalgic look back to an earlier time when police officers were depicted as a mix of strict but fair law enforcer, and kindly social worker. On the other hand, detective series such as ' (a spin-off from the earlier ') began to show police work done by fallible human beings with their own personal failings and weaknesses, constantly frustrated by the constraints under which they worked. Such series showed crime at the level of petty larceny and fraud, being tackled by ordinary coppers on the beat. Serious organised crime, on the other hand, was the province of various elite units, and one show in the '70s set a new standard.  presented a hard, gritty picture of an armed police unit — members of 's elite. Violence was routine, as were fast car chases; Regan and Carter were hard-hitting coppers, who when they weren’t catching villains were likely to be on a drunken binge or womanizing.

Although this was a truer picture of British policing, it was not always to the liking of senior police officers, who felt that the confidence of the public in the police force would be diminished as a result. In police dramas through most of the '70s however, corruption was rare, the detection rate was unrealistically high, and the criminals arrested were always convicted on solid evidence. Although the officers in The Sweeney were no angels, and there were occasional hints that police who inhabited a world where informants were necessary could not completely avoid compromises, these never amounted to more than turning a blind eye to minor misdmeanours. It would not be until 1978 that a police drama (the mini-series ) would depict a police officer fabricating evidence to secure a conviction, with the collusion of his colleagues.

United States
At the start of the decade, long-standing trends in American television were finally reaching the end of the road. ' and ', long-revered American institutions, were finally canceled after multi-decade spans. The "family sitcom," popularized by the travails of and  in the fifties and sixties, saw its last breath at the start of the new decade with , which ran for five seasons. Although the show was never highly rated during its original run, it has been broadcast in syndication continuously since 1974, and many children have grown up with it, causing them to think of the Bradys as the quintessential family — not only in 1970s television, but quite possibly all of American television. In the early 1970s the magical sitcoms like and  began to lose American interest with I Dream of Jeannie ending its run in  and Bewitched ending in.

In the, television in the seventies was transformed by what became termed as "social consciousness" programming, spearheaded by television producer. ', his adaptation of the British television series ', broke down television barriers. When the series premiered in, Americans heard the words "fag," "jigaboo," and "spic" on national television programming for the first time. All in the Family was the talk of countless dinner tables throughout the country; Americans hadn't seen anything like it on television before. The show became the highest-rated program on U.S. television schedules in the fall of 1971 and stayed in the top slot until — to date, only one other series has tied All in the Family for such a long stretch at the top of the ratings. All in the Family spawned numerous spin-offs, such as , starring.

Maude was 's cousin and Archie's arch-enemy. She stood for everything and was an outspoken advocate of  and. Like All in the Family, Maude broke new ground in television and presented American audiences with something they had never encountered on television before when Maude admitted, without guilt or shame, to having had an abortion, the first time the topic had ever been addressed on TV. Maude felt most comfortable, however, hiring a black woman as her housekeeper. Maude's housekeeper, Florida Evans (played by ), became popular in her own right and was given her own television series in, , which proved to be another hit for Lear's production company. Lear developed two shows in : ', a spinoff of All in the Family in which Archie Bunker's black next-door neighbors moved to a luxury apartment on the of, and ', about a single mother raising her two teenage daughters in.

With the rise in socially responsible programming, the television, a very popular genre in the , slowly died out. The first casualties were ' and ', both staples, in the spring of.  suffered a blow when actor died during surgery in, and the show quietly ended its run the next year. 's  outlasted them all, and finally ended its run with a star-studded series finale in. Bonanza actor helped popularize a television adaptation of the popular children's book series . Debuting in, the series ran for eight years. '' Little House s competitor family drama was 's ', which revolved around family unity but during a different time and place — during the.

By the mid-to-late 1970s, viewers tired of socially responsible sitcoms. Former CBS head of programming defected to struggling  started the trend of TV centred around sexual gratification and bawdy humor and situations, nicknamed "jiggle television." Jiggle TV shows included the crime-fighting television series ', which starred up-and-coming sex symbols, , and and the risqué sitcom such as ', modeled after the British series , in which swinging single-man  pretended to be  in order to live in an apartment with two single women. Mildly controversial at the time, the show quickly became a Top Ten hit in the ratings.

ABC also aired , a sitcom that parodied soap operas, and garnered controversy by writing in one of the first gay characters on U.S. television. Many stations refused to air the series (another storyline consisted of heroine Corinne Tate, played by, lusting after a priest who eventually left the priesthood to marry her). Silverman's legacy also included the escapist "fantasy" genre, which started in with . The series involved popular movie and television stars in guest roles as passengers on a luxury cruise liner that sailed up and down the. Silverman followed up in with , starring  and. Montalban and Villechaize were the owner and sidekick, respectively, of a luxury island resort where peoples' wishes came true.

Another popular medium in U.S. television moving into the 1970s was the, which moved from being a genre watched exclusively by to having a sizable audience of men (who largely watched ') and college students; the latter audience helped ' gain a devoted following, as it was on during many universities' traditional "lunch period." In a ' article written about the genre in, it was estimated that as many as 35 million households tuned into at least one soap opera each afternoon, the most popular being ', which routinely grabbed viewing figures of twelve million or higher each day.

The soap boom spawned a nighttime soap parody, , which made a quick star out of, who played the eponymous heroine. A rising soap opera toward the decade's end was , which capitalized on the everyman success of the film Rocky (despite Ryan's Hope debuting earlier; the show's success came a while after the movie's release). The serial was about an family running a  in, and earned critical acclaim from television critics for its realistic portrayal of an "ethnic" middle-class family in a contemporary setting. The show's matriarch, played by, won two s by decade's end. Also during the decade , a soap that spent most of the decade with bad ratings (It was almost canceled in ) saw a rise in popularity around late due to its more youthful focus. However, it would not yet become a ratings giant until the.

Daytime television was consumed with several, airing alongside soap operas during the mornings and afternoons. During the early years of the decade,  was the most popular, winning numerous  awards. Hosted by masterly emcee, nine celebrities in a large board — among them, center square  — responded to miscellaneous questions. Contestants must state whether they "agree" or "disagree" with the answers and if they are correct, their "X"/"O" symbol lights up in the celeb's box. The first to get three in a row or a five-square win succeeds and wins money. Bluffs and zingers made this the essential show to watch on afternoons. In the mid-70s  was the most popular game show (it was #1 among them from  to ), in a time when there were many of them. Players must match the answers of flaky panelists like and.

Fill-in-the-blank questions involving crude humor, zany panelists, several hilarious incidents, and pure "fun" between the panel and "ringmaster" host made it popular. At one point, it broke records as the highest-rated daytime TV show in U.S. history. The show launched a,  , an enormously prominent game which prevailed as the #1 game show of the late 70s. Two families squared off in assuming the most common answers to surveys of 100 people across the nation with such questions as, "name a public figure most Americans dislike." The simple concept was the main cause of its success, but interesting answers and the clever wit of fueled the show's amazingly high ratings. Other successful game shows during this decade included ' (still on the air to this day), ', The $20,000 Pyramid, ', ', ', ', ', and '.

Another influential genre was the television newscast, which built on its initial widespread success in the. Each of the three television networks had widely recognizable and respected journalists helming their newscasts: anchor, who was voted "The Most Trusted Man in America" many times over, led in the nightly ratings. 's and  were a strong second, while, perennially third place in the news department until the , had a newscast helmed by.

Finally, the received its last hurrah during this decade. Popular during the 1950s and 1960s, variety shows carried on in the 1970s with . With a repertory company that included, and , the veterans' series continued to be successful and ran well into the mid-seventies. aired a variety show of its own, starring comedian.  became a success and became the first show headed by an African-American comedian to become a ratings winner.

In, while Fred Silverman was still working for , he spotted singing duo doing a stand-up concert and decided to turn it into a weekly variety show. In addition to some entertaining stand-up banter between the husband and wife,  would also have skits and music (mostly sung by ). The show was a ratings winner from the first episode and ran for three years. It was followed in the same vein shortly after by singing group.

Another group of singers who received a variety show in the seventies were two of the famous singing —  and his sister. set to work on the siblings' series and  premiered on ABC in the winter of. Although the show became very popular, the Osmonds were equally ridiculed for their wholesome image and moral reputation (on an episode of Good Times, the lead character, Florida, listed three things in the world you just can't do, and one was "smile wider than Donny and Marie"). The popular   is based from the years 1976 to 1980 (the series finale is set on New Year's Eve of 1979).

Literature
After the experimentation and sexual subject matter that exemplified some of the sixties' most definitive works of literature, the early '70s brought a return to old-fashioned storytelling.  was a tender romance that captured America, topping best-seller lists for the better part of the year and producing a successful film adaptation by the end of 1970.

The seventies also saw the decline of previously well-respected writers, such as and, who both released poorly received novels at the start of the decade. Meanwhile, , a posthumously released novel, was released. While Hemingway's classic style showed through, it was criticized as overwrought.

Racism remained a key subject in literature throughout the early seventies. While A Cry of Absence and   studied racism in the past, works like that of  and  studied race relations in South Africa and New York respectively.

In the early seventies, emerged as a major literary figure with the release of Bech: A Book, a semi-autobiographical look at a Jewish novelist, the continuing Rabbit series (including 1971's popular Rabbit Redux), and his numerous subtle, relevant stories. Reflections of the 1960s experience also found roots in the literature of the decade through the works of and. Books like Looking for Mr. Goodbar by explored sex, single-parenthood, and the singles life in fresh, intriguing, and even unsettling light.

With the rising cost of hard-cover books and the increasing readership of "," the became a popular medium through the popular fiction of  and. Criminal non-fiction also became a popular topic with works such as ', written by policeman, and the narrative ', about the infamous  killings, written by  and.

1975 brought the popular  by, a juvenile novel about a family of rabbits which found a home in mainstream literary circles. middle-age dramatic novel Something Happened brought the author one of his best-received novels since . also returned to prominence in the seventies, first with ', a story of four families interwoven throughout their interactions in the area of, and later with ', a historical novel about a family living in Colorado in the time of the 1870s. In 1976, Centennial was adapted to a popular television. would release a Bicentennial series of novels himself, which helped launch his writing career and were nearly as popular as Michener's book.

 became one of the most popular books of 1976 with its unconventional style and satiric nature. Saul Bellow returned with the -winning Humboldt's Gift, about a failed poet and a rising playwright. The same year released his immensely popular , which followed Haley's ancestry back to the kidnapping of a young black man named, who was sold into slavery in the south.

and, writers from the ', published ' in 1976. The best-selling book documented the downfall of President, and their involvement in his resignation, he was not impeached. Throughout this period many other books related to Nixon and the topped the best-selling lists. The same year, published ', about the, and  released the feminist classic, '.

By the late seventies, a former English teacher from had become one of the most popular genre novelists with his tales of horror and suspense. 1974 novel, , became a best seller and spawned a popular 1976 film. He followed Carrie with ', a vampire tale; ', a spooky romp set in a deserted hotel; ', a post-apocalyptic shocker; and ', about a comatose man who awakens with psychic abilities. King also released a collection of short stories and two novels under the pseudonym.

1977 brought many high-profile biographical works of literary figures, such as those of, , and. The world of fiction saw a return of the. Books by and  warned of the problems caused by  dependence on oil while  The Day Before Doomsday warned of nuclear annihilation. much-awaited follow-up to ', ', was released in 1978 and instantly became a best seller.

Notable works such as  epic, , rounded out the decade. Jailbird reflected the comic results of the Watergate scandal while continued to write in favor of an end to. By decade's end, topped the best-seller lists with , which celebrated the early NASA test pilots and astronauts.

Bestseller Lists
After two decades of cookbooks, historical novels and inspirational religious fiction topping the bestseller charts, literature in the seventies took a new turn. The independence and freedom themes of the sixties showed up in early seventies literature, with a 1970 fiction top ten bestseller,  by. Fowles tells a story about a woman choosing to raise a child on her own in an artists world, as opposed to marrying into money and high society.

By 1975, the independence and freedom themes evolved into the swinging singles scene, with  by at number four on the fiction top ten list. Sex hit the top of the non-fiction charts in 1970, with authors taking advantage of the lifted censorship laws on literature in the sixties. ' by took the number one spot, winning out over The ' at number two, a book just as controversial. The  completely abandoned the conservative interpretation and traditional Bible phrasing for contemporary wording and modern analogy.

The exposé became a popular bestseller tool, hitting its high point with the 1974 number two non-fiction best seller,  by and, two journalists that exposed  and the Watergate scandal. Interestingly enough, at number one was  by, which marked the beginning of the conservative right’s counterattack on the sixties liberation and the seventies retreat from traditional values. The exposés throughout the seventies unveiled much of American society's secrets, including the treatment of, the corporate world, and baseball, to name a few. A revealing exposé in 1979 finally reached the most esteemed rooms of the country, with  by and.

Self-help and diet books replaced the cookbooks and home fix-it manuals that topped the sixties's charts, and starting in 1972 there were at least two self help books on every non-fiction top ten list through 1979, starting with ', by and ending with ' by. ' started the bestseller health craze in 1972, with multiple diet and exercise books throughout the decade, ending with ' by in 1978, and  in 1979.

As the picture books and inspirational religious fiction of the sixties disappeared, irreverence and satire became the norm. In , in 1973 maintained with humorous analogy an extensive satirical discussion of American society, revealing his views on such topics as marketing, government and the environment. Richard Adams in  commented on the environment and the land development industry, speaking through a society of rabbits. In 1972, made an avatar out of a bird in ', and by 1977 made a saviour out of a car mechanic in '. ended the decade with , a satire on the innocent unknown faces, the guilty known ones, and the born again Christians that spent time in prison because of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

The newest genre to start in the seventies was the horror genre, beginning in 1971 with ' by, and again with the sensational ' by in 1977. In 1979, first made the fiction top ten with , a fitting end to seventies literature, and along with, , the diet books and the self help manuals on the lists in 1979, gave a good indication of what American society would be reading in the future, and how much the seventies impacted and helped to change American culture.

Architecture
Architecture in the 1970s began as a the continuation of styles created by such architects as and. Early in the decade, several architects competed to build the tallest building in the world. Of these buildings, the most notable are the and  in, both designed by  and  and the  towers in New York by ese architect. The decade also brought experimentation in geometric design,, and early.

In, 's last and arguably most famous building, the National Assembly Building of , was completed. The building's use of open spaces and groundbreaking geometry brought rare attention to the small n country. ' revolutionized the incorporation of solar panels in office buildings. The seventies brought further experimentation in glass and steel construction and geometric design. architect 's in  is an example, although like many buildings of the time, the experimentation was flawed and glass panes fell from the façade.

But modern architecture was increasingly criticized, both from the point of view of postmodern architects such as, and  who advocated a return to pre-modern styles of architecture and the incorporation of pop elements as a means of communicating with a broader public. Other architects, such as of the  advocated the pursuit of form for the sake of form and drew on semiotics theory for support.

"High Tech" architecture moved forward as continued his experiments in  while the, designed by  and , which opened in , was a prominent example. As the decade drew to a close, broke out in new direction with his own house in Santa Monica, a highly complex structure half-excavated out of an existing bungalow and half cheaply-built construction using materials such as chicken wire fencing.

Science and philosophy
The 1970s saw an emergence of a new in the  world and  approach. The modeling of the natural and social systems gave way to pioneering dynamical non linear approach to the study of phenomena across sciences. Although the roots of these were laid in the and, the seventies saw the blooming of these ideas especially with the rise of  through the works in  by   and the establishment of the first  department in the world at  in. The fields of and  went through a renewed vigour with symbolic modeling of semantic knowledge while the final devastation of the long standing tradition of  came about through the severe criticism of 's work in  by the cognitive scientist.



The spirit of discovery and exploration characterized the seventies in scientific pursuits in several disciplines. It reached its zenith with the ambitious in. The program consisted of the and  unmanned expeditions sent to several of the outer s in the. The Voyager program also sent a with the spaceship presenting aspects of life on  to intelligent alien life forms outside the Earth. The record contained pictures and other data about human beings and other living beings on earth. It also had an assortment of music from across cultures.

Coupled with the zenithal achievements of the Voyagers, came the end of manned spacecraft on the part of NASA, with termination of the lunar flights in 1972 with. The and  programs completed in 1976, and there would be a five year hiatus in American manned spaceflight until the flight of the. The Soviet Union would develop vital technologies involving long-term human life in free-fall on the and later  space stations.

In the sciences, the 1970s witnessed an explosion in the understanding of solid-state physics, driven by the development of the, and the. The development of the computer produced an interesting duality in the physical sciences at this period — analogue recording technology had reached its peak at this period, and was incredibly sophisticated. However, digital measurement and mathematical tools, now becoming cheaper (though still not within the reach of the man of the street) allowed discrete answers and imaging of physical phenomena, though at a low resolution and a low bandwidth of data. This tendency was to reach its peak in 1982, though the period 1974–1982 represents the 'period of dichotomy' in the metrication of the sciences.

Deep understanding of physics became important in the 1970s. The super-collider was constructed in this decade, and  developed his theories of  and the boundary-condition of the universe at this period. The biological sciences, spurred by social concerns about the environment and life, gained tremendous detail in this period. The elucidation of molecular biology, bacteriology, virology and genetics achieved their modern forms in this decade. The discrete quantum interactions within living systems became amenable to analysis, and manipulation. Genetic Engineering became a commercially viable technology at this time.

The biodiversity of the earth's rainforest biomes became a cause for concern among conservationists, as the rate of destruction became more widespread.In the idea of  by, took hold of the scientific community and redefined the foundations of evolutionary thought.

Sports
The 1970s was known for three renegade sports leagues that challenged older, established organizations in need of an energy boost and fresh perspective on their respective sports. The (ABA), founded in 1967, was well-known for its faster, up-tempo style of play, its multicolored red, white, and blue ball, and the introduction of the three-point shot. In, the took in four former ABA teams when that league folded. The NBA also adopted the three-point shot and many star ABA players who would go on to star in the NBA. The (WHA), which lasted from  through, brought four new franchises to the  and the player who would come to dominate the sport itself in. was a breakaway league from 1977-1979, which attracted international players with salaries far in excess of officially established competition. It was the catalyst for the major restructuring of world which took place in the 1980s.

The "Battle of the Sexes" match between  and, who proclaimed the women's game to be inferior, was a turning point in sports during the decade. Playing a card, Riggs originally challenged, whom he beat soundly on. Riggs took this as an invitation to challenge all female players, and took the opportunity to accept his challenge. Highly publicized and nationally televised, the "Battle of the Sexes" match was held on, , at the in ; King defeated the 55-year-old Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. The match was heralded as a major victory for women in athletics.

Olympics
During the 1970s, the Summer Olympics took place twice, with hosting the games in  and  playing host in. The 1972 Summer games became victim to both and international controversy with ties to the ongoing  situation. During the games, Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli athletes and took nine hostage. After a failed rescue attempt, all hostages and all but three of terrorists were killed. The - basketball game was also embroiled in controversy. The U.S. basketball Olympic winning streak, which started in, was ended by the team's close victory in the final game.

The U.S. complained about errors in officiating but the victory by the Soviet Union was upheld. Among the 1972 Summer Olympic highlights was the performance of swimmer, who set seven World Records to win a record seven gold medals in one Olympics, bringing his total to nine. Other notable athletes at the 1972 games were sixteen-year-old, whose success in women's gymnastics earned three gold medals for the Soviet Union, and athlete , who took home the gold in the women's.

The 1976 Summer games in Montreal marked the first time the Olympic games were held in. Mindful of the tragedy during the 1972 games, security was high during the Montreal games. Due to its policy on, was banned from the games. Even so, twenty-two other African countries sat out to protest South Africa's treatment of blacks, mainly because was allowed to compete, despite their rugby team touring South Africa earlier in the year.

The 1976 Summer Olympics were highlighted by the legendary performance of n female gymnast. The 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci of Romania scored seven perfect 10s and won 3 gold medals, including the prestigious All Around in women's gymnastics. The performance by Comaneci also marked the rise of legendary women's gymnastics coach, who went on to coach the U.S. team in both the and  summer Olympic games. The 1976 Summer games also featured the strong U.S. team, which consisted of, , ,  and  The team won five gold medals and was arguably the greatest Olympic  team ever. In, won the gold medal in the 149-pound weight class without having a single point scored against him. Amazingly, this was done with a painful shoulder injury.

The 1970s marked a boom in the popularity of, especially in the. won the marathon at the 1972 games and his runaway performance inspired average people to get out and run. Road running boomed and new courses like the marathon came into existence. The decade also marked a resurgence of power in the distance running world. Finnish  (1500m) and  (5000 m, 10000 m) swept the men's distance races on the track at the 1972 Olympic games, the first time one country had done this since Finland in. Viren repeated his double at the games.

The Winter Olympics were held in, , in and , , in. Originally,, was supposed to host the '76 games, but voters rejected a plan to finance the venues needed and the chose Innsbruck instead; the city had already had venues from hosting the.

Middle East
Political in Arab and Middle Eastern states, combined with the settlement of the  by  after a military victory in Israel's Six-Day-War war of 1967, led to a major increase in  s against Israeli civilians. The Palestinian terror group was involved in s and a deadly  incident at the  in.

On  the world witnessed the beginnings of modern rebellious fighting in what is today called as. Palestinian terrorists hijacked four s and took over 300 people on board as hostage. Later the hostages were released but the planes were exploded in front of world wide media coverage.

The relationship between Egypt and Israel changed dramatically throughout the 1970s. In, tensions between and  factions in  brought that country to , which would continue sporadically for 20 years.

The of  transformed Iran from an autocratic pro-west monarchy under Shah  to an ic,  government under the leadership of. Distrust between the revolutionaries and Western powers led to the on,  where 66 diplomats, mainly from the U.S., were held captive. In, began to rise to power by helping to modernize the country. One major initiative was removing the western monopoly on which later during the high prices of  would help Hussein's ambitious plans. On, he assumed the  cementing his rise to power. His presidency led to the breaking off of a n-Iraqi unification, which had been sought under and would later lead to the  starting in the.

Africa
became infamous in the seventies for his brutal regime in. The seventies also witnessed the fall of and, and the continuation of  in  (and the death of ).

Asia
// (relates back to culture), 1975–1977  was declared in the  on,  by.

The came to a close in the early Seventies with the. Opposition had increased in the United States which led to U.S. withdrawal in the early part of. However, in 1975 North Vietamese forces invaded the South and quickly took over the government breaking the treaty.

In the communist leader  led a revolution against the American backed government of. On 1975 his forces captured  the capitol, two years after America had halted the bombings of their positions. His communist government, the, moved the citizens into communal housing which led to starvation. The estimated death toll in the ranges between 800,000 and 2.3 million. Vietnam invaded the country in 1979 which led to a long ensuing war between the nations.

In Japan


's economic growth surpassed the rest of the world in the Seventies. The country expanded on the economic growth it received from elaborate building and job growth as a result of the, which were held in.  profiled the Japanese work ethic in a March cover story entitled "Those Successful Japanese!"

With a rise in technology and a more urgent need to commute for salaried jobs, the became an efficient tool for people to travel cross-country in a rather inexpensive and quick manner. The first "bullet train" was opened between and  in, with further extension to  in. The Tokyo-Osaka line was key in transporting visitors to in Osaka, where Japan showcased its newest technological achievements.

In, Prime Minister negotiated with President  to hand over the island of  on ,. The compromise for the handover was that the were still allowed to maintain military bases on the island after Okinawa officially became part of Japan. To celebrate the handover, was held at Okinawa, with an  theme: "The Sea We Would Like to See".

In, Sato, who was Prime Minister since , decided not to run for a fourth three-year term. He was succeeded by, whose term as Prime Minister would become one of the most infamous in Japan's modern era.



Just as Richard Nixon was resigning from office in the United States, Tanaka was facing a scandal of his own. The Diet was concerned about his business practices (specifically, he used the name of a he frequented on land deeds). The first witness to be called was his secretary, with whom he had a romantic affair. To save face, he resigned his post late in, and was replaced by. When news of Tanaka's embezzlement of the 's funds reached Japan in, Prime Minister Miki pushed for Tanaka's arrest. Tanaka, who had become a Diet member, responded in kind by removing support from his government, causing him to lose his spot as Prime Minister. Tanaka would spend the rest of the decade endorsing and later removing support from Prime Ministers when he felt his best interests were not served.

The and the rest of his family were not well-received when they made public their intentions of their first ever state visit to Europe in the autumn of. When he arrived in in October, he was granted an audience with, and in a semi-public appearance, Hirohito stopped short of a full apology for Japan's role during. Instead, he pledged solidarity with the in the new era. The reason Hirohito did not fully apologize was due to factions of opposition in Japan, who believed the nation should become once more and close its borders to the West.

After the of writer  in November, a vocal opposition emerged, shaking Japan's ruling post-war elite. Therefore, it was in Hirohito's best interests not to make a full apology, which would have been the only solution that would have appeased hostile opinion against Japan in. Hirohito's statement was subsequently seen as a slap in the face by many war veterans. Hirohito received an equally unfavorable response when he visited in  in November.

Soviet Union/ Eastern Bloc
The Seventies in the Soviet Union were in a distinct cultural and economic era known as the. The, at this time, was , who had been at the helm in the USSR since. The Soviet Union became the world's leading producer in, and. During this period wages were doubled which led to more focusing on personal lives rather than the traditional "Communist ideal". Despite this growth, inflation continued to grow for the second straight decade, and production consistently fell short of demand in agriculture and manufacturing. The USSR began to import grain from the United States, which expanded production "fence row to fence row". Consumer goods remained hard to get.

In, the seventies were the , when under the leadership of massive loans were channeled into raising the people's standard of living. On  an event that would shape not only Poland's fate but that of the entire world took place: Karol Wojtyła, a Polish cardinal, was elected, becoming Pope.

In, was chosen to lead the , a role he would fill for the whole of the 1970s and 1980s. The mid-1970s were a time of extreme recession for East Germany, and as a result of the country's higher debts, consumer goods became more and more scarce. If East Germans had enough money to procure a television set, a telephone, or a automobile, they were placed on waiting lists which caused them to wait as much as a decade for the item in question.

's rule in was characterized in the 1970s by growing isolation, first from a very public schism with the Soviet Union the decade before, and then by a  in friendly relations with  in. Albania normalized relations with  in, and attempted trade agreements with other European nations, but was met with vocal disapproval by the governments in  and.

United States


At the start of the decade, President proved to be popular with the American people, in that he sent the last American troops from Vietnam, and took the first steps to normalizing relations with  and the, both of which he visited in. Nixon started the process known as when he joined the  talks and eventually signed the treaty with. His high approval ratings led him to be overwhelmingly re-elected in the against. However, the erupted soon after which put the entire Nixon administration in jeopardy. Nixon became the first President to resign his post, in, and received a for his involvement in the scandal by new President  later that year, a move which was seen by many as unfavorable.



Ford's pardoning of Nixon, coupled with economic troubles felt by nearly every segment of the American population, cost him the 1976 election, in which he was soundly beaten by, a peanut farmer and former. One of the key events that turned the tide in Carter's favor was an embarrassing blunder on Ford's part, in which he said during a live, televised, that was not under the domination of the. Carter's more personable style resonated with the majority of voters.

Carter did not have any more luck than Ford had in curbing, as economists had termed it. Carter tried to address the price of imported oil and the subsequent energy dilemmas by creating the, but his efforts were largely unsuccessful, leading to the , which was also felt in other parts of the world. Carter's leadership was also challenged abroad, with the aforementioned Iran hostage crisis, arguably the biggest blow to Carter's administration. The hostages were only released when took the oath of office on, , succeeding Carter.

The continuing rise of  and crime rates, the Watergate scandal, defeatism in the aftermath of the, , the hardships of , the s  and , and the  of 1979, were just some of the several problems that plagued America in the 1970s. As the economy slipped, the use of increased and mistrust in the  among s grew. In addition, many began to fear s such as the.

United Kingdom


In, the was brought to power under the leadership of. Heath's term was plagued with a number of strikes by nearly every profession (in alone, nearly 24 million working days were lost due to strikes). His plan to ration for businesses and factories to a mere three days in the work week starting in January  proved almost universally unpopular. In February, miners, with the support of the rail and power unions, went out on strike. Heath called a general election to gauge support, which led to his narrow loss.

was voted back in again, under, who had led the country from to. When Wilson retired from the post in, former  took over the office. However, failure to assuage the growing energy problem, coupled with rising inflation and unemployment, paved the way for a Tory win in, under 's guidance. The world first took notice of Thatcher in when she became the first woman leader of the Tories; she was subsequently featured on the cover on TIME. Thatcher's rise to Prime Minister, at the tail end of the Seventies, ushered in a new era of change that would become the trademark of what the Eighties represented throughout the world.

During the Seventies, support for the was thought to have dwindled, but the  in  assuaged the family's fears of being irrelevant in a more modern Britain. Elaborate parades and street parties were thrown in the Queen's honour, and the Queen met with millions of her subjects on a tour throughout the. In spite of such widespread support, an emerging class of people voiced opposition to the monarchy, epitomized in the ' song "". About two thousand people died in political violence between the, and  groups during the seventies.

Commonwealth
stepped on its way to evolving into an international financial centre in the 1970s. During this period, the promotion of social welfare improved the living standard of Hong Kong people, at the same time attracting foreign investments into this city.

In, the seventies was a defining decade. After 23 years of rule under various, the Labor Party under  was elected under the slogan "It's Time", a group of people singing for the end of the Coalition government. Whitlam brought sweeping education reforms including free University places, and (later Medicare), the first fully public hospital system. The Whitlam government was also pro-multicultrual and supported greater immigration during their term.

However, after all of Whitlam's social reforms, the government was nearly broke. The Coalition under took advantage of a newly-acquired majority in the Senate and drove the public service to near bankruptcy by refusing to allow the passage of money bills through the Senate. In response, Whitlam was controversially dismissed as by the  Sir  during the.

Despite these moves, Fraser toed a not too dissimilar line of politics, despite predictions of the conservative press and his party. He did make cuts to public spending to reign in inflation and the defecits caused by the Whitlam government. He also formed to reduce the strain in the public hospital system. However, he introduced to ensure a multicultural representation on TV, and supported the end of Apartheid in South Africa.