1970s

The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive.
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Societally, the United States, which had become an influential global power, experienced a significant transition. While much social activism was initiated during the sixties, people were allegedly more self-absorbed during the seventies. Analyst and writer Tom Wolfe epitomized this feeling in 1976, calling the seventies the "Me Decade." Music became at once more introspective with the singer-songwriter movement and more carefree with the rise of disco music. In terms of world and domestic affairs for the United States, the 1970s was considered one of the worst decades. The continuing rise of inner-city poverty and crime rates, the Watergate scandal, the defeat in the Vietnam War, the economic recession and "Double-digit inflation", the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, the 1979 energy crisis, and the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 were just some of the many problems that plagued America in the 1970s. As the economy slipped, the use of recreational drugs increased and many began to fear purported cults such as the Children of God. 1977 saw the launch of the Star Wars phenomenon (although Woody Allen's introspective Annie Hall shut Star Wars out of the Oscars.) By the end of the decade the feminist movement had helped improve women's working conditions and environmentalism had become a major cause in the United States and Europe.

While the United States experienced recession, the economy of Japan rose to claim the top spot on the world stage. The economies of many third world countries continued to bloom in the early 1970s through the green revolution. They might have thrived and become stable in the way that Europe recovered after the war through the Marshall Plan; however, the economic growth was stunted by the oil crisis. In 1973, foreign peacekeepers fled Vietnam, and the war that had lasted for nearly a decade ended with the Paris Peace Accords and communism continuing to spread. In neighboring Cambodia, several million citizens were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot. Meanwhile, black South Africans still remained under apartheid following the death of activist Steve Biko.

Worldwide trends in the Seventies

The ethos of the 1970s emerged from a transition of the global social structure. It reflected the transition from the decline of colonial imperialism since the end of World War II to globalization 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 Bretton Woods system and its subsequent failure, the impact of the contraceptive pill on social-interactional dynamics, and the oil shock of 1973.

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