Contemporary Age

The contemporary age

The UK emerged victorious from the war but exhausted. The US promoted an aid programme, “The Marshall Plan”, which helped the country to increase productivity. The government tried to raise the level of employment and to improve working conditions by nationalising the major industries (production of coal, iron and steel, gas, electricity and railways).

Welfare state

Important social measures were taken: National Health Service (provided free medical treatment), National Assistance Act (financial help). In 1952, George VI died and Elizabeth II became Queen of the UK.

The Conservative Party, in power since 1951, had to face inflation and unemployment on a large scale but also problems in foreign policy. In 1947, India gained independence. The Empire was collapsing but the Commonwealth took a definite shape.

In 1949, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was created, consisting of UK, US and their allies in Europe. The Warsaw Pact was established, making it clear that the world was now divided into two factions: a Western bloc, over which the USA had a great influence, and an Eastern bloc, controlled by the USSR. This resulted in the so-called “Cold War”.

In 1952, the nuclear bomb was invented. Various events contributed to the tensions between the two blocks, but a climax was reached in 1961-1962 with the building of the Berlin Wall and the discovery of the Soviet missiles in Cuba.

In 1964, the Labour Government was elected with Prime Minister Wilson. In 1969, British troops were sent to Northern Ireland. From 1978 to 1979, public service workers went on strike, and general discontent caused the government to admit defeat. Britain was no longer a world power.

Thatcher's era

In 1979, the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, won the election. She carried out significant cuts in public expenditure and denationalised the major industries. Reforms were made to encourage the birth and development of private enterprise and to reduce the power of Trade Unions.

When the government seemed about to lose popularity due to increasing poverty, a crisis in the Falkland Islands erupted in 1982. This area, one of the British dominions, was claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. The Argentines invaded the island, and the British sent an expedition which won the war. The government enjoyed the support of public opinion, and Mrs Thatcher had re-asserted British power as in the “good old days”. She had proved her leadership, and her party won the following election.

British economy was continuing in its decline, and the government made heavy cuts in social programmes. It met with strong opposition, especially from trade unions. This struggle reached its apex with a prolonged strike by miners. In the end, mine workers had to accept the government's closure of many pits and the consequent loss of jobs.

Social reforms and cultural shifts

In post-war Britain, the founding of the National Health Service and the National Assistance Act were the first elements of a new policy of social assistance. Culture was included with the foundation of the Arts Council. The result of the Marshall Plan and these other projects was that the standard of living of the lowest classes was raised. Less expenses, usually higher wages, better working conditions and high rate of inflation encouraged people to spend money. This caused an increase in demand and so in production, marking the beginning of the consumer society. Many people began to invest in cars, televisions, furniture and leisure.

The youth culture of this time was both a product and a reaction to this initial period of self-satisfaction. Rock 'n' roll bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones flourished. Fashion was changing: Mary Quant invented the mini-skirt. Towards the end of the 1960s, a need for change was felt deeply by many young people. Traditional values were felt to be inadequate as an answer to the present situation: hippies, pacifists and left-wing groups were beginning to challenge the establishment. Individual freedom was being perceived as a right. Capital punishment was abolished in 1965, and homosexual relationships and abortion were made legal in 1967.

Technological advancements

New technology emerged with the jet plane, transatlantic cable, which made direct calls between Europe and America possible. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, the USA and the USSR started the exploration of space, culminating in 1969 with the Americans landing on the moon. Video recorders and computers began to enter everyday life, with Britain being one of the first countries to have computers in libraries. Video games began to be commercialized in the 1980s, soon becoming one of the most common forms of entertainment. Telefaxes, modems and portable telephones started a new communication era. Television became popular, starting a new “media culture” with the effect of mass media: diffusion of collective myths, clichés and stereotypes.

Culture and philosophy

In the 1940s, many intellectuals felt like they were being called on to reconstruct their country, from both a moral and political point of view. Modern humanism emerged as a philosophy centered on man's capacity to control his own destiny. The 1950s saw a general sense of dissatisfaction with and revolt against established social trends, characterizing the works of various literary circles.

The first violent attack came from the “Angry Young Men”, named after Osborne's play "Look Back in Anger". There was a move towards anti-sentimental and ironic expressions, represented by writers like Larkin and Gunn. Existentialism, emphasizing man as determined by his own free choice, gained traction. Sartre's idea that the universe is not rational inspired Beckett and the Theatre of the Absurd. The 1960s heralded the rise of pop culture.

Contemporary drama

The new achievements in physics and psychoanalysis and the brutality of two world wars had an immediate impact on the English novel and poetry. No such revolutionary change took place in the English theatre. The only contribution was in the field of poetic verse drama with Eliot and Auden. They used verse in their plays as an attempt at finding a new expressive means to explore the full range of human experience, but their theatre remained elitist.

It was not until the 1950s that the effects of theatrical experimentation in Europe began to affect the English theatrical scene. There was a new kind of audience: mostly people in their 30s who had some degree of culture and political awareness and were already engaged in the cultural shifts of the time.