Top, L-R: A soldier lays on the ground during the Vietnam War; The Beatles, part of the British Invasion, change music in America and around the world. Centre, L-R: The bombing of the Mount of Olives during the Six-Day War; John F. Kennedy is assassinated in 1963, after serving the office of president for three years; Martin Luther King Jr. makes his famous I Have a Dream Speech to a crowd of over a million; Millions participate in the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Bottom, L-R: China's Mao Zedong puts forward the Great Leap Forward plan; For the first time in history, a human being sets his foot on the Moon, in the Moon landing of July 1969.

The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969.^[1] It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.

The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe. This "cultural decade" is more loosely defined than the actual decade, beginning around 1963 and ending around 1974.^[2][3]

In the United States, "the Sixties", as they are known in popular culture, is a term used by historians, journalists, and other objective academics; in some cases nostalgically to describe the counterculture and social revolution near the end of the decade; and pejoratively to describe the era as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance. The decade was also labeled the Swinging Sixties because of the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to sexism and racism that occurred during this time.

The 1960s have become synonymous with the new, radical, and subversive events and trends of the period, which continued to develop in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond. In Africa the 1960s was a period of radical political change as 32 countries gained independence from their European colonial rulers.

Some commentators^[4] have seen in this era a classical Jungian nightmare cycle, where a rigid culture, unable to contain the demands for greater individual freedom, broke free of the social constraints of the previous age through extreme deviation from the norm. Christopher Booker charts the rise, success, fall/nightmare and explosion in the London scene of the 1960s. This does not alone however explain the mass nature of the phenomenon.

Several governments turned to the left in the early 1960s. In the United States, John F. Kennedy, a Keynesian^[5] and staunch anti-communist, pushed for social reforms such as civil rights for African Americans and healthcare for the elderly and the poor. He was elected to the Presidency, also pledging to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, a feat that was accomplished in 1969. Italy formed its first left-of-centre government in March 1962 with a coalition of Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, and moderate Republicans. Socialists joined the ruling block in December 1963. In Britain, the Labour Party gained power in 1964.^[6] In Brazil, João Goulart became president after Jânio Quadros resigned.

Politics and wars[link]

Wars[link]

Vietnam War (1955–1975)

The maximum territorial extent of countries in the world under Soviet influence, after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and before the official Sino-Soviet split of 1961

• The Cold War:
  • The Vietnam War (1955–1975)
    • 1961 – Substantial (approximately 700) American advisory forces first arrive in Vietnam.
    • 1962 – By mid-1962, the number of U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam had risen from 700 to 12,000.
    • 1963 – After the overthrow of the Diem Regime in early November 1963, Kennedy increased the number of U.S. military advisers from 800 to more than 16,000 to cope with rising guerrilla activity in Vietnam.
    • 1964 – In direct response to the minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident which occurred on August 2, 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, was passed on August 10, 1964. The resolution gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia. The Johnson administration subsequently cited the resolution as legal authority for its rapid escalation of U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.^[7]
    • 1966 – After 1966 with the draft in place more than 500,000 troops are sent to Vietnam by the Johnson administration and college attendance soars.
  • The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) – an unsuccessful attempt by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support from US government armed forces, to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
  • Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974) – the war was fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies. It was a decisive ideological struggle and armed conflict of the cold war in African (Portuguese Africa and surrounding nations) and European (mainland Portugal) scenarios. Unlike other European nations, the Portuguese regime did not leave its African colonies, or the overseas provinces, during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1960s, various armed independence movements, most prominently led by communist-led parties who cooperated under the CONCP umbrella and pro US groups, became active in these areas, most notably in Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea. During the war, several atrocities were committed by all forces involved in the conflict.

Pakistan and India go to war in September 1965.

• Arab–Israeli conflict (early 20th century-present)
  • Six Days War (June 1967) – a war between Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms.^[8] At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.

A child suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition during the Nigerian blockade of Biafra 1967–1970.

• The Algerian War came to a close in 1962.
• The Nigeria Civil War begins in 1967.

Internal conflicts[link]

• Cultural Revolution in China (1966–1976) – a period of widespread social and political upheaval in the People's Republic of China which was launched by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China. Mao alleged that "liberal bourgeois" elements were permeating the party and society at large and that they wanted to restore capitalism. Mao insisted that these elements be removed through post-revolutionary class struggle by mobilizing the thoughts and actions of China's youth, who formed Red Guards groups around the country. The movement subsequently spread into the military, urban workers, and the party leadership itself. Although Mao himself officially declared the Cultural Revolution to have ended in 1969, the power struggles and political instability between 1969 and the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976 are now also widely regarded as part of the Revolution.
• The Troubles in Northern Ireland began with the rise of the Civil Rights movement in the mid 1960s, the conflict continued into the later 1990s.
• The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded transgender riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City by three years.
• The Stonewall riots occurred in June 1969 in the New York City. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when people in the homosexual community fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
• The May 1968 student and worker uprisings in France.
• Mass socialist or Communist movement in most European countries (particularly France and Italy), with which the student-based new left was able to forge a connection. The most spectacular manifestation of this was the May student revolt of 1968 in Paris that linked up with a general strike of ten million workers called by the trade unions; and for a few days seemed capable of overthrowing the government of Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle went off to visit French troops in Germany to check on their loyalty. Major concessions were won for trade union rights, higher minimum wages and better working conditions.
• University students protested in their hundreds of thousands in London, Paris, Berlin and Rome with the huge crowds that protested against the Vietnam War.
• In Eastern Europe students also drew inspiration from the protests in the West. In Poland and Yugoslavia they protested against restrictions on free speech by communist regimes.
• The Tlatelolco massacre – was a government massacre of student and civilian protesters and bystanders that took place during the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City.

Coups[link]

The most prominent coups d'état of the decade include:

• On April 21, 1967 in Greece a group of colonels established a military dictatorship for seven years.
• In 1968 a coup in Iraq led to the overthrow of Abdul Rahman Arif by the Arab Socialist Baath Party.
• On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by the army officer Muammar al-Gaddafi overthrows monarchy in Libya.

Nuclear threats[link]

Pictures of Soviet missile silos in Cuba, taken by United States spy planes on October 14, 1962.

• The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) – a near military confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union about the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. After an American Naval (quarantine) blockade of Cuba the Soviet Union under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove their missiles in exchange the US would remove its missiles from Turkey.
• On October 16, 1964 China detonated its first atomic bomb. China possessed a hydrogen bomb by 1967. President Johnson secretly considered a preemptive strike on China's nuclear facilities, but then dismissed the idea as too risky.^{[citation needed]}

Decolonization and independence[link]

• The transformation of Africa from colonialism to independence in what is known as the decolonisation of Africa dramatically accelerated during the decade, with 32 countries gaining independence between 1960 and 1968. Marking the end of the great European empires that once dominated the African continent, However The noble aspirations of these new nations quickly faded,^{[citation needed]} and many states descended into anarchy, kleptocracy, dictatorships, and/or civil war. The road to prosperity has been difficult: As of 2011^[update], by many measures Africa continues to possess the poorest population^[9] in the world as well as the lowest life expectancy.

Prominent political events[link]

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963

United States

• 1960 – United States presidential election, 1960 – The key turning point of the campaign was the series of four Kennedy–Nixon debates; they were the first presidential debates held on television.
• 1961 – Newly elected President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson take office in 1961; Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
• 1963 – Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. on August 28.
• 1963 – President Lyndon Johnson becomes president and presses for civil rights legislation.
• 1964 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson is elected in his own right, defeating United States Senator Barry Goldwater in November.
• 1964 – Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This landmark piece of legislation in the United States outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment.
• 1964 – Wilderness Act signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3.
• 1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey take office in January.
• 1965 – National Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States.
• 1968 – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon is elected defeating Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey in November.
• 1969 – U.S. President Richard Nixon is inaugurated in January 1969; promises "peace with honor" to end the Vietnam War.

Canada

• The Quiet Revolution in Quebec altered the province into a more secular society. The Jean Lesage Liberal government created a welfare state (État-Providence) and fomented the rise of active nationalism among Francophone Québécois.
• On February 15, 1965, the new maple leaf flag was adopted in Canada, after much acrimonious debate known as the Great Flag Debate.
• In 1960, the Canadian Bill of Rights becomes law, and Universal suffrage, the right for any Canadian citizen to vote, is finally adopted by John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservative government. The new election act allows first nations people to vote for the first time.

Europe

East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, November 20, 1961.

• Construction of the Berlin Wall started in 1961.
• British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan delivers his Wind of Change speech in 1960.
• Pope John XXIII calls the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church, continued by Pope Paul VI, which met from October 11, 1962, until December 8, 1965.
• In October 1964, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was expelled from office due to his increasingly erratic and authoritarian behavior. Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin then became the new leaders of the Soviet Union.
• In Czechoslovakia 1968 was the year of Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring, a source of inspiration to many Western leftists who admired Dubček's "socialism with a human face". The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August ended these hopes and also fatally damaged the chances of the orthodox communist parties drawing many recruits from the student protest movement.