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Let's take a closer look at some of the world events that took place during our prime years of having fun in high school. Note that the years 1970 through 1974 were the turnaround periods and one of the most crucial and important years in the history according to many historians.
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Did you all know that our high school years 1970 through 1974 have been considered as the years of turnaround in history and breakthrough in the world’s technology? To prove these assertions by some historians, let’s begin in Gdansk, Poland. In 1970, the rise of the Solidarity Movement which was a labor union movement led by Lech Walesa toppled the regime of Poland’s president Wojciech Jaruzelski and the eventual downfall of communism in Poland. This event in history was one of the most dramatic in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It was the starting point in the sequence of events that made the rest of Eastern European countries including the USSR’s communist government to collapse in 1989. This was a huge turnaround in history that began in 1970.
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In 1972, President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's visit to the People’s Republic of China ended this communist country's long years of isolation from the free world and prompted to join the world communities. After the visit, several countries established trade relations also which prompted Deng Hsiao Ping in 1979 to implement an open door policy. And in 1999, in order to show hegemony in Asia, China became a member of the World Trade Organizations. China is now the second largest economy in the world and posing to become the number one within the next three years. This is a big turnaround to China and to the trading world which began in 1972.
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Gen. Park Chung Hee
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The early 1970’s also proved to be pivotal to the economic upheaval of South Korea. Beset by rampant corruptions, massive unemployment, and large scale riots in the 1960’s, General Park Chung Hee took over the government from Pres. Syngman Rhee by a military coup and then declared “martial law” in 1961 in order to save his country from falling down to its knees and of course to tighten his grip in power. Despite his repressive rule, South Korea’s economy began to flourish rapidly in the early 1970’s by building road & bridges and turning to the large corporations to control the industry. But during the time of continued transformation, General Park Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979 and General Chun Doo-hwan succeeded him in power. In order to wiped out corruption completely and to prevent demonstrators from disrupting the economic transformations began by his predecessor, General Chun also placed the entire country under “martial law”. By 1980’s the Korean economy continued to prosper and the country climbed out of poverty and by 1990’s the country had undergone an economic miracle and was transformed from an impoverished underdeveloped country into a thriving and affluent society. Today, South Korea is one of the richest and highly technological countries in the world. This was an impressive economic turnaround for South Korea that began in the early 1970’s.
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In the Philippines, claiming that an impending communist rebellion and anarchy were about to come, former President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, thereby suspending the 1935 constitution, dissolving Congress, and assuming total and absolute power. Upon placing the entire country under martial law, our high school days were interrupted by the suspension of classes at all levels for approximately three months. Remember, our intramural games during our third year high school days were about ready to commence but hampered by this Proclamation No. 1081? This martial law event that happened in 1972 although criticized by many as not able to eradicate the political and economic problems unlike the martial law in South Korea, at least, prevented the overturning of the Philippine government to the communist insurgents.
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Unknown to many of us, in 1973 the Soviet Union and China although both communists but differ in ideologies, came close to an armed confrontation. Disenchantments between these two giant countries can be traced back in the 60’s when Chairman Mao began to suspect USSR's presence of massive Soviet troops in Manchuria and Sinkiang which border China in the northern regions and also Soviet troops’ presence in North Vietnam near the border of Southern China. These incursions by USSR prompted China to protest as being encircled by the imperialistic Soviet Union. Persistent warnings by the U.S. prevented these crises from escalating into a large military confrontation. This was a big turnaround in history which almost happened in 1973. We probably did not graduate high school in the year 1974 if these two countries have pushed the buttons.
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Shifting gears into the world of music, as the Beatles and Elvis Presley’s dominance began to wane in the late 1960’s, the development of new and unique kinds of music thus began in the early 1970’s. At first people were adamant in accepting these new sounds due to their rebellious and anti-war messages mainly because of the war in Vietnam, the Civil Rights, and the Women’s Liberation Movements which began in the mid-60’s. But by the beginning of the 1970’s, a wider acceptance by the public was evident and were mainstreamed into American life and culture.
Among these sounds were the Blues Rock of Eric Clapton; the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal of Led Zepellin, Deep Purple, and Aerosmith; the Psychedelic Rock music of Pink Floyd; the Soft Rock sounds of Fleetwood Mac and Chicago; the Reggae sounds of Bob Marley; the Country music of Willie Nelson and John Denver; the Punk Rock music of Patti Smith and Velvet Underground; the Folk songs of Jim Croce and James Taylor, and of course the Disco Sounds of the KC & the Sunshine Band, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Bee Gees, Village People, The Three Degrees, ABBA, Chic, Tavares, Hues Corporation, The Emotions, Ritchie Family, Silver Convention, Voyage, Earth Wind & Fire, and many more. Just right after the breaking up of the Beatles in 1970 several musical artists were also formed such as Alice Cooper, Eagles, Stylistics, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Elton John, Rod Stewart, The Who, Three Dog Night, Carpenters, Spinners, George McCrae, and many others. All these musicians together resulted into the explosion of musical artists and wide varieties in choice of sounds which made the 1970's as the turnaround years and the best decade in the history of music.
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The years 1970 thru 1974 had contributed enormously to the breakthrough in science and technology in the 1990's. In 1971, Intel released the first world microprocessor which led to the eventual development of Pentium technology. In 1972, the first scientific hand-held calculator HP-35 and the cellular telephone were first introduced in New York. Also, the 70's had a powerful impact on the course of the 2oth century. The 70's drastically changed our culture, the way we dressed, danced, and the way we are today. At some point in time in the early 70's a line was drawn to separate the old fashion and modern ways trend such as bell bottom jeans, mini skirts, and platform shoes.
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Listed below are some other world events during our high school years that have impacted the world enormously. Remember our Current Events Digest or CED back then?
1970
- The breaking up of the Beatles
- Lon Nol ousts Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia
- Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister of UK.
- Pope Paul VI visits the Philippines and was almost killed
by a Bolivian who disguises as a priest.
1971
- Idi Amin becomes president of Uganda.
- Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria
- Jean-Claude Duvalier becomes president for life in Haiti.
- Ferdinand Marcos suspends the privilege of the writ of
"habeas corpus" in the Philippines, orders the arrest of
hundreds of anti-Marcos without questions and without arrest
orders from the court.
1972
- The movie "The Godfather" wins Oscars Award.
- Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary General of the United Nations.
- Juan Peron becomes president of Argentina.
- The terrorists "Black September" kill 11 Israeli athletes at the Olympic
Games in Munich, Germany.
- In the Philippines, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation No.
1081 placing the entire country under "Martial Law".
- Soviet Union and U.S. sign SALT-I arms control agrrement to mark
the start of detente.
1973
- Supreme Court of the U.S. rules on Roe vs. Wade.
- Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
- Henry Kissinger becomes U.S. Secretary of State.
- Spiro T. Agnew resigns as Vice President amid charges of tax
evasion.
- Gerald Ford becomes Vice President of the United States.
- Watergate Scandal breaks up in the news media.
1974
- Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister of UK.
- Golda Meir resigns as Prime Minister of Israel.
- Isabel Peron becomes interim president of Argentina.
- Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to resign in order to
avoid impeachment charges filed by the House of Representatives.
- Vice President Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president of the US.
- Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run beating Babe Ruth's record.
- On March 15, 1974 - 439 high school students graduated from
Republic Central Colleges Angeles City, Philippines.
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