1970. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History

The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.


1970

The feminist movement in Great Britain gained momentum in the 1970s. Serving as impetus for its organization were the anti-Vietnam campaigns, the campaign for nuclear disarmament, and, to some extent, the feminist movement in America. In 1970 the British national women's liberation movement held its first conference at Oxford. The participants called on the government to provide 24-hour-a-day child care, equal pay and equal education for women, and free contraception and abortion on demand. Although the women's movement suffered from a conflict between its radical and socialist factions, it succeeded during the decade in exerting pressure for the passage of a series of laws (beginning with the Equal Pay Act of 1970) designed to guarantee women's rights and to improve the conditions under which women lived, worked, and bore children.	1

June

Britain reapplied for membership in the Common Market.	2

June 18

DEFEAT OF THE LABOUR PARTY in general elections. The Conservatives won a majority of 30 in the House of Commons, and Edward Heath became prime minister, with Sir Alec Douglas-Home as foreign secretary.	3

June 26–28

Further violent outbreaks between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland resulted in the dispatch of more British forces. These disturbances frequently involved loss of life as well as widespread destruction of property.	4


The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.