Vintage Images Of 1950s Women's Fashion

1950s Historical Events

The 1950s witnessed a promising economic recovery for many nations across the world, following the aftermath of World War II, particularly for the United States. It is said that the economic recovery across Western Europe was partly driven by the so-called 'Marshall Plan', which was implemented by the United States President, Harry S. Truman, on 3 April 1948. The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program (ERP), was an American initiative (over $13.3 billion) to provide foreign aid to parts of Europe with the intention to kick-start rapid economic growth within those nations that had been left devastated and bankrupt after the Second World War. The 1950s were defined by several historical events, such as the Korean War, 1950-1953, the Vietnam War, 1955-1975, the Hungarian revolution in 1956, the Cuban revolution, 1953-1959, and the Suez Crisis, also known as the Arab–Israeli war, 29 Oct 1956 - 07 Nov 1956. These conflicts were a testament to mankind's eternal belligerence against one another, but on a brighter note, in the United States, the world witnessed the birth of Rock & Roll music, as well as the Civil Rights Movement. Importantly, after the Civil Rights Act became law in 1964, over the passage of time, it significantly impacted upon many other nations around the world.

1950s: The Korean War

The Empire of Japan invaded and captured Korea in 1910, where it ruled until the end of World War II in 1945, when Japan was finally defeated by the USA and its allies. After WW II, the USA and USSR arranged a meeting to discuss what to do about Korea. It was eventually decided that Korea would be divided into two regions of occupation, separated along the 38th Parallel north, which is a circle of latitude that extends around the entire map of the earth at 38 degrees, and which dissects Korea at the northern region of the earth's equatorial plane. It was this demarcation line that was used to form the official border between North and South Korea. As a temporary measure, it was agreed that the Soviet Union would administer military government control over North Korea, while the United States administered military government control over South Korea. However, following the May 1948 general election in South Korea, author and politician, Syngman Rhee, was elected as the first President of South Korea, and about two months later, on 15 August 1948, the first Democratic Republic of Korea (FDRK) was promulgated, following a transition of control from the USA military government. But it is important to mention that Syngman Rhee had not been democratically elected, and although he had rejected communism, Rhee had presided over an authoritarian government, which was riddled with corruption until the end of his term in office in 1960. Meanwhile, on 9 September 1948, North Korea was proclaimed a communist country. Kim II-Sung (the first dictator of North Korea) who was a former officer major in the Soviet Union army, was elected as the first communist President of North Korea, which became officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). There was no doubt that the two respective leaders of North and South Korea, Kim II-Sung, and Syngman Rhee had committed grave injustices during their premierships. Yet, the great ambition of each leader was to unite Korea as one nation and ultimately become the supreme sovereign ruler over the entire Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, the two ideologically opposing systems of governments were deemed irreconcilable, and the ensuing years were notoriously paved with hostilities and border skirmishes between the two nations, until eventually the outbreak of war occurred in 1950.

The Korean War began on 25 June 1950, when over 75,000 troops representing the People's Army of North Korea invaded South Korea. This event had marked the start of a bloody civil war between communist North Korea which was backed by the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, and the People's Republic of China, led by Mao Zedong, waging war against the South Koreans, who had rejected communism, and had been backed by the United States and its allies, led by Vice President Harry S. Truman. Although the Soviet Union contributed most of the military equipment and ammunition for the North Korean and Chinese armies, and also provided each with military training and strategic guidance, nevertheless, the USSR had refused categorically, to commit any Soviet troops on the ground, whereas, China committed Chinese troops in battle (People's Volunteer Army (PVA)) as well as military equipment, in support of North Korea. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies had provided military equipment, training, strategic assistance, and deployed US soldiers on the ground in support of the South Koreans. The North Koreans called the Korean War the 'Fatherland Liberation War'. Meanwhile, the South Koreans referred to that war as the '625 War', which reflected the date it had begun, 25 June 1950.

When the North Korean invasion occurred, it had caught the Americans off guard, the USA were extremely perturbed and unprepared for the attack on South Korea. The Americans had not imagined that North Korea would have undertaken such a bold incursion, even with the backing of the USSR. The USA was concerned that the Korean War was a far more serious confrontation than just two opposing dictatorships at war. The USA and its allies had considered the Soviet Union to be an existential threat to democracies across the globe, and as such, the Korean War was viewed by them as the beginning of a Soviet Union communist campaign with the ambition to achieve world domination. Moreover, it was feared that if the USA did nothing, the Korean War could escalate across the entire Asia-Pacific and eventually trigger World War III. The Korean War was said to be a complex bloody conflict, with victories and defeats on all sides. By 1953, the war had claimed a total of over 2.5 million people. North and South Korea remained locked in a stalemate situation, as neither side had been able to hold onto any newly gained territories. Then unexpectedly, Soviet President Joseph Stalin died on 5 March 1953, after he had suffered a stroke at the age of 74. Stalin was awarded a state funeral in Moscow on 9 March 1953. But Stalin's death had instigated a power struggle within the USSR, and the Kremlin became completely embroiled in its internal affairs, as a consequence, the Soviet regime ceased providing military support to China and North Korea, which was vital for both of those countries. In addition, the USSR had urged both North Korea and China to negotiate a peace treaty and end the war, even though peace talks had ensued since 1951. This momentous outcome proved to be a key factor in the decision by all warring nations to make a more concerted effort to find a definitive peace agreement, which finally occurred in July 1953.

On 27 July 1953, a meeting was organized by military commanders from the United States and representatives of the United Nations Command (UNC), the attendance also included North Korea, the People’s Republic of China, and South Korea. All parties discussed terms for a cessation of the Korean War, and following lengthy negotiations, the various representatives signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, which finally ended roughly three years of conflict between North and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The Korean Armistice Agreement was the longest negotiated armistice in history (158 meetings). It proved an extremely challenging and complicated agreement spanning two years from 1951 to 1953. This peace treaty was formally adopted in the UN General Assembly on 28 August 1953. However, this agreement was not considered to be the final solution to the crisis, as further peace talks took place in 1954, hosted in Geneva, Switzerland. Unfortunately, the negotiations that occurred there had produced no further improvements to the original Armistice Agreement. Therefore, to this day, North and South Korea remain separated under the agreement of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Meaning, the Korean Peninsula technically remains in a state of war with the United Nations in an ongoing commitment within that region to help maintain the peace between both nations, according to the terms of the Armistice Agreement. The Korean War was characterized as a proxy war, officially the first of such encounters, between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and this event had set the tone for the impending Cold War era.

1950s: The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was the second of the so-called Indochina Wars, and it began as a consequence of the first Indochina War that started in Vietnam (1946-1954). The French Vietnamese relations began during the early 17th century with the arrival of the Jesuit missionary Alexander De Rhodes, who was famous for being the first man from France to visit Vietnam. However, the epic struggle for the independence of Vietnam originated many generations ago in the mid-19th century, after stories began to emerge in France from abroad regarding the persecution of certain French missionaries by Vietnamese natives and as a consequence, in the year 1857, the last Emperor of France, who was Charles-Louis Napoleon III (the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte) ordered his French forces to invade Vietnam. However, according to historians, such reports were exaggerated missionary propaganda stories, since the French monarch and his council were already contemplating suitable excuses to invade and colonize Vietnam with the intention of creating another overseas marketplace to generate greater wealth for France. As a result, by the late 19th century, Imperial France won the war it began against Vietnam and seized sections of Mainland Southeast Asia. The term 'French Indochina' was a group of French colonial territories, which originally comprised Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

On 19 May 1941, a national independence coalition called the Viet Minh was founded by the Indochinese Communist Party, a national united front, which was on a mission to achieve independence of Vietnam from the occupying French colonial forces. The Viet Minh accumulated substantial support over a short time frame and increased their guerrilla tactics against the French occupiers. After World War II, the first Indochina War began in 1946, also known as the French Indochina War. The Viet Minh spearheaded the war against South Vietnam, and importantly Viet Minh had received great support and encouragement from communist China, which at that time was led by Mao Zedong, meanwhile, the Soviet Union was led by Joseph Stalin. The Indochina War lasted for eight years, a pivotal moment in the war occurred when the French forces (allied with a mixture of foreign armies) suffered a devastating defeat by the Viet Minh at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, between 13 March and 7 May, in 1954. After the collapse of French Indochina in 1954, a peace treaty was concluded at the Geneva Conference on 21 July 1954. And according to the terms of this Geneva Accord, France and the Viet Minh agreed to divide Vietnam into independent states. The Viet Minh and the other communist military forces regrouped, reorganized, and then established a new government in North Vietnam, and this region became known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Meanwhile, the military forces that had resisted communism settled in South Vietnam, later known as the Republic of Vietnam, and initially, South Vietnam was primarily supported and governed by the United States.

The Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communists) was hugely significant in the outcome of the Vietnam War. According to historians, the Viet Cong was a radical political organisation that was founded soon after the Geneva Accords (a peace treaty between North and South Vietnam) on 21 July 1954. As a result of the partition of North and South Vietnam in 1954, it is thought that some communist sympathizers of North Vietnam, plus some North Vietnamese soldiers who had fought during the first Indochina War, decided to remain within South Vietnam, while operating secretly as agents and subversives, but under the control and direction of the newly formed North Vietnam regime. Therefore, the Viet Cong (VC) were essentially Vietnamese supporters of the communist National Liberation Front, who were loyal to the North Vietnam regime and operated in conjunction with the North Vietnam Army (NVA), but the Viet Cong (VC) actually lived and conducted secret operations within South Vietnam. The mission of the Viet Cong (VC) was to increase their support within South Vietnam, while undertaking acts of espionage and sabotage against the South Vietnamese regime (official offices) to disrupt and frustrate its progress, and their principal objective was to overthrow the South Vietnamese government and unify the entire nation under the rule of communism. As the Vietnam War progressed, the VC gained much greater support, eventually becoming a major military force, employing acts of devastating guerrilla warfare against the USA and South Vietnamese forces. Moreover, the VC proved to be highly elusive and a difficult enemy for the USA and South Vietnamese forces to identify, as they easily assimilated within the South Vietnamese population, where they received some support and protection. Furthermore, the Viet Cong also developed extensive underground network tunnels (over 175 miles) across South Vietnam, from which they launched unexpected and highly effective military attacks against the South Vietnam and US forces.

The Vietnam War officially began on 1 November 1955, when the USA deployed a US Military Assistance Advisory Group (roughly 700 US military personnel) to train the South Vietnam forces, otherwise known as the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The Vietnam War was officially contested between North Vietnam (capital city Hanoi), whose leader was Ho Chi Minh, and South Vietnam (capital city Saigon), whose leader was Ngo Dinh Diem. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, and the People's Republic of China, led by Mao Zedong. Meanwhile, South Vietnam was supported by the USA, led by President Dwight Eisenhower, and America's allies. Before the Vietnam War, in 1955, there were increasing political insurrections occurring within certain regions of South Vietnam, which were instigated by radical communist activist groups, whose ambition was to bring down the South Vietnamese regime. In response to this threat, the South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, ordered his army to organize an offensive against the communist political organizers, propagandists, and conspirators, who were mostly based within the rural regions of South Vietnam. As a result of this military offensive, there were imprisonments of thousands of dissidents. Nevertheless, the revolts and guerrilla attacks on South Vietnam municipal buildings continued to escalate. As the situation began to spiral dangerously out of control, the USA decided to intervene by sending about 700 military personnel into South Vietnam on 1 November 1955, intending to train and assist the South Vietnamese forces, this event marked the official start of the Vietnam War. It is also important to mention that about a year earlier, on 8 September 1954, within the capital city Manila, in the Philippines. America, New Zealand, Australia, France, Thailand, Pakistan, Britain, and the Philippines had signed the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The purpose of this agreement was to create a regional military collective defence alliance, with a commitment to prevent communism from infiltrating across Mainland Southeast Asia.

The First Indochina War was primarily about France fighting to hold onto French colonial territories within Mainland Southeast Asia against the opposing military liberation forces of Vietnam. In contrast, the Second Indochina War, also known as the Vietnam War, was twofold in that it consisted of the two opposing authoritarian Vietnamese leaders vying against the other to be victorious in the right to unify Vietnam under one sovereignty, but also, this conflict had simultaneously instigated a proxy war between the Soviet Union and the United States, resulting in both nations attempting to prevent the other one from gaining political and military dominance over the Asia-Pacific, by means of propagating their political philosophies, communism and capitalism, respectively. The bloody War of attrition in Vietnam lasted two decades, and due to the rising fatalities of American military servicemen and the great financial costs incurred by the US, there was intense political pressure put upon the US Congress to end the war. As a result, America was eventually forced to find a peaceful solution to end the war, which occurred by way of the Paris Peace Accords on 27 January 1973. The lengthy negotiations involved the USA and the North and South Vietnamese governments. Importantly, for America, this peace treaty resulted in the release of hundreds of American prisoners, who were previously held captive by the North Vietnamese forces. Following the agreement, then US President Richard Nixon ordered the immediate withdrawal of all US military units from Vietnam. However, ongoing contention between North and South Vietnam eventually led to the total breakdown of the peace treaty and as a result, in 1975, North Vietnam launched a major invasion into South Vietnam which concluded in the capture of Saigon (capital of South Vietnam) on 30 April 1975, that victory eventually led to the unification of the entire nation of Vietnam under communism, and this was the event that finally officially ended the Vietnam War.

The 1950s: The Civil Rights Movement

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) was established in New York City, USA, and it is known to be America's oldest and largest civil rights organization. The NAACP was founded by White and Black American activists, including W.E.B. Dubois (born 1868 - died 1963), Mary White Ovington (born 1865 - died 1951), Moorfield Storey (born 1845 - died 1929), and Ida B. Wells (born 1862 - died 1931). The aim of the NAACP was to combat the ongoing persecution and oppression of Black Americans in the United States. But also, to ascertain justice for African Americans within the US courts, and to provide them with more education and employment rights. Six years later, in 1915, a group of pacifist activists founded the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), which became an influential organization for the promotion of nonviolence and peaceful protests in human affairs. In 1942, certain members of the (FOR) joined forces with other individuals to establish the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), specifically to oppose racial segregation through nonviolent protests. In addition, during the 1940s, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and President Harry Truman initiated civil rights agendas and issued executive orders to combat racial segregation and discrimination within the United States against Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Indian Americans, but particularly, African Americans. Although collectively these commendable institutions and political endeavours were said to be the foundation of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, nevertheless, most historians agree that the birth of the modern Civil Rights Movement within the United States of America first came to prominence during the mid-1950s.

During the mid-late 1950s, the American Civil Rights Movement gained considerable momentum, following a historic case that actually originated in 1951. This case related to an African American man called Oliver Brown, who had filed a lawsuit against a local public school in Topeka, Kansas, USA. This story began in 1950 when Oliver Brown attempted to enrol his young daughter into a children's school which was situated close to his home. However, because that school was exclusively for white pupils, Oliver Brown's young daughter was refused admittance on the grounds of a USA racial segregation law. This decision meant that Brown's seven-year-old daughter was forced to travel by bus to a segregated school for black pupils that was situated about a mile away from their home. Brown's lawsuit eventually ended up in the US Supreme Court along with several other similar plaintiff cases from across the United States, all of which were eventually looked at collectively by the US Supreme Court in 1952. Oliver Brown's case was treated as the lead case, and on 17 May 1954, a landmark decision was made by the US Supreme Court in the case of 'Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka' in Kansas, when the judges concluded that the established United States laws of separate public schools based on different races were unconstitutional. This case proved to be a major breakthrough in the fight to win equal rights for African Americans in the US judicial system, and it remains a historic event in legal history and civil rights history.

On 1 December 1955, African American Rosa Parks, a seamstress by profession, boarded a public bus which was on route through Montgomery, Alabama. After Parks had paid the standard fare and took a seat on the bus, suddenly, she was approached by the bus driver, James Blake, who stated that under US segregation law, she must vacate her seat for a white passenger, but Parks expressed outrage and categorically refused the demand. Unfortunately, her defiance eventually led to her arrest later that same day. However, after the national news broke across America the following day, Parks was pleasantly surprised when Edgar Nixon, the President of the NAACP, arrived to rescue her from prison by paying a bail bond of 100 dollars. This event later instigated a major protest with a view to boycott the public bus transport services across Montgomery, which began on 5 December 1955. This protest was led by the young 26-year-old pastor Martin Luther King Jr, and in the ensuing months, reportedly, many of the African American protestors who had taken part were faced with death threats, arrests, beatings at the hands of some police officers, and in some cases, termination of their employment. Nevertheless, between 30,000 - 40, 000 African Americans had joined in the peaceful boycott, which proved to be so successful that it continued for over a year. Many African Americans preferred to suffer the inconvenience of walking, cycling, and car-pooling to work, which deprived the bus companies in Montgomery of substantial revenue. Finally, a historic decision was made on 20 December 1956, when the US Supreme Court ruled that segregated seating was unconstitutional and that race-based reserved seating would be abolished in Montgomery. This was the first city in the history of America that this law had been passed. Against all the odds, in the face of adversity and despair, through determination and a dignified defiance, a persecuted people who had been denied basic human rights and civil rights over many generations, seized a rare but meaningful victory that heralded a brighter future for themselves and their future descendants. In that defining moment when Rosa Parks spontaneously demonstrated the courage of her convictions by deciding to face the inevitable consequences of her actions, some Americans, black and white, had admired her as a heroine. Moreover, thereafter, she became known as 'the mother of the Civil Rights Movement'. Meanwhile, the spotlight had shone most luminously upon the young shoulders of Baptist minister Dr. Martin Luther King, as from that moment, he had been glorified and perceived as the new face of the Civil Rights Movement. More importantly, Martin Luther King's lifetime achievements had eventually earned him a privileged place in history.

The so-called Big Six of the Civil Rights Movement were African Americans, Martin Luther King Jr, Philip Randolph, Whitney Young, James Farmer, John Lewis, and Roy Wilkins. However, there were also various support provided to the movement by several rich white philanthropists. Arguably, one of the most famous events of the civil rights movement happened on 28 August 1963, which was officially called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, where the event occurred, there were a reported estimated 250,000 Americans who had gathered in solidarity, and it was estimated that 190, 000 were black, while about 60,000 were white, and many of those protestors were highly motivated and resolute in their support for Civil Rights. At the highly publicised event, there were more than 3,000 members of the press, who had arrived to observe and create reports on the proceedings as an array of important orators took to the stage, Martin Luther King was last to speak at the event, where he had delivered his famous uplifting speech 'I have a dream' which became arguably one of the most enduring orations in history. The march was said to be a resounding success, and remarkably, there were no incidents of violence reported by the police. The protest called for equal rights and equal opportunities within the job sector for all US citizens, irrespective of race, and advocated the Equal Rights Act, which at that particular moment was pending, but the American Congress had not yet written it into law.

The 1950s: The Hungarian Revolution

The Warsaw Pact (14 May 1955 - 1 July 1991), also known as the Warsaw Treaty Organisation (WTO), was the brainchild of former Soviet Union premiers, Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolay Alexandrovich Bulganin, in May 1955. The Warsaw Pact was a collective defence treaty that was signed in Warsaw (capital city of Poland) between the Soviet Union and several Eastern Bloc socialist republics of central and Eastern Europe. Originally, the Warsaw Pact (WTO) was composed of the Soviet Union and seven so-called satellite states, namely, Albania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, and Hungary. It is believed that the WTO was established by the Soviet Union to counter the threat that was posed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which was headed by the USA. Also, it is controversially argued that the USSR created the WTO to exert even greater control and influence over those satellite nations which were once within its remit. The term satellite nation was first used to describe independent nations that were under the political, economic, and military dominance of the USSR during the Cold War era. This term is commonly used to describe the years spanning 1947 - 1989.

After Hungary was defeated at the end of World War II, it was invaded and presided over by the triumphant Soviet Union forces in 1945. Subsequently, amid the turmoil of post-war Hungary, a national election was allowed to take place, albeit under the watchful eye of the Soviet-allied forces. The conclusion of which was an overwhelming victory for the Independent Smallholders Party (ISP), on 4 November 1945, and the ISP advocated a parliamentary style democracy. However, by 1948, it is said that the Soviet communists had infiltrated and taken complete control over the Hungarian government and the Hungarian secret police force, also known as the State Protection Authority (1945-1956). The State Protection Authority (Hungarian Államvédelmi Hatóság, AVH) became notorious as the external branch of the Russian KGB, and it exerted aggressive authority by creating a climate of fear and intimidation, as it proceeded to arrest anyone who dared to speak out against communism and subjugated any political parties that had opposed communism. It is said that Hungarians were forced to learn and speak the Russian language, and many Hungarian street signs were replaced with Russian versions. In addition, Soviet troops were stationed in Hungary, to the chagrin of the Hungarian citizens. Meanwhile, the Hungarian leader, Matyas Rakosi, who was known to be a hard-line communist supporter of the Moscow regime, became increasingly unpopular amongst the Hungary people. Matters were made worse when the Hungarian population began experiencing poor living standards due to inadequate economic development under the Soviet political structure.

After years of simmering resentment and rising tensions across Hungary, in June 1956, the Hungarian people began to protest vehemently against Matyas Rakosi’s government, and due to the continued unrest, Rakosi was eventually sacked by the Soviet Union (USSR) and replaced by Erno Gero as the new Prime Minister of Hungary. However, Erno Gero held a very similar political stance to his predecessor, and as a consequence, he proved to be just as unpopular across Hungary. As the troublesome demonstrations persisted in parts of Hungary, the Kremlin government became fearful of a revolution in Hungary, and after serious contemplation, reluctantly, the Soviet Union agreed to allow the formation of a new government under Imre Nagy, who was known to be a more liberal politician and much more agreeable to the Hungarian population. However, following Imre Nagy's inauguration, the Soviet government was outraged after learning of his proposed reforms, some of which advocated free Hungarian elections, an impartial legal system, a withdrawal of Soviet Union soldiers from Hungary, the right of privately owned land in Hungary, and the outlaw of state-owned Hungarian land by the Soviet Union, in addition, Imre Nagy advocated that Hungary leave the Warsaw Pact and declare a state of neutrality. The Soviet Union was determined to stop Imre Nagy's political reforms, as it did not wish to relinquish control of Hungary. Moreover, the USSR was worried that other satellite states would follow suit. Consequently, the Soviet Union's rebuttal evoked even more rebellious actions from the Hungarian protesters, especially students and intellectuals.

The Hungarian revolution began on 23 October 1956 in the capital, Budapest. Thousands of disgruntled Hungarian protesters, including many students and intellectuals, converged around the Hungarian Parliament. As news quickly circulated around the city, thousands more rebellious civilians joined in the revolt against the Soviet Union's geopolitical domination of the Hungarian Parliament, which at that time was the elected governing party called the Hungarian People's Republic. During the revolt, a delegation of students brazenly entered the building of a well-known national broadcasting service called Magya Radio station. The students had intended to broadcast sixteen demands for political and economic reforms to be put forward for legislation. However, after entering the building, those students were detained by the security forces. Meanwhile, a sea of seething protestors had gathered outside the radio station, while angrily chanting demands for the immediate release of the students who were held captive within the building. Subsequently, a stand-off situation ensued, leading to escalated tensions and increasing physical confrontations between the protestors and the security forces. The highly charged situation culminated in the police force discharging live ammunition into the crowd of frenzied protestors, which tragically resulted in the death of several people. Shocked by the brutal slaughter of their compatriots, thousands of enraged revolutionaries immediately responded by going on the rampage, acquiring weapons and organising themselves into small fighting units. The militias then went on a vengeance spree by capturing and killing hundreds of the enemy police officers and Soviet Union troops. When the alarming news reached Moscow, the Kremlin responded defiantly by ordering the Soviet army to cross into Hungary and ruthlessly crush the rebellion. By 4 November 1956, the overwhelming forces of the soviet army had largely quelled the revolutionaries, and any remaining remnants were ruthlessly pursued and defeated by 10 November 1956. In the aftermath of the bloody battle, it was reported that about 3,000 Hungarians were killed or wounded, and about 700 Soviet Union troops died in the conflict. Meanwhile, over the ensuing weeks, nearly a quarter of a million Hungarian refugees escaped from their homeland by seeking asylum in other nations.

The 1950s: The Birth Of Rock & Roll

Rock and Roll is derived from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and blues, ragtime, boogie-woogie, electric blues, gospel, jump blues, as well as country music. The rich and diverse musical heritage of African Americans can be traced back to the slavery era of their great ancestors in the Deep Southern states of America, namely, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi. Historians are in some disagreement as to precisely when the Rock & Roll music phenomenon began to take shape, however, it is widely accepted that this music genre had begun well before the 1950s. The mid-1950s witnessed the immense popularization of Rock & Roll across America, with its fusions of Rhythm and Blues and Rockabilly, it became the new dominant dance music craze, especially for young Americans. This new and exciting music genre quickly grew to overtake the once well-listened to crooner voices of the previous decades in America. During the early 1950s, American disc jockeys such as William Trousdale Allen of WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee, Dewey Phillips of Memphis, Tennessee, and Alan Freed of Cleveland, Ohio, had regularly played rhythm & blues, Jazz, gospel and other African-American music sounds on their radio shows which had served to introduce those revolutionary music genres to the white suburban teenagers of America. In the year 1951, Alan Freed named his rhythm and blues radio show 'Moondog's Rock and Roll Party', and as a consequence, the phrase Rock & Roll became popularized by him.

Many of the early well-known African American songwriters and performing artists, such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino, were some of the great pioneers of Rock & Roll music, and over time they have become known as the Fab Four Fathers of Rock & Roll, on account of their immense contribution over the early years of this genre. American Bill Haley and the Comets achieved their first Rock & Roll hit song 'Rock Around the Clock' in 1954. Meanwhile, Elvis Presley was a Mississippi-born American vocal artist who spectacularly made his entrance on the world stage in the United States with his first great breakthrough single 'Heartbreak Hotel' in 1956. Elvis Presley was arguably the first white American song vocalist in history to take what was essentially a black culture music genre and successfully present it to an insatiable mass audience of white Americans. Moreover, 1956 had proved to be a magical year for Elvis Presley's music career, after reaching another milestone, by achieving 4 number one singles and two number one albums, including 'Don't Be Cruel', 'Blue Suede Shoes', and 'Hound Dog', a string of achievements uncontested by any other music artist during 1956, but remarkably, in the same year, Elvis also starred in his first hit movie 'Love Me Tender'. It is said that Elvis's inimitable style, charisma, and energetic performances had captured the imagination of millions in the United States and across the world during that decade, and over time, he became widely considered to be the undisputed King of Rock & Roll, even though, it is well-known that Elvis Presley did not write any of his successful songs during his illustrious career.

Due to several factors, there was an atmosphere of increasing optimism that had permeated the United States in the 1950s. After the Second World War, there was an unprecedented increase in birth rates, or the so-called baby boom phenomenon, which had continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the US economy was positively booming during the 1950s, and due to the various burgeoning industries across the USA, there was a high increase in employment and wages, plus millions of workers were permitted more lesiure time, and many Americans had a much greater disposable income, and in particular, millions of Americans began purchasing large quantities of different consumer goods that were readily available on account of new technological developments. This decade was regarded as the golden era of television, advertising, radio, and record production. The timely arrival of Rock & Roll music had hugely benefited from and served to enrich the so-called Golden Age of Capitalism. The introduction of Rock & Roll music in the 1950s could arguably be regarded as synonymous with the character traits of many young contemporary Americans, who had been perceived as free-spirited, rebellious, adventurous, and unconventional. On the positive side, Rock & Roll music served to increase racial harmony between different races, classes, and religions. But on the other hand, many of the older generations and particularly members of the clergy had argued that Rock & Roll music had caused the nation's social ills and increased youthful rebellion and moral decline. Nonetheless, music being the universal language of this world, unquestionably, Rock & Roll music had made a significant impact on American society, and the rest of the world, in a variety of different ways that were mostly regarded as positive. Rock & Roll had proved to be the inspiration for important social and cultural changes within modern societies. Once upon a time, Rock & Roll music struck America like a thunderbolt, and those new and exciting sounds had rocked America continuously throughout the 1950s, but as Rock & Roll evolved and diversified, over the passage of time, eventually, Rock & Roll music began rocking all over the world.

1950s Women's Fashion

In the 1950s, men's and women's fashion was hugely influenced by teenagers for the first time in modern history. The fashion industry witnessed a boom in teenage attire, particularly in the USA, which was partly due to television, magazines, and innovative music genres, such as Rhythm and Blues and Rock-and-Roll. Bill Haley and the Comets were the musical group that coined the term 'teenager' in February 1957. The so-called generation gap had begun to emerge in the 1950s, and this phenomenon culminated spectacularly during the 1960s. The 195os fashion was driven by rich countries such as France and America, and during this era more women began to indulge in greater self-expression by way of their personal attire, namely, slim-waist voluminous dresses, tight blouses and sweaters, dirndl dresses, loose-fitted Jeans, circle skirts and long pencil skirts, elegant evening gowns, stylish hats and gloves, and a wide variety of self-enhancing jewellery.