Twentith-century british history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Twentith-century british history - Essay Example In addition, Great Britain saw its popular culture change a great deal, as musical acts like the Beatles helped to share the British culture with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, it is this popular culture movement that makes it very difficult to distinguish between American culture and British culture during this time period. In fact, even though this pop culture movement is sometimes referred to as the British Invasion, it could also be seen as the Americanization of British culture. Overall, the 1960s should be remembered as a time that brought about great political change in Great Britain because the people began to see that left wing political ideologies were not necessarily associated with communism and a time where the people began to stand up against the establishment for the greater good of democracy. In 1964, the Labour Party took power in Great Britain, which is significant because it was the first time a leftist government had power in the country. This was a significant change in the political culture of Great Britain because up until this point, the country had been exclusively left wing. As the United States carried on the Cold War with the Soviet Union, all of the United States’ allies were forced to exclude these left of centre ideologies from their political spectrums. Electing the Labour Party was significant because it showed that Great Britain was evolving as a country and was open to new ideologies. It is also symbolic of the country’s more liberal stance on things like drug use, sex, and rock and roll, especially among the younger members of society. It also finalized the country’s desire to get away from its imperial past, as the Labour Party was decidedly anti-Imperialist. During this time period, the number of British citizens living in other countries declined significantly and this was the time period when the British empire finally came to an official end. This was