The world: 1970s
1970–1979
View on the mapEvents in this period 12
1978 · China · Economy
Reform and opening up
Reform and opening-up, also known as the Chinese economic reform or Chinese Economic Miracle or Chinese Growth Miracle, refers to a variety of economic reforms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) that began in the late 20th century, after Mao Zedong's death in 1976.
1973 · Middle East · War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, the fourth Arab–Israeli War, the October War, or the Ramadan War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. Most of the fighting occurred in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, territories occupied by Israel in 1967. Some combat also took place in mainland Egypt and northern Israel.
1973 · Middle East · Economy
1973 oil crisis
In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Egypt and Syria launched a large-scale surprise attack in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the territories that they had lost to Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
1973 · South America · Politics
1973 Chilean coup d'état
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a military overthrow of the socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who was the first Marxist to be democratically elected president in a Latin American liberal democracy, faced significant social unrest and political tension with the opposition-controlled National Congress of Chile. On 11 September 1973, a group of military officers, led by General Augusto Pinochet, seized power in a coup, ending civilian rule.
1975 · Southeast Asia · War
Fall of Saigon
Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was captured by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. This caused the evacuation of thousands of civilians and U.S. personnel, and ended the Vietnam War. The aftermath ushered in a transition period under the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam until the formal reunification in 1976.
1975 – 1979 · Southeast Asia · Politics
Cambodian genocide
The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge under the general secretaryship of Pol Pot. It resulted in the deaths of approximately 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, around 25% of Cambodia's population in 1975.
1978 – 1979 · Middle East · Politics
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution, culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Imperial State of Iran by the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the monarchical government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was superseded by Ruhollah Khomeini, an Islamist cleric who had headed one of the rebel factions, and became the country’s supreme leader.The ousting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, formally marked the end of Iran's historical monarchy.
1979 – 1989 · India · War
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 47-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Communist-led Afghan military fight against the rebelling Afghan mujahideen. While backed by various countries and organizations, the majority of the mujahideen's external support came from Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Iran, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, in addition to a large influx of foreign fighters known as the Afghan Arabs. American and British involvement on the side of the mujahideen escalated the Cold War, ending a short period of relaxed Soviet Union–United States relations.
1971 · India · War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War, also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh with the help of India. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against East Pakistanis on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.
1974 · Europe · Politics
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution, code-named Operation Historic Turn, also known as the 25 April, and Portuguese Revolution was a military coup in Portugal by officers that on 25 April 1974 overthrew Marcelo Caetano and the Estado Novo regime established by António de Oliveira Salazar. The coup came in the midst of the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974) in its overseas colonies and produced major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Portugal and in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and other former Portuguese colonies through the Ongoing Revolutionary Process. It resulted in the Portuguese transition to democracy and an end to the Portuguese Colonial War. It also had worldwide repercussions by marking the beginning of the third wave of democracy.
1974 · India · Science
Smiling Buddha
Smiling Buddha was the code name of India's first successful nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974. The nuclear fission bomb was detonated in the Pokhran Test Range of the Indian Army in Rajasthan. As per the United States military intelligence, the operation was named as Happy Krishna. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described the test as a peaceful nuclear explosion.
1973 · Oceania · Culture
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings, and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.
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Still under way
Around the same time
- Apollo 11 Moon landing1969
- Indonesian mass killings of 1965–661965 – 1966
- Six-Day War1967
- Prague Spring1968
- ARPANET1969
- Iran–Iraq War1980 – 1988
- India–Pakistan war of 19651965
- Proclamation of Singapore1965
- ASEAN Declaration1967
- Green Revolution in India1968
- Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons1968
- Gwangju Uprising1980
Other maps for this period
- War mapsVietnam War
- War mapsNigerian Civil War
- War mapsIndia–Pakistan war of 1971
- War mapsYom Kippur War
- War mapsSino-Vietnamese War
- War mapsSoviet–Afghan War
- Inventions mapIntel 4004
- Inventions mapMobile phone