The tension that had been brewing between the United States and the Soviet Union following the end of the Second World War exploded into armed conflict in Korea. This was the first direct military conflict of the "Cold War" between the USA and the Soviet Union which dominated this decade. We also witnessed the start of a nationalist conflict in French Indo-China which later became the Vietnam War. As the decade began, both sides had atomic bombs. The world now had to live with the threat of a devastating nuclear war. Responding to this threat, both sides engaged in an arms race which they hoped would act as a deterrent. The Soviet Union also formed the Warsaw Pact of communist countries to oppose the NATO alliance led by the USA. Then in 1956 Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian uprising. The decade ended with Fidel Castro leading his revolutionaries to victory in Cuba. International tension, however, was balanced by the growth of a "comfortable" life style. After 1955, people in the West enjoyed high wages, large cars and many new appliances. Inventions familiar in the modern world, like washing machines and vacuum cleaners, made their first appearance in this decade.

UN Troops in Korea	French defeated at Dien Bien Phu
Product of the Arms Race	Coronation of a Queen
Fidel Castro victorious in Cuba	Variety of new home appliances

The 50s in Australia witnessed an intensification of anti-communist feeling which shaped Australia and her politics. Although the Japanese had been defeated, an invasion from the north was still feared - India had won its independence from Britain, Indonesia was no longer under Dutch control, the French were being forced out of Indo-China and China now had a communist government. All these events seemed to threaten Australia, and fears were heightened when war broke out in Korea. Once again Australian forces were sent abroad as part of the United Nations army fighting to defend democracy in Korea. Politically, this era belonged to Menzies. For 16 years he excluded the Labor Party from power by claiming that they were associated with the communists. This decade also saw the coronation of a new Queen in Britain, migrants working on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, Melbourne hosting the Olympics and nuclear tests conducted at Maralinga.

Australian forces going to Korea	Menzies in London
Television comes to Australia	Johnny O'Keefe on stage
Migrants work on Snowy Scheme	Ron Clarke lights the Olympic Flame

To visit the School Archives for this decade,
simply CLICK on any one of the YEAR PLAQUES listed below.