called for shorter skirts and hairstyles and behavior that allowed freer self-expression.
The movie industry was not only an outlet for artistic expression but also a new source of family
entertainment. Modern painters such as Pablo Picasso combined geometric figures with non-Western
art styles, particularly African, to create a new style called cubism . Modern architecture featured the
use of concrete and broad expanses of glass.
At the same time, postwar Western society was characterized by a general feeling of skepticism.
The devastation brought by the century’s first global war was heightened by the despair of the Great
Depression. Working classes and middle classes faced the prospect of unemployment or reduced
salaries. In Japan, the depression increased suspicions of the Western way of life. Western states
provided old age and medical insurance that eventually led to the institution of the welfare state . In
the United States, the New Deal took government spending to new heights in an attempt to resolve the
economic stagnation of the depression and provide for social security programs. Western European
governments began to provide assistance to families with several children.
Post–World War II Western Society
After World War II, more women entered the workforce. Divorce was made more accessible, and
effective birth control more conveniently available with the introduction of the birth control pill.
Many European countries provided day care centers for working mothers. In the United States, the
National Organization for Women (NOW) , founded in 1966, campaigned for women’s rights. The
role of the church in family life declined as church attendance fell, especially in Europe.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States experienced a civil rights movement that ended
segregation of African Americans and increased voting rights. Student protests against U.S.
involvement in the Vietnam War swept university campuses in the 1960s and early 1970s.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some Westerners began to question the concept of the welfare state. Both
Great Britain and the United States elected leaders who adopted more conservative approaches toward
government spending. Welfare programs were decreased under the leadership of Britain’s Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Western European economic growth
soared during the 1980s, producing a marked increase in consumer goods. Educational opportunities
broadened throughout the world.
Society in the Soviet Union
Soviet leaders also built a system of welfare services, including protection for the sick and the aged.
Soviet schools taught that religion was a myth. Western styles of art were denounced as decadent.
By the 1950s, the Soviet Union and most Eastern European nations were industrialized. Unlike the
Western world, factories in the Communist bloc favored the production of heavy goods over
consumer goods. As industrialism spread through Eastern Europe, more families engaged in sports
activities and movie and television viewing. By the 1960s, cultural exchanges with the West gave
Soviet citizens some contact with Western media and ways of life. An emphasis on sports programs
made Soviet athletes intense competitors in the Olympic games.
Japan
In the 1920s, Japan also experienced a rise in mass consumerism. The film industry became popular,
and secondary education reached greater numbers of students. After World War II, the new U.S.-