“The Queen” is dead.
Elizabeth II passed away on Thursday, after 96 years of life, including 70 on the throne of the British monarchy.
Back in 1952, when she took office, at a time when the world had little to do with today.
International: beginning of the cold war
The year 1952 was marked by several conflicts in Asia, including the Korean War and that of Indochina.
Seven years after the end of the Second World War, Americans and Soviets clash interposedly in Korea.
At that time, the North Korean dictatorship was ruled by Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current supreme leader Kim Jong Un. France, for its part, was fighting the independentist and paramilitary political organization Việt Minh on the continent.
In 1952, the British colonial Empire still includes many countries outside the United Kingdom, especially in East Africa.
But the process of decolonization, which has just restored its independence to India and Pakistan in particular, has begun.
In France, the French Union brought together in 1952 a dozen so-called “associated” territories, particularly in West Africa.
Politics: 100% male government in France
President: Vincent Auriol;
Prime Minister: Edgar Faure.
In February 1952, the first Faure government had just taken office.
Parity is far from being respected with 42 members, all men.
Among them, a certain François Mitterrand as Minister of State.
Same male hegemony in the next government, that of Antoine Pinay.
The Antoine Pinay government in 1952. (DR/National Archives)
In total, ten presidents will have succeeded during the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II.
Space: no satellite sent into the sky
In 1952, Man contented himself with looking at the sky.
The conquest of space is only in its infancy.
It was not until 1957 that the small Soviet satellite Sputnik was sent into the sky, the first spacecraft to experience such an adventure.
Four years later, on April 12, 1961, the Soviet Yuri Gargarin made the first flight into orbit.
High-tech: from television to social networks
The coronation of Elizabeth II, in June 1953, more than a year after her accession to the throne, will remain the first entirely televised in the history of the British monarchy.
Very few homes are equipped with televisions, but this event caused sales to explode, with the number of devices increasing from approximately 60,000 to more than 125,000 in one year in France.
The ex-Queen of England will have known all the technological revolutions.
In March 1976, she is photographed in front of a vintage computer sending an e-mail.
The Royal Family YouTube channel was launched in October 2007.
26/3/1976: the first royal e-mail was sent by Queen Elizabeth II.
She visited the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, the telecom research institute in Malvern, by commissioning the connection with the American ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.
pic.twitter.com/dU8BgZXGeg
— Digitaal verleden (@DigiVerleden) March 26, 2020
Medicine: first major advances
70 years ago, “only” 3 billion people lived on the planet, compared to nearly 8 billion today.
Life expectancy at birth worldwide was just 50, compared to 80 for a baby born this year.
But medicine was already experiencing a certain number of advances.
In 1952, the first open-heart surgery was performed in the United States by University of Minnesota specialists Clarence Walton Lillehei and John Lewis, reports the University of Sherbrooke.
This year also marks the arrival of neuroleptics… but antidepressants will only be discovered five years later.
Society: women can barely vote
In 1952, women had the right to vote in France for less than 8 years.
It will take another 30 years for sexual majority to be set at the same age for heterosexuals and homosexuals.
The end of a long discrimination.
Infrastructures: no motorway company in France
1952: the Minister of Transport and Public Works Antoine Pinay presents a bill aimed at developing the motorway network in France, which was virtually non-existent until then.
The law was adopted three years later, after numerous parliamentary contests.
Legislation then allows private companies to manage motorway sections and impose tolls, except in the city.
The Estérel Côte d'Azur motorway company (ESCOTA) was founded in 1956, then the Rhône Valley motorway company (SAVR) in 1957, the Paris Lyon motorway company (SAPL) in 1961 , the Paris Normandy Motorway Company (SAPN) in 1963, etc.