Music recorded in 1949
The year 1949 saw the post-World War II realignment solidify into opposing camps, simultaneously reshaping politics, economics, technology, and popular culture. In Europe, the Berlin Blockade (June 24, 1948–May 12, 1949) came to an end, and the experience of the Berlin Airlift, which supported urban transportation by air, advanced the concept of real security. The signing of the North Atlantic Treaty established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were established in the same year, making the division visible as statehood. In the West, the Council of Europe was launched with the Statute of the Council of Europe, and the Geneva Conventions on international humanitarian law were adopted on August 12, 1949, furthering the renewal of the norms that underpinned the post-war order. Meanwhile, in the East, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was announced, and economic ties were being established between the camps.
In Asia, the People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949, and the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan in December of the same year. In the Middle East, the State of Israel joined the United Nations on May 11, 1949, and the inclusion of new states became part of the postwar framework. The dissolution of colonial empires continued, with the Kingdom of the Netherlands transferring sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia on December 27, 1949. Newfoundland also became part of Canada on March 31, 1949, and borders were quietly redrawn even outside the battlefield. Ireland also renewed its self-definition with the enactment of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 on April 18, 1949.
Nuclear weapons and computers dramatically changed the perception of distance around the world. The September 23, 1949, statement by Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) following the confirmation of the Soviet Union's atomic bomb test marked the beginning of an era in which deterrence and anxiety became commonplace. On the computing side, the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator performed its first calculation on May 6, 1949, ushering in an era of "usable machines" supporting research and industry. In Japan, Joseph Morrell Dodge (1890–1964) launched the Dodge Line, and the Shimoyama, Mitaka, and Matsukawa incidents occurred in succession in the summer of the same year, bringing tensions to the surface in occupied society. Meanwhile, Hideki Yukawa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, symbolizing the return of Japanese academia to the international stage after the war.
Popular culture and sound media also reshaped postwar life. Columbia Records' 33 1/3 rpm long-playing microgroove record expanded listening and commercial formats based on longer recording times. RCA Victor Records' 1949 release of the 7-inch 45 rpm record accelerated the distribution of shorter recordings. In publishing, George Orwell's (1903–1950) Nineteen Eighty-Four struck the public imagination as a story about the continued problems of surveillance and information, even after the war ended. 1949 was a year in which the boundaries of nations shifted, as did the boundaries of how things were listened to and talked about. The physical medium of records recorded these changes as everyday sounds.
