The 1960 election set the stage for the Quiet Revolution, a major social transformation of all aspects of Quebec society throughout the 1960s. Among many other changes the influence and power of the Catholic church fell sharply as Quebec became a secular society.
This election put an end to 16 years of continuous Union Nationale rule, much of it under Maurice Duplessis. Duplessis had died not long before, however, and his successor Paul Sauvé also died suddenly after only a few months in office. The Union Nationale was thus perhaps in slight disarray under their third leader (Antonio Barrette) in less than a year. After the sweeping transformations of the Quiet Revolution, the Duplessis period was sometimes derisively referred to as La Grande Noirceur (the Great Darkness). This characterization usually gives all credit to the liberals and tends to neglect the work started by Paul Sauvé in a rather stunning hundred days of change.
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