historical background
Due to the fact that this novel is fictional, it does not have much historical background within itself. But, there have been many events in reaction to the novel, and events in Burgess's life that started a chain reaction effect to inspire him to write this novel. Here is an excellent source which lists all the biggest events in pre and post publishment of A Clockwork Orange.
Pre-clockwork orange
Anthony Burgess had an interesting and tragic background before he wrote the novel A Clockwork Orange. Back in the 1940's, American GI's robbed and beat Burgess's wife. This also contributed to the scene in the book where F. Alexanders wife got raped and beaten by Alex and his gang. Later in the 1960's, Burgess spends some time in Russia where he picks up the NADSAT language. The book was originally written without the NADSAT, but Burgess later went through it and re-wrote in with it.
Post-Clockwork orange
The movie, A Clockwork Orange, was released in 1971 produced by Stanley Kubrick. It was based entirely off of the novel by Burgess. It becomes only 1 of 2 X rated films up for Oscar nomination. Also, a senator from the United States tries to pass "The Clockwork Orange" bill to try the Ludovico technique. The movie and book are both banned in many countries; they have recently been un-banned, and edited versions of the movie have been released throughout the world instead of the original. Even though it has been 40 years since the release of the film, some teachers have still gotten in trouble for showing the movie in class as a teaching tool.