The Cold War:

At Home
& Abroad

Hello Newfoundland
March 31st, 1949 Newfoundland entered confederation as
Canadas tenth province
Joey Smallwood spearheaded the movement
He also became Newfoundlands first Premier
In Newfoundland they held a referendum regarding confederation
to which there was a lot of opposition
45% of the people voted in favour of creating a responsible
government, 41% favoured joining Canada, and 14% a
commission government
The vote was unclear and led to a second vote where union with
Canada obtained a majority vote

The Cold War At Home

Joey Smallwood

Boom in Resource Development

Prosperity came in massive waves in Canada during the 1950s
Western oil, natural gas reserves meant new sources of power for
Canadian industry
Massive hydroelectric projects were initiated
With the discovery of new resources came new industries to
support them The St. Lawrence Seaway was constructed to aid in
the transport of materials
Much of this economic growth in Canada was due to foreign
investment, most of which was American
This contributed to Canadas wealth in the 50s and 60s but also led
to future conflicts over ownership and control of Canadas resources

The St. Lawrence Seaway

The Baby Boom

Population growth in the 15 years following WWII was
insane
It grew more quickly than any other time
By 1961 there were 50% more Canadians than there
had been by the end of the war
This is the Baby Boom period
People began to move to the suburbs
Shopping malls, cars, and expressways became part of
normal Canadian life

Why?
Many Canadian soldiers had married overseas and
brought their war brides home
More immigrants came to Canada than ant any other
time during the post war period
Many were refugees or displaced persons from Eastern
European countries (Poland, Yugoslavia, Latvia)
escaping communist regimes.

Generation Y
By 1951, only 47% of Canadians had their roots in Britain
Multicultural society had arrived
Today in Canada, around 27% of the total populations
belong to the children of baby boomers
This is referred to as Generation Y or the Echo Generation
Echo of the baby boom
The children of baby boomers generation is smaller,
because their parents had less kids
The fertility rate dropped from 3.1 children per woman to
1.6 in the mid 80s

The Fabulous Fifties

Economically, things were going well!!!
Televisions became a common feature in Canadian homes
Mass marketing starts being directed at a growing teen population
BUT such rapid change can be extremely difficult
Divorce rates creeped up, moves to suburbs created an increased reliance
on automobiles, and cities, fashions, and lifestyles were transformed
Rock and Roll emerged and drew attention from the new culture of youth
emerging from the Baby Boom
The 50s also marked the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the
United States that would start to affect Canada as well
Although the war was over, the Cold war was only just beginning

Ford, Barbie, and Rice Krispies

Commercials

Socialism in Canada
The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was elected in
1944 in Saskatchewan under Tommy Douglas
They favoured socialist policies, government involvement
in the economy and improved social programs
Because of the Cold War the CCF faced major criticism and
were often denounced as communists
In 1961, Tommy Douglas resigned from the CCF and
became the leader of the NDP
Ultimately becoming responsible for the introduction of
Medicare Act in Canada

Tommy Douglas

The Cold War

Throughout the 1950s, the Cold War was a dominant
and driving force in international politics
The world was divided between two opposing ideologies
Totalitarian Communism AND Democratic Capitalism
Both camps led by the Soviet Union and the United
States were competing for control of or influence over
the rest of the world (mostly developing countries)
The developing world became the battleground for a
series of proxy wars between the worlds two new
superpowers

Igor Gouzenko
Often credited with helping start the Cold War
He was a clerk for the Soviet embassy in Canada who
gave away Soviet spy secrets and defected

McCarthyism
In the US, McCarthyism began to spread at the instigation of senator John
McCarthy who accused many people of being communists in and out of
government
This period was known as the Second Red Scare (1950-1956)
Americans became afraid of communist influence
Thousands of Americans were accused of being communist or communist
sympathizers
Government employees, entertainment industry, educators, and union
activists were targeted
Peoples associations were often greatly exaggerated
People lost their jobs and/or destruction of their careers
HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee

American Propaganda Against

Communism

The Cold War: Korea

1951
First open warfare between communist and pro-Western
forces
Within days of the invasion Canada offered 3 naval
destroyers to the UN force
25,000 Canadians saw action in the conflict
312 were killed
The war involved USSR and China vs. The US and its
allies under the leadership of the UN
It ended in 1953

The Cold War: Arms Race

1951, the US tested its first hydrogen bomb
The US and Soviet Union begin to develop weapons of mass
destruction
These bombs developed to be more than 1000x as powerful as the
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII
The USSR tested its first bomb in 1953
People in North America built fallout shelters to hide in, in the
event of an attack
Guided missiles began to replace bombers
US and USSR could not attack areas 10,000km away in less than an
hour

The Cold War: Space Race

While the arms race was going on between the Soviet Union and the USA there
was also a space race going on
Soviets initially led the space race and launched Sputnik the first artificial earth
satellite on October 4th, 1957
This success surprised the US and began the Space Age, the Space Race and part
of the larger Cold War
This brought on a massive increase in political, military, technological, and
scientific developments
If missiles could send hydrogen bombs to another part of the world why not into
space?
The USSR launched their first satellite with a nuclear warhead in 1958, the US
followed suit
Soon, scientists sought to use satellites for peaceful means, such as
communicationimagine that.

Canada in the Cold War

Canada was kind of in an awkward position during the
Cold War
Located right between the US and the USSR but firmly
on the side of the US
Canada became a member of both NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organization) and NORAD (North American Air
Defense Command) which was the North American
defense system
The communists had their own defensive organization
known as the Warsaw Pact.

NATO
Nato countries included: Norway, Great Britain,
Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, West
Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Canada and the USA

Warsaw Pact
Warsaw countries included: The Soviet Union, East
Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Romania

Canada and the Cold War

During the 1950s, the Canadian government was involved in the
development of a new military jet aircraft, the Avro Arrow
It was built by the A.V. Roe Company in Ontario and was
expected to be one of the most advanced war planes
When John Diefenbaker (Dief the Chief) and the Conservatives
took power he cancelled the Arrow Project
This resulted in controversy and people losing their jobs
People charged that the government had ended a made-inCanada project for an American defense policy. This was not
popular!!!
This decision led to the Conservatives defeat in

The Suez Canal Crisis: Background

The French built the Suez Canal in the 1860s
The British bought shares in the Suez Canal Company soon after this to make
the canal part of their route to India
The British were occupying Egypt and in 1955 agreed to withdraw from Egypt
While Britain was removing themselves from Egypt the Aswan High Dam
across the Nile was being completed under the leadership of Colonel Gamal
Abdel Nasser.
Nassar had dealings with the USSR so Britain and the US cut off aid for the
Aswan dam project in 1956
Nasser seized the Suez Canal company, encouraged more terrorist attacks
on Israel, and invited the USSR to help him finish the dam.
The British were angry and believed that the commonwealth countries would
be angry as well

BUT
The commonwealth (except for Australia and New
Zealand) were not sympathetic to what they deemed to
be British Imperialism
Canada did not really have interest in the Canal, but
they were concerned about how the situation could
affect international relations
Canada realized that although the US didnt necessarily
agree with Nassers actions, they wouldnt support
Britains aggression against Egypt

The Suez Crisis Continued

France and Israel were supporting Britain
The Israelis were supposed to attack Egypt on Nov 1st,
1956 and then the French and English would use this as
a reason to step in and guard the international
waterway that was so vital to them. They hoped that
Nasser and his government would topple
Oct 29th, Israeli paratroopers went in
Oct 30th, Britain and France ordered Egypt and Israel to
stay 16km away from the canal

The Suez Crisis: Ultimatum

The USSR responded to the actions of Britain and France
with an ultimatum.
If the invasion didnt end then atomic bombs would rain
down on London and Paris.
This was a constant fear during the Cold War

The Suez Crisis: The End

The Americans were angry with the British and the U.N. Security Council
ordered Israel to withdraw, Britain and France used their vetoes for the
first time. The issue was then taken in front of the U.N. General Assembly
where 65 nations supported denouncing the invasion.
Canada abstained from the vote because they were torn over the issue. A
small majority did support the British invasion, but the Prime Minister (St.
Laurent) did not.
The Prime Minister and Lester B. Pearson (Secretary of State for External
Affairs) said that there would be no support for the British attack on Egypt
from Canada
Pearson proposed an emergency force from the UN be sent in (UNEF)
This gave Britain and France a way to withdraw from Egypt and Nasser
agreed that the force was reasonable

Pearson to the Rescue

Pearson had found the solution that kept Britain and
France from universal humiliation and the UN, NATO,
and commonwealth countries survived the
confrontation intact
In 1957, Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for
his role in the Suez Crisis

Creation of OPEC
OPEC was created in the 1960s by oil producing nations such
as Iran who approached other oil producing nations like Iraq,
Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
The founding members are: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
and Venezuela
In 1973, the US and Western Europe declared support for Israel
in the Yom Kippur War. OPEC declared an oil embargo which
resulted in a massive rise in oil prices from $3 a barrel to $12
U.S. Gas stations started gas rationing, limiting the amount of
gas that could be sold, closed on Sundays, and deciding who
could buy gas on certain days based on license plates

Bomarc Missiles
These were the first long range anti-aircraft missiles in
the world
Developed by Canada with the help of Americans
Put all around the coasts and the border to protect
against Soviet planes

NORAD
Stands for North American Aerospace Defence
Command
Established in 1958
After the US pressured Canada to set up a missile
defense program

The Dew Line

Distance Early Warning Line
Used in the 1950s
System of radar stations in the North
Detect Soviet bombers
Became outdated when it became possible for countries
to launch nukes without planes
Using Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMS)

The Massey Commission

Remember when we learned about the huge influence the US had in
Canada in the 1920s???
The same influence was occurring in the 1950s
Government and the people became concerned that Canada was
losing its identity
The Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters,
and Sciences A.K.A the Massey-Levesque Commission examined
Canadas cultural sovereignty
1951, the findings of the commission revealed that Canada was in fact
being threatened by the US (Culturally)
Recommended the creation of National Library of Canada, the Canada
Council

The Cold War Abroad

Cold War Terminology

Proxy War: Refers to when two powers use third parties
as a substitute for fighting each other directly
Balance of Power: Refers to where the Soviets and
Americans would continue adding to nuclear armaments
to offset one another (duirng the Cold War)
MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction): Cold War military
strategy where both sides would be destroyed if one
were to attack the other because each side possesses
large amounts of Nuclear weapons

Trouble in Europe
Following WWII countries in Europe became very
dependent upon foreign aid, specifically from the US.
The Marshall Plan resulted in a massive influx of cash
into the European economy to stop places like Italy and
France from turning red or becoming communist
states

The Cold War Abroad: China

During the Cold War China emerged as a new
communist front
The US had been backing the Kuomintang regime in
China since before the war
In 1949, Mao Zedong led revolutionary forces against
the Chinese regime and beat them in a bloody civil war
This resulted in the creation of the Peoples Republic of
China
China was immediately allied with the Soviets

Korea
The Korean war was the result of boundary disagreements following WWII
Following WWII Korea had been split into two halves, such as with Germany
During the war, the Japanese had occupied Korea and following the war the
top half of Korea was held by the Soviets and the bottom bt the Americans
1950: Soviets back the invasion of South Korea by North Korea
American interests drove the UN to deploy a military mission in Korea
The result was a Proxy War
Canada sent 26, 000 troops to Korea under the UN
China joined the conflict in 1951 as Americans approached their border.
End: 1953 with the same borders. A demilitarized zone was created to ease
tensions

Vietnam
1953, Eisenhower replaced Truman as President of the United States and Nikita
Khrushchev replaced Stalin in the Soviet Union
War in Vietnam broke out in 1956
Originally against the French
Americans came to aid the French who were being defeated and this led to the
second major proxy war in the Cold War era
The Americans were attempting to help withstand guerilla warfareby the National
Front for the liberation of South Vietnam
The US enacted a conscription policy 90,000 people fled to Canada Draft
Dodgers
At this point it was obvious that the US was remaining involved in these conflicts to
protect them against the threat of communism
The Americans were pushed out of this conflict by 1975 This was a major
embarassment

13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Before 1959 Cuba was an American colony
Fidel Castro and Che Guevara overthrew the Americans in Cuba and made
the country communist it remains that way today
They were funded by the Soviets and in exchange the Soviets could keep
nuclear missiles on the island
US demanded that the Soviets move the missile bases but they refused.
The threat of nuclear war grew. Soviets offered to move the missiles if
Americans would leave Cuba alone and move missiles from Turkey
An American pilot is shot down while spying FAIL.
13 days the world was on the brink of nuclear war until the superpowers
back down
Cuba was placed under a US embargo

The International Monetary Fund

The IMF is an international organization that was
initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference
Formally created in 1945 by 29 member countries
Goal: to assist in the reconstruction of the post-war
international payment system
Countries contribute money into a pool through a quota
system
Then countries with payment imbalances can borrow
funds on a temporary basis

Dtente and the Thaw

1970, cost of arms was insane and both countries
reduced arms build up
Other countries had recovered from WWII and started to
look outside the US/USSR spheres of influence
The War reheated in Afghanistan in 1979. Soviet
backed the communist government and the US provided
guns, material and aid to the insurgents. Ended 9 years
later with Soviets being kicked out of Afghanistan as
their puppet government failed and they lost 100,000
troops

The Iran-Contra Affair

Political scandal in 1987
Members of Raegans government were discovered to have been
illegally selling weapons to Iran in exchange for releasing hostages
Profits from the sales went to fund the Contras (right-wing extremist
group fighting the government of Nicaragua)
The CIA was discovered to have been involved in aiding the contras
cocaine trafficking and using drug money to fund them
CIA air dropped pamphlets for citizens of Nicaragua on how to cause
disorder
Reagan initially denied this, later admitting to one plane load of
weapons being sold to Iran in the spirit of a new relationship between
Iran and the US

The End of the Cold War

Soviets were starving their own people to keep up
armaments
Mikhail Gorbachev (New Soviet Leader) made peace
with George Bush Sr. and the Cold war ended in 1989
After the peace agreement the USSR collapsed
politically, economically, and socially
Nov 1989, Berlin wall (1961) was torn down by citizens
of east and west Germany, no longer dividing Berlin
Communism in the Soviet Union had failed

The Canadian Connection

Alexander Yakovlev was the Soviet Ambassador to
Canada and was a close friend of Mikhail Gorbachev
Credited with being a pioneer of Perestroika (economic
reform in the USSR) and the driving force behind
Glasnost (Freedom of info and government
transparency) in the Soviet Union
He was a close friend of Trudeau and the two often
talked of Liberalization in the USSR