Unit Six: Canada Matures: Growth in the Post-War Period (1945-1970)

6.4: Canada’s role on the international stage: emergence as a “middle power”,

involvement in international organizations

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• The World at the End of WW2– Cold War: the contest for

international advantage between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.; conducted by diplomacy, economic measures, propaganda and a nuclear arms race. The ‘west’ feared the spread of Soviet communism, the ‘east’ feared American invasion.

– During the Cold war Canada was a “middle power”. Smaller than a great power but wealthier and more powerful than smaller or poorer nations.

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization:– NATO was formed in 1949 as a

defensive alliance against the spread of Soviet communism into Western Europe.

– Founding members were Canada, the US, Britain and France.

– An attack against one member was considered an attack against them all.

– Canada initially sent an army brigade to West Germany and air force division to France.

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• The Warsaw Pact

– Formed by the Soviet Union in 1955 as a response to NATO

– Members included all Soviet countries except Yugoslavia

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• The Nuclear Factor

– Throughout the cold war, NATO and the Warsaw Pact depended on a balance of power to discourage attack; each side had about the same number of nuclear weapons.

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• North American Air Defence System (NORAD)

– The development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the late 1950s made all of North America vulnerable

– Canada and the US created NORAD in 1957 and built a network of radar stations across the Canadian North to detect Soviet missiles

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)– In October 1962, the Americans photographed missile bases being

constructed in Cuba, only 140km from Florida.

– The US (Kennedy) started a naval blockade of Cuba, to prevent Soviet ships carrying nuclear missiles from reaching Cuba.

– After some very tense negotiations, the Soviets (Khrushchev) backed down and recalled their ships. The world had barely escaped nuclear war.

– All other NATO allies responded quickly to the situation but Canada (Diefenbaker) did not. The Americans were furious at this slow response.

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• The Cold War and the Everyday Lives of Canadians

– Canadians lived in constant fear of nuclear war.

– Many schools (including mine) had regular air raid drills.

– Governments and ordinary people built bomb shelters.

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• Banning the Bomb– By the 1960s many people in

Canada were marching in protest of nuclear weapons, and demanded that Canada not support any nuclear weapon policies

– Canada never ‘officially’ owned nuclear weapons, but American ones were stationed on our soil.

Bomarc Missile, 1961-72

Canada and the Cold War From 1945-1969

• Détente= easing of tensions.– After the Cuban missile crisis,

the US and the Soviets began talking more.

– In 1968, they agreed to stop helping non-nuclear countries to develop such weapons.

– The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 signalled the end of the cold war.

From League of Nations to United Nations

• The United Nations was created in April 1945 by 50 countries, including Canada. Its goals included:

• bring an end to war

• encourage co-operation

• improve standards of living

• promote human rights

From League of Nations to United Nations

• Some of the UN's main agencies are:– UNICEF (UN International Children’s

Emergency Fund.– WHO: World Health

Organization– ILO: International Labour

Organization– UNESCO: UN Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization

UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948): a sample...

• -everyone is born free and equal

• -everyone has the right to life, liberty, and freedom from fear and violence

• -everyone has the right to protection under the law without discrimination

• -everyone has the right to equal pay for equal work

• -everyone has the right to an education

Peacekeeping(a Canadian 'invention', thanks to Lester B.

Pearson):• any UN military action to separate hostile

forces, maintain truces and get food to hungry people

The Korean War (1950-1953)• Started when Soviet-backed,

Communist North Korea invaded US-backed, democratic South Korea on June 25, 1950

• The UN responded by sending a force made up of 32 countries, led by the US to help South Korea.

• Canada sent about

34 000 soldiers to Korea; 516 died and 1032 were wounded

The Suez Crisis (1956)• Occurred when Egyptian President

Nasser seized the Suez Canal from the French/English company that controlled it.

• Britain, France and Israel attacked• The Soviet Union declared support

for Egypt and the world seemed to be on the brink of world war.

• Lester Pearson suggested that a UNEF (UN Emergency Force) be positioned between the opposing forces until a solution could be worked out.

• It was the start of peacekeeping and Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his idea in 1957.

Cyprus (1964-1993)

• Occurred when a conflict between the Greek majority and the Turkish minority got out of hand.

• Canada sent a

‘3-month’ peacekeeping force which stayed until 1993, cost over $600 million and 30 Canadian lives.