AN INTRODUCTION TO THE COLD WAR

WHAT WAS THE COLD WAR?• 1945 – 1989

• The United States, Great Britain, Canada, and their allies (members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in blue) versus the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its satellite states (members of the Warsaw Pact, shown in red)

• The government owned the things needed to make and transport goods (like farms, equipment, ships, etc.) and citizens did not own property

• The government was responsible for providing citizens with both necessary and luxury goods, although many items were available only on the black market

• The government controlled what newspapers could write, which books could be read, what could be taught in schools and universities, and the religion that people could follow

THE USSR AND COMMUNISM

Russian women on a collective farm outside Moscow, August 1941. Photo: Margaret Bourke-White

• The government is elected by the people, and most goods, services, and properties are privately owned

• People are free to read and write what they want, and to choose any religion (or none)

• Citizens are responsible for working to make their own money to buy themselves a house, food, clothing, and anything else that they need or want, resulting in socio-economic inequalities

DEMOCRACY AND CAPITALISM IN THE WEST

• This intense ideological opposition caused a great deal of fear on either side, and both sides employed spies to report on the activities of the other.

• In order to protect themselves from the other, the East and West both maintained large stores of nuclear weapons.

• There were so many bombs and weapons that if a war had begun, both sides would have destroyed the other and an untold number of people would have been killed.

WHY WAS THE WAR “COLD”?

Mk 6 Atomic bomb, 1951

• The two alliances competed in more than just military strength – they also competed in the race to achieve different “firsts” in space:

• 1957: USSR sends 1st satellite into space (Sputnik 1)

• 1961: USSR sends 1st man into space (Yuri Gagarin)

• 1969: USA sends 1st men to walk on the moon (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin)

• This race was one of the major ways that the two countries competed to prove to the world which of them had a more successful system

THE SPACE RACE

• McCarthyism: In the 1940s and 50s, encouraged by US Senator McCarthy, citizens spied and reported on their neighbours, prompting arrests and imprisonment of any citizens thought to have communist ties.

• Many people in this same time period lived with a real fear of nuclear war. Students practiced “duck and cover” drills at school, and many people built backyard fallout shelters.

• Hollywood, the music industry, and the arts all reflected themes of communism and nuclear war in the works they produced.

LIFE IN THE WEST DURING THE COLD WAR

WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE?

• The availability and quality of consumer goods varied widely across the USSR, and as a result, a black market economy flourished.

• Although housing was provided by the state, it was often substandard and limited in quantity.

• Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the USSR loosened some of its strict prohibitions against Western cultural influences and consumer goods, although restrictions were still very much in place.

LIFE IN THE EAST DURING THE COLD WAR

Photo by Sergei Porter for the Moscow News (St. Petersburg), December 2013

• The Canadian government, under leadership of Prime Minister J.G. Diefenbaker, built the Diefenbunker in 1959-1961 to protect politicians and top government and military officials in case of an outbreak of nuclear war

• The main intent was to ensure a continuity of government in the case of a long and drawn-out nuclear conflict.

• It is an underground, 4-storey building just outside of Ottawa, made strong enough to withstand the force of a nuclear bomb dropped on Ottawa

• It operated as a military station until 1994, and has been a museum since 1998

COLD WAR IN CANADA: THE DIEFENBUNKER

• It was built to house 535 people for one month and all of the items required for their survival, such as:

• Food

• Water

• Sleeping quarters

• Radio and communications with the outside world

• Medical and health centre

• Meeting rooms and offices

• Recreation space

• A gold vault

LIFE INSIDE THE DIEFENBUNKER

The Diefenbunker cafeteria