Canada in the Post-War World On Sept. 5, 1945, just after the end of the Second World War, a Russian cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko fled the Soviet Embassy.

Canada in the Post-War World

On Sept. 5, 1945, just after the end of the Second World War, a Russian cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko fled

the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa with 109 documents proving the existence of a Soviet spy ring in Canada.

His revelations reverberated throughout the world and helped to ignite the Cold

War.

Cold War: a situation of hostility, tension, and threats between countries who are involved in building more and more weapons (the arms race), and espionage (spying), without any real combat.

• after WW II, tension between east and west (USSR and US) caused Canada to align itself with US interests

• Canada still tried to remain Canadian

• we had become virtually independent of Britain

• NOW…..we had to struggle to ensure that US influence did not threaten our interests or our identity

The Cold War Begins• the US and the Soviet Union competed for

influence, particularly in developing countries

• not an actual war, hence it is called the Cold War, typified by espionage and intrigue

• different ideologies and economic systems: capitalism versus communism, differences in approach to basic freedoms caused suspicion between the two

• The Soviets controlled much of Eastern Europe, and China was communist as well

• the United States struggled to ensure that communism did not spread

• McCarthyism “rooted out” civilians suspected of having communist sympathies

• Prime Minister, Louis St. Laurent, refused to outlaw communism in Canada, citing that it would be the mark of a dictatorship, rather than of democracy

• however, FEAR of communism did result in

some Canadians being watched, dismissed from jobs, and, as in Québec, the Padlock Law shut down newspapers

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization -– US, Great Britain, Canada and other Western European nations

• designed to protect western democracies from the threat of invasion – and they were prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary

• after West Germany was admitted to NATO, the Soviet Union responded with the Warsaw Pact – to protect eastern interests against the West

• militarism, espionage and territorial control were dominant themes

• Russians put down a revolution in Hungary, 1956

1961, Berlin Wall built between East and West Berlin – symbol of the Cold War

The Brandenburg Gate, from the Western side, c. 1986. During the period the wall existed, only border guards could go into the area where the Gate stood. On the Eastern side, everyone was kept away.

Viewing Platform at Neiderkirchnerstrasse. The West Berlin authorities thoughtfully put up viewing platforms, so visitors could see over the wall at various key points. They were also thoughtful enough to put up signs absolving themselves from any responsibility if the East German border guards opened fire on you!

East German border guard Conrad Schumann leaps into the French Sector of West Berlin, Germany, 15th August 1961.

Peter Fechter, 18, was shot on August 17, 1962 and left for an hour to bleed to death.

• Canada’s commitment to NATO included military bases overseas, tracking Soviet subs, ships and aircraft

• Canada adapted its defense policy to mesh with her allies

The Issue of North American Defense

• new technology (long-range bombers) made North America vulnerable

• radar stations built in Canada (DEW Line) – to detect surprise Soviet attacks

• American personnel were now on Canadian soil• Canadian politicians and journalists had to get US

permission to visit the DEW Line• again, new technology (ICBM’s) made the DEW Line

obsolete• Canada and the US created NORAD, which included

missile bases, command centre, fighter forces, radar systems

• main base, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado• Canadian command centre, North Bay, Ontario

• Canadians feared nuclear disaster

• bomb shelters built, schools had drills

• the technological capability of nuclear destruction may have actually prevented a war

Planning for Peace: The United Nations

• April,1945 -birth of the UNITED NATIONS• purpose – COLLECTIVE SECURITY, but this

time, unlike with the League of Nations, the member countries were prepared to support the idea

• The General Assembly has three powers condemns aggressor through speeches and

resolutions use economic sanctions, urging members not to

trade with the aggressor respond militarily by sending in an armed force

• The Security Council -–responsible for maintaining world peace and security

• • 5 permanent members: US Britain,

France, Russia, China and 10 rotating member countries, 2 yr. term

• other components of the UN include WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)

• International Monetary Fund (IMF) helps stabilize the world economy

• Canada’s role in the UN includes accepting refugees, helping out in lesser developed countries, and as peacekeepers

The Korean Conflict

• after WW II, Korea had been left divided: North Korea was communist, South Korea was a “fragile democracy”

• some Canadians took part in what is sometimes called a “police action”

• an unsatisfactory ceasefire was reached in 1953, but tensions remained

The Suez Crisiso The Suez Canal was important , due to its location, for tradeo Egypt had taken over control of the canal, so Israel felt threatened when Egypt threatened to bar their ships from using the canalo Britain and France supported an Israeli invasiono the Soviets backed Egypto the US, although angry at Britain and France, backed Israel

• Canada refused to take part officially

• Lester Pearson of Canada, went to the UN, proposed a UN Emergency Force be sent to mediate, and the crisis was diffused

• Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in settling the issue

Towards a More Independent Defense Policy

• 1959 – Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba, after revolution

• 1961 – Bay of Pigs - unsuccessful invasion by US, unhappy with the left-wing ideologies of Castro

• Cuba gets backing from the Soviets• US finds out that missiles are being

placed in Cuba by the USSR, threatening North America

• US/NORAD –- ready for war -– US ships blockaded Cuba

• Khrushchev of the USSR agreed to remove missiles if Americans promise not to invade Cuba

Kennedy and Krushchev by Herbert Block

 Much of Kennedy's two years and

ten months in office were dominated by foreign policy concerns, most of which were Cold War related. JFK came to office at a period in which American-Soviet relations were at their most strained, a tension which would eventually erupt in the form of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In this cartoon we see Kennedy and Nikita Kruschev, leader of the Soviet Union, trying to keep the beast of "Nuclear War" in his cage. This was drawn shortly after the Missile Crisis.

Many cartoons drawn about the Kennedy administration featured JFK and Krushchev interacting side-by-side. The Cold War was frequently personified as a direct feud between the two men, often with both of them appearing equally bumbling.

Canada’s response, under Conservative leader John Diefenbaker, was to mistrust the evidence of missiles. He refused to allow US aircraft with atomic weapons to land in Canada.

• Eventually, he relented – but too late – Canada-US relations were damaged

The Nuclear Issue in Canada

• Canadians wondered, should they allow American nuclear weapons on Canadian soil?

• everyone knew nuclear war was suicide• many felt it was hypocritical to work for

disarmament through the UN, and , at the same time, accept nuclear weapons into the country

• Canada’s Defence Minister felt they were necessary to ensure security

• a new anti-nuclear movement was evolving in Canada

• many felt that Diefenbaker’s anti-Americanism would hurt trade – businesses therefore supported Lester Pearson and the Liberals -–they compromised, saying they would allow the weapons under certain conditions

the Liberals, under Lester Pearson, won a narrow minority governmentobviously, Canadians were divided, and uncertain about the issue

The Vietnam War

• Vietnam was also divided into North -communist, and South, not quite a democracy, but separate

• the US was afraid communism would spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, so eventually sent troops

• Communist China and the USSR supported North Vietnam

• the Vietnam War was the first MEDIA WAR

• the impact was that people began to question it

• America became divided as anti-war protests escalated

• Over 200 civilians are killed by USA soldiers in the village of My Lai. The media held the story for months before it became public knowledge. Colin Powell, later in the USA government, was involved in the cover-up.

the My Lai Massacre added to concerns about American involvement

Canada’s Reaction to War• business benefited – uniforms, airplane

engines, explosives etc.• many, at first, still saw communism as a

threat• but many became increasingly uncertain

whether or not the “peasants of Vietnam were better off dead than red.”

• Prime Minister Lester Pearson publicly questioned Operation Rolling Thunder

• President Lyndon B. Johnson is said to have reacted badly – to the point of physically shaking Pearson by the scruff of the neck

• Canadians staged many protests and sit-ins against the war, and welcomed many draft dodgers, as well

• the US did not win the war, and by 1973, troops were withdrawn

• 2 years later, South Vietnam fell to the North, and became a communist nation

• many refugees escaped, some came to Canada

Trudeau’s Foreign Policy

• Liberal Prime Minister, elected 1968

• wanted to have a foreign policy less dependent on the US

• 1970 – Canada officially recognizes the Peoples’ Republic of China

• Canada was a major trading partner of China, but the US was opposed to this policy

• Trudeau wanted to reduce Canada’s role in the nuclear arms race to reduce Cold War tension

• nuclear missiles were removed from Canada’s European bases, and from Canadian soil, by 1984

• the world was still split between East and West, but also economically, between the rich North and poor South

• Trudeau believed in trying to assist the poverty-stricken countries and improve living conditions (trade and aid)

• CIDA was formed to increase foreign aid, but receiving countries would agree to buy Canadian goods (tied aid)

• The Commonwealth and la Francophonie assisted in foreign aid

• SALT 1 Treaty reduced the nuclear arsenal • the USSR invasion of Afghanistan , and new

missiles sent to Eastern Europe put an end to the SALT 2 talks

• Canada boycotted the Olympics (1980 Moscow), the US raised its military spending

• Soviets shot down a Korean passenger jet, US invaded Grenada, which had a Soviet government

• US covertly waged war against left-wing Nicaragua (Sandinista régime)

• Trudeau and Canada appealed for restraint, tried, as he said, “to lift the shadow of war.”

•29 February, 1984, after his famous “walk in the snow”, Trudeau retired from politics

The Mulroney

Era: Closer Ties with

the United States

• September 1984, Brian Mulroney became Prime Minister (Conservative)

• shared conservative beliefs with the US (President Reagan), and worked to have closer ties with the US

• Mulroney was forced to say no to “Star Wars” (Strategic Defense Initiative), because of pressure from anti-nuclear groups

• Canada was “open for business” – The Free Trade Agreement

• supporters argued that free trade would bring economic growth, investment, and attract US firms to Canada, providing jobs

• naysayers felt that existing US branch plants would leave, and we would lose jobs. It was also felt that Canadian business would be unable to compete with American companies, and many felt that our independence might ultimately be compromised – our economic union might lead to political union

• NAFTA was next – this included free trade with Mexico as well – though this was signed by the Liberal government under Jean Chrétien

• the Conservative legacy was closer ties with the US

The End of the Cold War• The USSR under Mikhail

Gorbachev, effectively ended the Cold War by cutting back on nuclear weapons

• economic, social, and political reforms were designed to improve conditions for the communist countries

• perestroika (reconstruction) and glasnost (openness) would provide greater freedoms – East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary all would ask for reforms

the Berlin Wall came down

•“A man hammers away at the Berlin Wall on 12 November, 1989, as the border barrier between East and West Germany is torn down after 28 years, symbolically ending the Cold War.”

• On 9 November 1989, three days before this photograph was taken, the East German government, amid some confusion – announced that anyone wishing to visit the West would be granted a visa. Ecstatic crowds surged at the Berlin Wall and guards were left with no choice (other than massacre) but to open the various gates and checkpoints. This effectively was the “Fall of the Berlin Wall” (though it was days later when the actual demolition of the Wall began), and it ended almost thirty years of division between East and West Berlin. The wall was constructed on 13 August, 1961 and became increasingly fortified, stretching across an 860-mile (1,380-kilometre) border.

the Soviet Union fell apart… – states became separate countries

Communist China eased up- but only a bit hopes for freedom were dashed in June 1989 at Tiananmen Square, where 100’s to 1000’s were killed by Red Army Soldiers, under orders to put down the democracy movement

• The bodies of dead civilians lie among mangled bicycles near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square early on June 4, 1989

The New World Order• the end of the Cold War did not bring peace… we have had

the Persian Gulf war, Yugoslavia and instability in Africa

• Operation Desert storm saw a multi-national United Nations force invade Iraq, after it had refused for 6 months to leave Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded……and Canadians participated

• new technology again changed the nature of war, with “smart” weapons

• The “New World Order” proclaimed by US President George Bush, Sr., would see the UN in a new role: as peacemakers, as opposed to just peacekeepers. Now, they would have to use force/aggression when required

As the only superpower remaining after the collapse

of the Soviet Union, the United States was left to dominate world affairs”

Somalia• As a part of a UN mission to Somalia,

where civil war and starvation had weakened the country, a Somali teen was tortured and beaten to death by some Canadian soldiers

• this was a major black eye for Canada…as the text says…” a serious shadow had been cast upon the reputation of Canada’s armed forces

Rwanda

• Canadian peacekeepers were sent to Rwanda as part of a UN mission to control the slaughter of ethnic rivalry

• Canadian Major General Roméo Dallaire appealed to the UN and the US for more help – quickly – but no help came, and close to a million people were killed

A New Era of Globalization

• Canada has continued to enter into free trade agreements with many places – Asia, Latin America, Israel, Chile, and joined APEC (Asia-Pacific economic Group) to promote more free trade

• GLOBALIZATION is the trend – due to progress in telecommunications technology and the fall of communism

• most countries are open for trade, and the Internet has made it easy to do business anywhere

• some feel globalization will be good – and raise the standard of living for all

• others feel it is bad – corporations will locate in poorer countries where labour costs are low – and thus, the home countries will lose jobs

• many feel it is a threat to cultures, as the American/Western culture may dominate

• QUESTION: Should Canada build trade relationships with countries with a record of human rights abuses?