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Quebec's Padlock Law
CBC's a People's History - Comfort and Fear episode - In 1937 the Quebec government introduced an Act to prevent Communist propaganda
- Introduced by Maurice Duplessis (Premier of Quebec)
- It empowered local sheriffs to close down meeting places suspected of promoting communism or Bolshevism
- Denied freedom of speech to individuals
- There were concerns that the law would be used to arrest individual activists from international trade unions
- The law was considered unconstitutional in 1957 and was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada -
Spies in Canada: Gouzenko Affair
-Igor Gouzenko was born in Russia
-Trained in Intelligence work
-Assigned to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa as a cipher clerk in 1943
-He learned that Soviet Intelligence operated spy networks in Canada
-Defected to Canada in 1945 when he learned he and his family were going to be sent back to Russia
-Offered Canadian government secret documents that exposed works of Soviet spies
-From the documents 18 of 39 people were convicted of spying
-Helped create awareness of Communist threats in Canada -
Berlin Blockade
Berlin blockade and airlift- Soviet Union broke agreement with its former allies (US, Canada, France, UK) in 1948
- Tried to force the allies to give up their rights to occupy West Berlin
- Tried to physically block supply lines to West Berlin
- The "Berlin Blockade" failed because the allies organized an airlift to provide food and supplies to residents of West Berlin
- Blockade raised tension between the Soviet Union and its former allies
- Caused discussion between US and Canada on plans to better defend North America -
International Alliances: NATO
Overview of NATO- Many countries were worried about national security when the Soviet Union commited to spreading Communism
- April 4 1949: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded
- NATO is a pact to protect members from Soviet aggression
-Pledged to defend each other from enemy attacks
- Founders: Belgium, UK, Canada, Denmark, France, US, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal
- Because of NATO it was thought that acts of aggression against members would be discouraged -
"The Forgotten War" - The Korean War - Causes
Korean war - causes and consequences-Korea was politically divided at the end of WWII
- North Korea became communist, and South Korea got a right-wing government
- Their differences created an increased tension between them
- On June 25 1950, North Korea decided to attack South Korea
- US supported South Korea against this communist invasion
- Because of the US, the United Nations condemned the attack from North Korea and called on UN members to assist South Korea -
"The Forgotten War" - The Korean War - Canada
Canada pledges military support to South Korea- Of all of the UN members, 16 decided to aid the war effort in Korea
- Canada was ranked third in the total assistance to South Korea
- Almost 25 000 soldiers fought until the truce of 1953
- Over 1000 Canadians were wounded
- 406 Canadians were killed
- Canadian soldiers were asked to stay in Korea to maintain the truce until 1955 -
International Alliances: Warsaw Pact
- In fear of NATO, in 1955 the Soviet Union organized countries into a military alliance called the Warsaw Pact
- Included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union
- An arms race was beginning to build military superiority
- By 1950s both sides had built the hydrogen bomb
- This worried Canada: pacifists protested and others were afraid of safety and American domination, so the government wouldn't let nuclear weapons in Canada
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UN Peacekeepers: The Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis- In 1948 the Israeli and Arabs had a large dispute over rights to claim Israel
- Because of its strategic location many countries were interested in the area of Israel
- The US supported Israel and Russia supported Egypt
- The Suez Canal was a very important waterway connecting the Mediterranean and Red Sea
- Both sides wanted it
- France, UK and Israel agreed to get control; they attacked Egypt to get control of the Canal
- Russia threatened to help Egypt
- International tensions were rising -
Vietnam War and Draft Dodgers in Canada
Draft Dodgers in Canada- Between North Vietnam, which was supported by China and other Communist countries, and South Vietnam, which was supported by US and other anti-communist countries
- Canada didn't fight much in the war
- Some Canadians served with Americans in the war
- About 100 Canadians died
- Many Americans came to Canada to avoid conscription in the US; they didn't want to fight in Vietnam
- They were called Draft Dodgers
- Some Dodgers returned to the US after the war was over, and some stayed in Canada -
Continental Alliances: DEW line
- Canada let the US put some defence installations in the Northwest Territories to help create the DEW (Distant Early Warning system) line
- The line could pick up approaching enemy aircrafts from 4800 km away
- If an unidentified object is detected, NORAD is alerted, which controls defensive and offensive weapons
- Some Canadians don't like this because they think it puts Canada's defence into America's control
- Others think it is comforting to know that Canada's protected
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Diefenbaker
Diefenbaker speech- John Diefenbaker led the Conservative party to a minority government in 1957
- Won election and became PM of Canada
- In 1960 he passed the Canadian Bill of Rights to formally recognize the rights enjoyed by the people of Canada
- Promoted development of North by building roads
- Helped Western farmers by selling wheat to China and Russia
- Scrapped the Avro Arrow
- This cancellation cost 14 000 their jobs; slowed down economy and increased unemployment -
Continental Alliances: NORAD
- With the development of ICBMs that could deliver a nuclear warhead, by the late 1950s it was obvious that North America needed a better system of defence
- The NORAD (North American Air Defence) agreement was signed in 1958
- In the NORAD terms, Canada and the US have agreed to protect each other
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Sputnik and Canada's Space Program
Sputnik- In 1957 the Soviets launched the first "Sputnik" satellite
- The rocket that put Sputnik in orbit could also be used to deliver a nuclear warhead to North America
- The Americans replaced their fleet of long-range bombers with ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)
- The Soviets did the same thing
- A massive nuclear arms race was beginning -
UN Peacekeeping: Pearson wins Nobel Prize
Pearson wins Nobel Peace Prize- Solution to the Suez Crisis was found by Canada's secretary of state for external affairs, Lester Pearson
- Plan called for an end to all shooting and the creation of a UN peacekeeping force to moniter the withdrawl of the attackers
- Plan was accepted and Canada gave the largest contribution by any nation, which was 800 troops
- United Nations Emergency Force kept peace until asked to leave in 1967
- For his solution to the Suez Crisis, Pearson was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 -
Avro Arrow
Avro Arrow Cancelation - In 1958 John Diefenbaker became PM of Canada
- He cancelled the expensive Avro Arrow: a supersonic, intercepter, jet aircraft being built and developed by Canada
- To replace it Diefenbaker ordered already-made American Bomarc missiles for Canada's defence
- This limited control of when Canadians missiles would be used
- The Avro Arrow's cancellation cost 14 000 Canadians their jobs
- Unemployment increased and the Canadian economy slowed down -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy talks about the Cuban Missile Crisis- After the launch of Sputnik, US and the Soviets both built ICBMs
- American spy planes photographed Soviet missile sites on Cuba; from there missiles could accurately hit any major city in North America
- President Kennedy created a naval blockade around Cuba to stop the delivery of missiles and nuclear warheads by Soviets
- Canada suggested that suspected missile bases should be examined by experts, but the blockade stayed
- In the end the Soviet ships turned back before reaching the blockade -
Nuclear Warheads in Canada
Nuclear weapons in Canada- The version of missile, the Bomarc-B, was going to be fitted with nuclear warheads
- This was found out in 1960 and a dispute over whether Canada should adopt nuclear weaponry was formed
- Started protests throughout Canada
- In the end the government didn't adopt nuclear warheads for the Bomarcs
- In the 1963 election the Liberals came to power and accepted nuclear warheads
- The Bomarc warheads were fitted on December 31, 1963 -
Bomarc Missiles
- The Bomarc Missile Crisis was a dispute over whether Canada should have nuclear missiles as part of the NORAD agreement
- in 1958 Diefenbaker's government announced an agreement with the US to deploy 2 squadrons of American "Bomarc" anti-aircraft missiles in Canada
- Some argued that this missile would be an excellent replacement for the Avro Arrow
- The missiles would intercept any Soviet attacks on North America before it reached its target
- 56 missiles were deployed
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Canada-Soviet Hockey Series
Paul Henderson wins the series for Canada- For years, amateur Canadian hockey teams playing in championships had almost won but hadn't been able to beat the top European teams, specifically the Russian teams
- In 1972 there was a series between the top Russian team and a Canadian team of NHL players
- They tied with a split of 3 wins each
- In the final game (played in Moscow), Paul Henderson scored in the last few minutes and won the series for Canada
- This was a huge boost to national pride for Canada -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Fall of the Berlin Wall- At the end of WWII West Berlin was democratic and East Berlin was Communist
- Living conditions between them became very different; West Germany had an great economy, while East Germany had a slow economy
- Many residents of East Germany wanted out and many left across the borders
- East Germany built the Berlin Wall to stop this
- When the borders were declared open on November 9 1989, the people destroyed the Wall
- East and West Germany became one on October 3 1990 -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
Fall of the Soviet Union- Dissolution of the Soviet Union was the end of the Cold War
- In 1985, during the power of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union had political and economic problems
- Gorbachev introduced two policies of reform: freedom of speech, and economic rebuilding
- This gave peope freedom to openly blame Gorbachev for his failure to help the economy
- There were many protests and coup attempts
- On December 25 1991 Gorbachev resigned
- The next day, by popular demand, the Soviet Union no longer existed
