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Quebec's Padlock Law
The Padlock law was a provincail law in Quebec. It gave permission to the police to take any communist literature. Quebec was scared of all the forgein cultural influence from English speaking Canada and would not allow any communist influence. -
Spies in Canada: Gouzenko Affair
Igor Gouzenko was born into the Soviet Union. He worked in the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. While working here he learned of several spies in Canada. He learned to like life in Canada. But when he about to was going to be sent back to Russia he offered the Canadian Government information about spies in Canada. He was allowed to live in Canada and many of the spies were caught. -
International Alliances: NATO
NATONATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was created to prevent the USSR from taking control of any country that is a member of NATO. This pact discouraged the USSR from attacking a member nation because it would bring the other members of NATO into the conflict. In turn the Warsaw Pact was created to unite the Communist naitons militaries if there was an attack from the West. This futher divided the West and the East which both stockpiled nuclear weapons. -
Berlin Blockade
The Struggle for BerlinAfter WW2 Germany was divided between the East and West. The East being under Communist control. Berlin was also divided between West and East. Again East being underCommunist control. The Berlin Wall was built to separate the West and East. The Soviets planned on taking the Western portion of Berlin by blockading the supplies from entering Western Berlin. The Allies were able to continue to get supplies to West Berlin for some time by aircraft. But eventully Berlin was lost to the Communists. -
"The Forgotten War"- The Korean War
Communist North Korea supported by communist China decides to invade South Korea. Which is supported by the US and the UN. The US wants to stop communist aggresion and the UN follows. Canada is the third biggest contributer to South Korea in the Korean War. -
UN Peacekeeping: The Suez Crisis and Pearson Wins Nobel Prize
The Middle East has always been a geo-political hot spot. There have been problems between the Jews and Arabs. Britian and France both have interests in the Middle East but the US and USSR both want their oil. While there was a conflict between the Arabs and the Jews Egypt decided to take over the Suez Canal which connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Britain, France and Isreal decided to take control of the Suez Canal. The Soviets who supported Egypt considered retaliating. -
UN Peacekeeping: The Suez Crisis and Pearson Wins Nobel Prize
Pearson wins Nobel PrizeThe Un called a meeting to discuss the issue in the Middle East. Canada's Prime Minister at the time was Lester B. Pearson. He created a plan to remove the invading forces in the Middle East, patrol the border areas and create peace. Because of this plan Pearson won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1957. -
Sputnik and Canada's Space Program
Canada's Space ProgramThe rocket that put Sputnik into orbit could deliver nuclear war heads anywhere in North America. This worried the Americans, so the Americans built long range missiles then the Russians built long range missiles. Missiles could be lauched from Cuba so the Americans prevented the Russians from coming into the island.
As a result, the Canadians cancelled their work on the Avro Arrow interceptor jet and bought the nuclear-tipped Bomarc missile from the Americans. -
Continental Alliances: NORAD and DEW line
NORADThe North American Air Defence (NORAD) agreement was signed by the Canadians and Americans to say that they would defend each other. The Americans built radar antennae stations in the Canadian Northwest Terrritories that could detect enemy aircraft and missiles from 4800 km away. This was known as the Distant Early Warning system (DEW line). -
Avro Arrow and its Cancellation
Avro ArrowJohn Diefenbaker stopped Canada from making the expensive jet aircraft, Avro Arrow and instead bought ready-made American Bomarc missiles for Canada's defense. This allowed Canada to have control over their missile launches, instead of the U.S.
However, many Canadian jobs were lost as a result and the unemployment rate in Canada increased. -
Diefenbaker, Bomarc missilles and nuclear warheads in Canada
American Bomarc missiles were ordered by John Diefenbaker for Canada's defence to replace the expensive Avro Arrow. Nuclear Warheads were no longer allowed to be used in Canada. The Avro Arrow jet aircraft was developed and built by Canadians and therefore when they were discontinued,
14 000 Canadian jobs were lost which resulted in an increase in Canadian unemployment rates. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile CrisisAmerican spy planes discovered Soviet missiles being built in Cuba. If launched, these missiles could destroy any major city in North America. The U.S. prevented Soviet ships from delivering missiles and warheads to Cuba by setting up a blockade around Cuba. All U.S. Allies were expected to do the same. Canada thought that all possible missile bases should be examined instead of blockading Cuba. The blockades remained and the Soviet ships turned back. -
The Vietnam War and Draft Dodgers in Canada
Draft DodgersSome Americans did not want to fight in the Vietnam War so they came to Canada to avoid being drafted. Some Canadians called them heroes and others thought they were criminals. These Americans were labelled as Draft Dodgers by the RCMP. Their names were given to the American authorities. Some of these men became Canadian citizens and some waited for an American pardon to return home. -
Canadain Soviet Hockey Series
Hockey SeriesFor many years, Canada was unable to defeat any top European hockey teams in amateur championships, however, Canada felt that no European team could defeat a Canadian team made up of NHL players.
In 1972, a Canada, Russia hockey series was organized between the top Russian team and a Canadian team made up of NHL players. Canada won the series by breaking a three game tie with a goal by Paul Henderson in the last few minutes of the game. This win created national pride in many Canadians. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Fall of the Berlin WallCommunism began to weaken in Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989. On Nov. 9, 1989, the East German government made an announcement that all border crossings were now open between East and West Germany. East and West Germany became a single state on Oct. 3, 1990. Canadians and residents of all countries were now allowed to travel through all of Germany. The Wall symbolized the separation between democracy and communism. The fall of the wall marked the end of the Cold War. -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
Fall of the Soviet UnionOn Dec. 25, 1991, the USSR President resigned and handed over Soviet missile launching codes to the new Russian President. The Soviet flag was replaced with the Russian flag and the largest Communist state was abolished. This was the end of the Cold War. Canada connected with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and became the first Western country to recognize the independence of Ukraine.
