Transcript Canada and the Cold War, 1945-1957

Propaganda: Popular Culture
Propaganda was used heavily by both the USA
and the USSR to convince the public,
including Canadian citizens, that:
1.
A “real” enemy existed that wanted to
attack their society, their way of living,
and their well-being.
Propaganda: Popular Culture
2.
Ironically, the opposing side’s way of life
was one filled with injustice, evil, and a
lack of morality.
3.
Media was the dominant place in which
propaganda was disseminated.
Atomic Café
Ch. 10 - Duck and Cover
“Beware of communist attacks!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w0Up-212g
Question:
1. How did propaganda films help to prolong
the Cold War?
 Kept the fear alive.
The Creation of the United Nations

Created in 1945.

International agency that
would prevent another
international conflict = the
idea of collective security
and world peace.

Not a perfect system.
United Nations Security Council
UN Security Council:
 5 permanent members.
 10 non-permanent with 2 year terms (Canada
has served for 12 years the most of any nonpermanent members).
 Decisions require support of 9 members, but
the 5 permanent members can veto.
United Nations Security Council
UN Security Council:
 5 permanent members:
○ USSR (Russia Today)
○ USA
○ Britain
○ France
○ China
The Cold War “heats up”
What triggered the escalation?
1.
1949 – The USSR detonates their first
atomic bomb, the USA and Canada now
has to fear a nuclear attack
The Cold War “heats up”
2.
1949 – The Chinese Communist
Revolution takes place and Chairman
Mao becomes leader of China.
 Almost 2 billion communists now in the
world.
The Cold War “heats up”
3.
Soviet spies are discovered in Canada,
USA and Great Britain.
Communist Witch Hunts

“Witch hunts” led by CIA and FBI in US
(McCarthyism) and Canada.

McCarthyism (1950-54) = the practice of
making accusations of disloyalty, subversion,
or treason without proper regard for evidence
in regards to communism.
Communist Witch Hunts

Communist spies (Alger
Hiss, Gouzenko Affair)
are discovered in
Canada, USA, and
Britain.

Fear and paranoia
affected everyone.
The Gouzenko Affair

Canada was placed at the centre of the Cold
War in 1945 due to the Gouzenko Affair,
which exposed a Soviet spy ring in the
Canadian government.
The Gouzenko Affair

Conservatives thought Communism should
be outlawed in 1949.

P.M. Louis St. Laurent refused, noting that
such tactics were the trademarks of
dictatorships, not democracies.
The Gouzenko Affair

As a result of the Red Scare/Menace in
Canada, RCMP carried out illegal and secret
inquiries regarding potential communists in
Canada.

Potential immigrants were denied entry to
Canada and members of the communist
party were deported.
The Red Scare in the USA

The Red Scare was much worse in the
United States under the direction of Senator
Joseph McCarthy – “Goodnight and Good
Luck.”

Called McCarthyism.
Cold War Military Alliances
1. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization),
1949.
 Provided for the collective security of Western
Europe against the threat of Soviet
invasion/spread of communism.
 Founding Members: USA, Canada, Britain,
others.
Cold War Military Alliances
2. The USSR created the Warsaw Pact in 1955
to counter/rival NATO.
 Alliance of Eastern European Communist
countries was officially called 'The Treaty of
Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual
Assistance.'
 Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the
Soviet Union.
NATO: The Agreement
NATO Agreement:
 Any attack on one NATO member was
considered to be an attack on all.
 Tactical nuclear weapons could be used if
conventional weapons failed.
 As a last resort, total nuclear war would be
waged.
Canada and NATO: Commitment
Canada’s commitment to NATO:
 Had to keep Canadian troops based in
Europe.
 Canadian ships and planes tracked Soviet
subs.
Canada and NATO: Commitment
 Canadian forces participated in regular military
exercises with NATO allies.
 Canada adapted its defence policy to those of
its allies.
 All this meant that, to some extent,
Canada’s autonomy was sacrificed.
Nuclear Arms Race
 As both
superpowers
developed
nuclear
capability,
tensions
continued to
grow.
Canada is stuck
in the middle of
nuclear
warhead
stockpiles
How does Canada respond?

Places Distant Early Warning Line Stations
(DEW) in northern Canada.

US and Canada form NORAD (North
American Defense Agreement); gets
involved in Korean War (1950-53).
How does Canada respond?

Avro Arrow – Canada builds warplanes in
the 1950s.
 Plan eventually scrapped; many felt Canada
had lost chance as technological leader
during the Cold War.
 Many political debates occur over whether
following American foreign policy was making
us safer, or more at risk of going to war.
North American Defence
in Canada

Radar Stations:

To protect against direct Soviet air attacks,
the US built three lines of radar stations
across Canada between 1950-57.
North American Defence

The Lines were designed to give the USA
time to launch a counterattack if Soviet longrange bombers were attacking over the North
Pole:
 Pinetree Line
 Mid-Canada Line
 DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line
Warning Lines
Defence and
Canadian Autonomy

These radar stations were manned by US
military personnel on Canadian soil.

Many Canadians feared this also
compromised Canada’s autonomy, but most
accepted this as the price of better security
against a Soviet attack.
North American Defense:
BOMARC Missiles

BOMARC Missile Crisis:
 1958 PM Diefenbaker announced an
agreement with the US to deploy in Canada 2
squadrons of the American ramjet-powered
"Bomarc" antiaircraft missile.
 This controversial defence decision came from
the 1957 NORAD agreement with the US.
North American Defense

BOMARC Missile Crisis:
 Fifty-six missiles were deployed in Ontario and
Québec.
 The Canadian government did not make it
clear that the Bomarc-B, was to be fitted with
nuclear warheads.
North American Defense

BOMARC Missile Crisis:
 When this became known in 1960 it gave rise
to a dispute as to whether Canada should
adopt nuclear weapons.
 Eventually they were delivered (after some
bad relations between the US + Canada) but
when Pierre Trudeau came to power in 1969
the warheads were removed/phased out.
Defence : ICBMs

ICBMs
(intercontinental
ballistic missiles):
development meant
nuclear missiles
launched from the
USSR could reach
North American
cities within 30
minutes.
Defence: NORAD

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense
Command):
 Joint fighter forces.
 Missile bases and radar stations.
 All controlled by a central command station
built in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado.
Civil Defence
Canadians prepared for
nuclear war by:
 Building bomb
shelters.
 Teaching students to
“duck and cover.”
Civil Defence
 Canadians prepared for
nuclear war by:
 Formulating the Tocsin B
cross-Canada evacuation
plan.
 Building the
“Diefenbunker” = PM
Diefenbaker had his own
nuclear bunker built.
Defense: MAD

In reality, the best
deterrent against
nuclear attack was
the threat of all-out
nuclear war.
Defense: MAD

Later, both the USA
and USSR would
follow a policy of
M.A.D. (Mutually
Assured
Destruction) =
destroy each other
equally.
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