The Cold War: The War At Home

Avro Arrow

Canada: Post WWIINewfoundland joins Canada

• On March 31, 1949 Newfoundland entered confederation as the tenth province.

• Joey Smallwood spearheaded the movement for union with Canada and became Newfoundland’s first premier

• There was a referendum in Newfoundland regarding confederation and there was a significant amount of opposition a vote was held and 45% of the people voted in favor of creating a responsible government, while 41% voted to join Canada, and 14% voted for a commission Government.

• This vote was considered unclear, and in a second vote union with Canada obtained a majority vote.

Joey Smallwood

Boom in resource development• A wave of prosperity swept Canada in the fifties.

Western oil and Natural gas reserves yielded new sources of power for Canadian industry. Hydroelectric projects were initiated to harness electricity

• As new resources were discovered new industries sprung up to support them. Ex the St. Lawrence Seaway was constructed to aid in the transport of materials. Building the St. Lawrence Seaway

• A great deal of this economic growth was largely due to foreign investment, much of it American. This contributed to the wealth of Canada during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Unfortunately this also led to future conflicts over the ownership and financial control of Canada’s resources

The Baby Boom Canada’s population grew more quickly in the 15 years after WWII than at

any other time. By 1961 there were 50% more Canadians than there had been at the end of the war. This period becomes known as the Baby Boom.

Many Canadian soldiers had married overseas and brought their “war brides” home.

People began to move to the “suburbs,” shopping malls, cars and expressways became part of the Canadian way of life.

In this post-war period more immigrants came to Canada than at any time since the turn of the century. Many were refugees or displaced persons from Eastern European countries like Poland, Yugoslavia, and Latvia. Now that their homelands were ruled by communists they felt they could no longer live there.

By 1951, only 47% of Canadians had their roots in Britain. The multicultural society had arrived

In Canada today around 27% of the total population, belong to the children of baby boomers.

This generation is often called Generation Y or the echo generation 'echo of the baby boom.’

The children of baby boomers generation was smaller than the baby boomer generation. Baby boomers had fewer children than their parents. Fertility dropped from 3.1 children per woman at the end of the baby boom (1965) to 1.6 in the mid-1980s.

Case Study: Canadian Sports Heroes of the 40’s and 50’s

• Barbara Ann Scott King was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion (1944–46, 48) in ladies' singles.

• Known as "Canada's Sweetheart", she is the only Canadian to have won the Olympic ladies' singles gold medal, the first North American to have won three major titles in one year and the only Canadian to have won the European Championship (1947–1948).

• During her forties she was rated among the top equestrians in North America. She received many honours and accolades, including being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and a member of the Order of Ontario in 2008.

• Joseph Henri Maurice "The Rocket" Richard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1942 to 1960.

• The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50 games and the first to score 500 goals in a career

• Richard won the Stanley Cup eight times in Montreal, He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, the customary three-year waiting period being waived in his honour.

The Fabulous Fifties• Economically things looked good in the 50’s. • Television became a common feature in Canadian homes.

Mass Marketing becomes much more effective and is beginning to be aimed at the growing teen population

• The fifties brought prosperity and excitement. But rapid change can be hard. The divorce rate began to creep up. The move to the suburbs increased reliance on the automobile. Cities, fashions, lifestyles and values were transformed in the 50’s

• Rock and Roll emerged as a new form of musical expression and drew attention to the new culture of youth that was developing because of the Baby Boom

• The 50’s marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the US and this would effect Canada as well.

• World War II was over, however the “Cold War” was just beginning.

• TV Commercial on Ford

TV Commercials• Barbie• Rice Krispies

Socialism in Canada• The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, or

CCF was elected in 1944 in Saskatchewan under the leadership of Tommy Douglas. Mouseland

• The CCF favored socialist policies, designed to increase government involvement in the economy and improve social programs.

• During the cold war the CCF faced a great deal of criticism and were occasionally denounced as communists.

• In 1961 Douglas resigned from the CCF to become the national leader of the newly organized New Democratic Party (NDP)

• Ultimately the CCF and the NDP under the leadership of Douglas, were responsible for the introduction of the Medicare Act to Canada. Social Credit

Tommy Douglas

The Cold War• In the 1950’s the cold war became the dominant force in

international politics. It divided the world between two opposing ideologies: totalitarian Communism and democratic Capitalism

• The capitalist nations, led by the US and the communist countries, led by the Soviet Union, competed for influence over, or control of, the rest of the world.

• Most of the countries the two sides sought to dominate were developing countries or former colonies of Western powers.

• In the US McCarthyism began to spread at the instigation of American senator John McCarthy, who accused many Americans in and out of government of being communists and started the House to

• The developing world became the battleground for the two new superpowers in a series of proxy wars.

Igor Gouzenko• Igor Gouzenko was a clerk for the

Soviet embassy in Canada who gave away Soviet spy secrets and defected.

• Gouzenko is often credited with helping start the Cold War. Interview

• His defection highlighted the distrust between the West and Eastern Powers

McCarthyism and the Red Scare• McCarthyism has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red

Scare, from around 1950 to 1956 • Americans became increasingly afraid of communist influence on American institutions

and espionage by Soviet agents.• Named for U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" • During the McCarthy era, thousands of Americans were accused of being communists

or communist sympathizers • The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the

entertainment industry, educators and union activists. • Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence,

and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated.

• Many people suffered loss of employment and/or destruction of their careers; some even suffered imprisonment.

• McCarthyism includes the speeches, investigations, and hearings of Senator McCarthy himself; the Hollywood blacklist, associated with hearings conducted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC); and the various anti-communist activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under Director J. Edgar Hoover.

The Cold War Continued: Korea

• In 1951 the Cold War centered on Korea• This was the first open warfare between

Communist forces and pro-Western forces. • Within days of the invasion of South Korea,

Canada offered 3 naval destroyers to the UN force. By the end of the Korean war, about 25 000 Canadians saw action in the conflict. 312 Canadians were killed

• The Korean War involved the USSR and China vs. the USA and its allies under the leadership of the UN. The Korean War ended in 1953 only to be replaced by a long and bloody war in French Indo-China, that would eventually draw the US into combat in Vietnam.

• Cold War destruction

Cold War: The Arms Race• In 1951 the US tested its first hydrogen bomb. • Through out the Cold War the US and the Soviet

Union develop weapons of Mass destruction. Building bombs nearly 1000x as powerful as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

• The USSR followed by testing its first hydrogen bomb in 1953.

• People in North America begin to build Fallout Shelters, to hide in, in the event of a nuclear attack

• The Arms Race was on. By the end of the decade, guided missiles were beginning to replace bombers. The US and the USSR were now able to attack targets 10 000 km away in less than 1 hour.

• American Propaganda against Communism

Space Race• The arms race led to the space race.• The Soviets initially led the space race they launched “Sputnik” was the

first artificial Earth satellite. It was a polished metal sphere. • The Soviet Union launched it on October 4, 1957. • The surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis, began the

Space Age and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. • The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific

developments• If missiles could send hydrogen bombs halfway around the world, then

they could also carry nuclear payloads into space.• The USSR launched its first satellite armed with a nuclear warhead in

1958; the US soon followed.• Soon scientists began exploring the possibility of using satellites for

peaceful means, such as communications and space exploration.

Canada and the Cold War Canada had a precarious position in the Cold War. Canada is located between the two major players in

the Cold War the US and the USSR. Canada was firmly on the side of the US in the Cold war and became a member of both, NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization and NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) this changed in 1981 to (North American Aerospace Command), which acted as the North American defense system.

The Communists had their own defensive organization known as the Warsaw Pact

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

• NATO countries include:• Norway, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, France,

Belgium, Netherlands, West Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and of course the USA and Canada

• Warsaw countries include:• The Soviet Union, East Germany,

Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania

Canada and the Cold War: the Avro Arrow

• During the 1950’s the Canadian government was involved in the development of a new military jet aircraft. The Avro Arrow was built by the A.V. Roe Company in Ontario.

• It was expected to be one of the most advanced war planes of its kind.• The Arrow was initially approved by the Liberal government in 1953,

however when the conservatives took power under John Diefenbaker (AKA Dief the Chief) in 1957, he cancelled the Arrow project.

• This led to a great deal of controversy: thousands of people lost their jobs.

• People charged that the government had abandoned a made-in-Canada project in favor of a made in the US defense policy. They claimed that the entire Canadian aircraft industry was crippled by Diefenbaker's decision.

• Despite being partially responsible for the creation and passage of the Bill of Rights in 1960, Diefenbaker’s decision to ground the Arrow contributed to the Conservative party defeat in 1963.

Avro Arrow Maiden Flight

The Suez Canal Crisis• The French built the Suez Canal in the 1860’s Soon after

the British bought a majority of shares in the Suez Canal Company, in order to make the canal part of their route to India. The British were at this time occupying Egypt. In 1955 with Britain's eastern empire gone, Britain agreed to withdraw from Egypt.

• At the same time as the British were removing themselves from Egypt. The Egyptians under the Leadership of Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser began the completion of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile.

• In 1956 because of Nasser’s dealings with the USSR, Britain and the US cut off aid for the Aswan project.

• In return Nasser seized the Suez Canal Company. He also encouraged more terrorist attacks on Israel, and invited the USSR to help him finish the dam. This made the British very angry. The British believed that the US and the rest of the Commonwealth would share there anger over the Suez incident.

• Suez Canal News Report

Moshe Dayan

The Suez Canal Crisis: Continued• The Commonwealth, with the exception of Australia and New Zeeland,

were not sympathetic to what was viewed as an example of British imperialism.

• Canada did not care about the Canal, however it was very concerned about the effect of the crisis on international relations.

• Canada realized that while the US might not agree with Nasser’s actions, they would not support Britain in an aggressive action against Egypt.

• France and Israel supported Britain. • The Israelis were supposed to attack Egypt on Nov. 1, 1956. The plan was

that the French and English would use this as a pretext to step in and guard the vital international waterway.

• Their hope was that Nasser’s government would then topple.• On Oct. 29 Israeli paratroops struck. On Oct. 30, Britain and France

ordered both Egypt and Israel to stay 16km away from the Canal. • The USSR responded with an ultimatum: Atomic Bombs would rain down

on London and Paris if the invasion did not end.

The Suez Canal Crisis: Continued• The Americans were very angry with the British.• The U.N. Security Council ordered Israel to withdraw, Britain and France used

their vetoes for the first time.• The issue was taken before the U.N. General Assembly. There, 65 nations

supported a resolution denouncing the invasion. Canada abstained from the vote.

• Canada was torn over the issue. A small majority supported the British invasion. Prime Minister St. Laurent did not.

• The Prime Minister and then Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester Pearson told England that there would be no Canadian support for the Attack on Egypt.

• Pearson proposed that an “emergency UN force” be sent in this is known as the UNEF.

• This gave the French and British a pretext to withdraw from Egypt. Nassar agreed that the force was acceptable.

• Pearson had found the formula that kept Britain and France from humiliation, and the UN, NATO and the Commonwealth survived the confrontation intact.

• In 1957 Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Suez Canal Crisis.

• This is the climax of Canada’s role as first of the middle powers.

Lester B. Pearson

The creation of OPEC• Oil producing nations like Iran started OPEC in 1960s by approaching

other oil producing nations like Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.• They had discussed a closer relationship as early as 1949, suggesting that

they exchange views and explore avenues for regular and closer communication among petroleum-producing nations of the world.

• The founding members of OPEC are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.

• In 1973, OPEC declared an oil embargo in response to the United States' and Western Europe's support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The result was a rise in oil prices from $3 per barrel to $12 and gas rationing.

• U.S. gas stations put a limit on the amount of gasoline that could be sold, closed on Sundays, and limited the days gasoline could be purchased based on license plates

Bomarc Missiles• First long-range anti-aircraft missiles in

the world developed by Canada with the help of the Americans.

• They were put all around the coasts and the border to protect against soviet planes.

NORAD• Stands for North American Aerospace

Defence Command.• The US pressured Canada to setup a missile

defense program to warn of incoming nuclear weapons.

• The program was established in 1958.

Norad Central Control

The DEW Line• Stands for Distance Early Warning Line and

was used in the fifties.• A system of radar stations in the far north that

would detect soviet bombers.• Became outdated as it became possible for

countries to launch nuclear weapons without planes using intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMS.

The Massey Commission• In the 1950’s much like in the 1920’s Canadians were inundated by

American culture. Canadians watched American movies, listened to American Radio shows and watched American Television programs.

• The government and people of Canada became concerned that Canada would lose its unique identity.

• The Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, otherwise known as the Massey–Lévesque Commission, chaired by Vincent Massey, examined Canada's cultural sovereignty from the United States and various other nations.

• The report released its findings in 1951 when it concluded that Canada was indeed threatened, culturally, by the United States of America.

• The Massey Report recommended the creation of cultural institutions such as the National Library of Canada, the Canada Council, and other grant-giving government agencies.

The Canada Council for the Arts and the National Library of Canada

• The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957

• It acts as an arts council of the government of Canada.• Created as the result of the Massey Commission to foster and promote the study and

enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.• It funds Canadian artists and encourages the production of art in Canada. • Now combined with the National Achieves of Canada the purpose of the National Library is

to • to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future

generations;• to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and

economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society;• to facilitate in Canada co-operation among communities involved in the acquisition,

preservation and diffusion of knowledge;• to serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.• LAC is expected to maintain "effective recordkeeping practices that ensure transparency and

accountability".