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Quebec's Padlock Law
Quebec implemented a law that protected the province's citizens from communist propaganda threats. This law allowed local sheriffs to close down meeting plases that were suspected of promoting Communisism or Bolshevism. This act was controversial and was a rallying point upon by libertians wh considered this law one of the most suppresive in Canadian legislation. The term "padlock" comes from the act of placing a lock on a door to prevent use of the corresponding building. -
Gouzenko Affair
Igot Gouzeko was a Soviet spy who was thorougly trained in intelligance work. He was assigned to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa in 1943. There were numerous spy networks operating in Canada at the time and one of their greatest achievments was to steal the secret of the atomic bomb. When Igor was informed that he and his family were being sent back to Russia, he did not wish to go back to the communist society and decided to reveal the Russian espionage to Canada. -
Berlin Blockade
Lasting from June 24 1948 to May 12 1949, The Berlin Blockade was an attempt from the Soviet Union to force the allies to give up their established rights to take the western part of the former German capital, Berlin. It consisted of physically blocking all suppy lines to the city. This did not end up working as planned as the allies used an airlift to provide rations to the city. The Blockade, however, created tension between the Allies and Soviets. -
The Formation of NATO
NATO, or North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an agreement between member countries, (Canada and United states included) to unite and protect one another from Soviet aggression. This pact originated because of the open communism threat that Western Europe, as well as Canada and the United states were faced with. Both sides fearful of an attack, hydrogen bombs were developed, the strongest kinds of bombs to ever come into existence by mankind. -
The Korean War
Spanning from June 25 1950 to June 27 1953, The Korean war was an attempt from Communist North Korea and China to overtake South Korea. This was unsuccessful as the U.N. immediately took action, sending 16 members to the front lines. Canada ranked third intotal aid, sending almost 25000 soldiers before the shooting came to a halt. After the shooting, the U.N. guaranteed independence of South Korea by staying until 1955 to ensure protection. -
Vietnam War & Draft Dodgers
The Vietnam War, occuring from November 1 1955 to April 30 1975 was a fight between the unification of Vietnam in the presence of a communist government and South Vietnamese and the U.S., against the communism. Eventually, U.S. leaders lost the support of the public, and withdrew from the war. Draft dodgers were a term used for those who illegaly did not oblige to conscription, intentionally making the decesion of not complying to the mandatory measures. -
Suez Crises to Nobel Prizes
The Suez Crisis was a battle for control over the Suez canal, located in Egypt. When Egyptian leader, General Nasser decided to take over it, this meant a loss of power and wealth for the French and British. As they tried to regain control, the Soviets made threats, and the canal led to a serious international conflict. In 1957, Lester B. Pearson won a nobel prize for amending this situation. His plan called for a special UN force to stop the shooting and withdrawl of invading forces. -
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Diefenbaker, Missles, and Warheads
In 1957, the Conservatives won the minority government. As the leader, John Diefenbaker raised senior's pensions, cut taxes, and appealed to the farmers of western Canada. When the cancellation of the Avro Arrow took place, it was replaced by missiles. Since warheads were not allowed into Canada, it limited Amerca's control of when the missiles would be used. -
Space and Sputnik
Sputnik was a satellite that was launched into space by the Soviets. The problem, however, was the rocket that launched it; it could be used to guide nuclear weapons into North America. In fear, the Americans build long range missiles called ICBMs.The world, once again, was on the precipice of war. Children were drilled for attack procedures. U.S. president, Ronal Reagan announced that America would develop lasers to destroy ICBMs from space. This idea was dubbed, "Star Wars". -
Avro Arrow
The Avrow Arrow was a supersonic, interceptor, jet aircraft created by Canadians, which was cacelled on Februrary 20 1959 by Conservative Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker. In it's place, American Bomarc missiles were put in for Canada's defence. This caused repercussions as it cost 14000 Canadians their jobs. However, it also limited American control of when the missiles would be used. -
NORAD & DEW
The North American Air Defence, or NORAD, was an agreement bet ween Canada and United states of defend each other in the heat of the cold war. This allowed americans to build DEWs, or Distance Early Warning in the Northwest Territories. These were high-powered radar that can pick up signals of incoming misiles up to 4800km away. This caused disputes between pacifists and people within Canada, Contrastly, others found reassurance in a united detterence against the Soviets. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
On the precipice of a nuclear war, the Cuban missile crisis was the closest confrontation to a real war within the Cold War. In 1962, American spy planes discovered construction of soviet missile sites in Cuba, which could be used to fire missiles onto North America. As a result, the americans built a naval blockade around the island to insure that soviet ships would not attack. Eventually, the Soviet ships turned back before reaching the blockade. This marked the end of the threat of war. -
Canadian-Soviet Hockey Series
40 years ago, as well as today, hockey was a popular passtime amongst Canadians. Incidentally, Canadians were not the only ones that excelled at this sport; the Russians were indeed very talented as well. Many Canadians believed that if the top players from Russian and Canada were to play against each other, the Canadians would win. In 1972, a series was organized between the two, composing of NHL players. The match seem to tied until Paul Henderson scored a goal in the last minute, Canada won. -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Much like the rise, the fall of the Berlin was relatively abrupt. When the communism governments of Europe were beggining to dissolve, Mikhail Gorbachev stated, "Permanent relocations can be done through all border checkpoints between the GDR (East Germany) into the FRG (West Germany) or West Berlin." People could not beleive this and the Berlin blockade was over. -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
With the space race going on between America and the Soviets, the ecnonomy in Russia slowly began to decline. Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed president of communist party in 1985. This marked the beggining of change as he worked with U.S. president Ronal Reagan to come to terms with disagreements that caused havoc in the past. In 1989, the Soviet union dissolved their communist governments in many countries across west Europe and communism came to an end.
