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Gouzenko
Gouzenko AffairsIgor Gouzenko worked was born in the Soviet Union in 1919. He later moved to Canada to work for the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. Once his time was up in Candad he had to return to Russia, but he didnt want to. He offered the Canadian government secrets about Soviet spies in exchange for permanent protection in Canada. He supplied documents which convicted 18 people of spying. Gouzenko and his family went into hididng under the protection of the RCMP and lived uner new names. -
Quebec's Padlock Law
The Quebec padlock law was an act which prohibited anyone to use or allow any person to make use of it to propagate communism or bolshevism by any means whatsoever as well as the printing, publishing or distributing of any documents or writing promoting communism was illegal. In many cases a padlock was placed on the building or home suspected of creating or distributing the propagada. The law was ill-defined and denied freedom of speech, and people who were convicted weren't allowed to testify -
Berlin Blockade
Berlin BlockadeIn 1948 the Soviets broke an agreement with the allies in attempt to force them to give up their rights to West Berlin. The Soviets tried to physically block all supply lines to west berlin. but that failed. The allies had airlifted food, water and other suppiles to the citizens of West Berlin. on the otherhand, the bloackade did succeed in the sense that they raised tensions between Russia and its old Allies. -
International Alliances: NATO
The soviet union had continued to try and spread thier communism ideas globally, which worried other countires in Europe and North America about national security. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed as a defense pact to protect against enemy attack. Providing a united front would discourage attackers. Fearful of Nato, the Soviets created their own alliance, with many other Europnean counties, known as the Warsaw pact. -
"The Forgotten War": The Korean War
In 1950 North Korea was a communist country supported by China. North Korea decided to attack South Korea (who was supported by the United States).The United Nations sided with South Korea and asked all the other countires in the UN to defend and protect South Korea. 16 countires, including Canada, aided in the war effortand ensured South Korea's independance. Many Canadian soldiers stayed behind in South Korea after the war to maintian peace between the two countires. -
UN Peacekeeping: The Suez Crisis
Many middle eastern countries were upset that the state of Isreal was created on their lands and the Arab peopel were set out to destroy it. In 1956 Arab forces attacked Isreal and lost, but swore to take revenge. A shaky truce was established and lasted until 1956. Egypt took control of the Suez Canal in 1956, the location of the canal, its resources and other world powers made tensions rise. Isreali forces, along with the UK and France, attacked Egypt to regain control of the canal. -
Pearson Wins Nobel Prize
Suez CrisisLester B. Pearson, Canada's secretary of extrenal affaris, presented a solution to the United Nations to end the Suez crisis. He called for an immediate end to all shooting and for a special UN peacekeeping force to monitor both sides and patrol the border. He was recognized for his contributions to the Suez crisis and he received a Nobel Prize. This was a huge honour for Canada. -
Sputnik and Canada's Space Program
SputnikSputnik a satellite leaunched by the Soviets on October 4th, 1957. It orbited around the earth and the rocket that launched it into space could deliver a warhead to anywhere in North America. Feeling the Soviets now had a military advantage, missles were built to counter an attack. As a respone to Sputnik, Canada crated its own satellite called the Alouette 1. This satellite was launched on September 19, 1962. -
Avro Arrow and its Cancellation
Avro ArrowAfter WWII, the Soviets were developing a capable fleet of long-range bombers with the ability to deliver nuclear weapons across North America and Europe. To counter this threat the Avro arrow was built to intercept these bombers and prevent an attack. The planes were technologically advanced and provided many jobs for Canadians. When Prime Minister Diefenbaker came into power he deemed these planes as unnecessary and discontinued them putting many people out of a job, causing political trouble. -
NORAD/DEW
Many technological advancements in the 1950's made it clear North America needed a much better defence system. The North AMerican Air Defense (NORAD) agreement was created as a pact between Canada and the United States to protect one another. Defence service installations were built in the Northwest Territories to create the Distant Early Warning system, also called the DEW line. Stations on the DEW line could pick up signals from approaching aircraft or missiles up to 4800 km away. -
Bomarc Missiles
Prime Minister Diefenbaker knew Canada needed a better Defence system so he initially agreed to deploy the missiles, and shortly thereafter controversially scrapped the Avro Arrow, a supersonic manned interceptor aircraft, arguing that the missile program made the Arrow unnecessary. It was undecided whether the missiles would have a warhead attatched or not, becuase warheads were not alowed in Canada. After a tough decision the warheads were not allowed, which lead to a spilt in the government. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
After the discovery of the construction of Soviet missiles in Cuba, Americans were quick to defend themselves. From cuba, the missiles could be accurately launched to hit any major city in North America, so to prevent this they imposed a naval blockade to stop the delivery of warheads and missiles from Soviet ships. All allies prepared for an attack from the Soviets. In the end, the blockade worked and the Soviet ships returned to Russia. -
Canada-Soviet Hockey Series
Summit SeriesFor many years, Canadian hockey teams were unable to beat the top European teams, especially Russia, the olympic and world championships. But the believed a Canadian team made up of NHL layers could finally defeat Russia. So, in 1972 a series was organized between the top Canadian and Russian team. The series was spilt with 3 wins for each team. In the final game in Mosocw, Paul Henderson scored the game winning goal and ended the series. This gave Canadians everywhere pride in their country. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Fall of the Berlin Wall In 1985 a new dictator, Gorbachev, came into power in Russia. He was not as strict as the provious rulers and many of the communist countries around Russia, like Lativa, Estonia and Lithuania, gianed thier indpendance. Because of this shift in policies, many citizens in East Germany began demonstrating and rebelling against the government. On November 9, 1985, the leader of East Germany allowed peoplet to cross the border to enter West Germany. This began the destruction of the Berlin wall. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
fall of USSRAfter Leonid Brezhnev's death the dissolution of the Soviet union began. Mikhail Gorbachev became the new leader and instilled many more political and social freedoms, such as the open criticism of communism. Many Eurpoean countires began resisting the control of the central leaders, the USSR, and many gianed their own independance. The increasing democracization lead to a weakening central power and eventually the Soviet Union became bankrupt and destitute. The USSR finally collapsed in 1991. -
Vietnam War and Draft Dodgers in Canada
Draft DodgersThrough out the Vietnam war Canada tried to remain neutral, but they did side with America. They sent over many types of supplies, like ammunition, over to the Americans in battle. Canada also tried to mediate between the warring countries. During the war, many Americans eligable for conscription fled to Canada to escape conscription. Over 30,000 Americans immigrated to Canada to live in areas around Montreal and Toronto as well as in British Columbia.
