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Quebec's Padlock Law
Act against Communism Propaganda, banned "any newspaper, periodical, pamphlet, circular, document or writing, propagating Communism or Bolshevism." -
Gouzenko Affair
A Soviet cipher clerk in the embassy in Canada defected to Canada, scared for his life, and provided 39 names of Soviet spies in Canada. Of those 39, 18 were caught and tried. The clerk, Igor Gouzenko, went on to write a book and life a secluded, heavily protected life. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviet Union blocked the Allies supply route into Berlin in an attempt to take the city under Soviet control. The Allies responded by flying supplies in to Berlin. 24th June 1948 until 12th May 1949 -
UN Peacekeeping: The Suez Crisis and Pearson
- April 1957. After WWII a stretch of land north-east of Egypt was given to the Jewish people to compensate for the Holocaust. the Arabs didn't like this, as that land used to be theirs. When Egypt decided to take the Suez canal from the British, everyone started taking sides. The Communists sided with Egypt, as did the Arabs. The Israelis sided with Britain and France. To avoid conflicts, Canadian politician Pearson suggested that the UN send a peacekeeping force into the area, which worked.
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International Alliances: NATO
A treaty of North Atlantic countries, founded to intimidate the Soviets and to prevent an attack. This strategy was only partially successful, however, as the Soviets responded with an alliance of their own; WARSAW. -
The Forgotten War- Korean War
25th June 1950-27th July 1953. North Korea, the Soviets and China invaded South Korea, who were allied with the UN. North Korea believed that all of Korea should be communist, whereas South Korea liked their right-hand system. -
Avro Arrow and its Cancellation
1953-1960. The Avro Arrow was a Canadian designed and built 'delta-winged interceptor aircraft'. The craft was superior to anything previously built, and several countries had placed orders for the plane before the whole plan was controversially scrapped not long after 1958. -
The Vietnam War and Draft Dodgers in Canada
1955-1975. The Vietnam War was an attempt by Communist Russia to take Vietnam under their control and a defence by the US to prevent the spread of Communism. Even though over 80% of the US soldiers in Vietnam were volunteers the draft was still introduced. This prompted a huge increase in the number of draft dodgers, most of whom escaped into Canada. During this time people got very creative with their evasion methods, including faking psychological and medical problems or homosexuality. -
Sputnik and Canada's Space Program
As a part of the arms race between USA and the Soviets both countries were trying to produce the first orbital spacecraft. Much to the dismay of the US, the Soviet satellite Sputnik accomplished just this. In response, the US bought Long Range missiles, which made the Soviets buy some as well. This began the space age and triggered a new rivalry; the Space Race. -
Continental Alliances: NORAD and DEW line
NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defence Command, an early warning program set up by the US. This program would set up a Distant Early Warning line across northern Canada to warn the headquaters in America if the Soviets tried to launch a nuclear bomb. The DEW line was initially just a line of radar stations prepped to tell the US when a missile was coming, but became the cause of a major conflict in Canada when the US tried to place nuclear missiles in Canada on the line. -
Diefenbaker, Bomarc Missiles and Nuclear Warheads in Canada
1958-1963. Over the years Canada has had several different policies about housing missiles and nuclear warheads. The first nuclear missiles in Canada were Bomarc missiles. The Canadian government, influenced by the public's views, rejected these at first, but when a new PM was voted in the missiles were allowed to be placed in a site near the RCAF Station in North Bay. Since then three other missiles have been placed on Canadian soil, none of which were solely Canadian. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest that we ever came to all out war during the Cold War. The Soviets developed good relations with Cuba's leader in the 1950 and 60s, and reached a secret agreement to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any US invasion. The US found out, however, and set up a blockade to prevent the missiles from ever reaching Cuba. If the ships tried to pass the blockade they would be shot and nuclear war would have broken out. Fortunately, the USSR retreated. -
Canada Soviet Hockey Series
An eight-game series of hockey games between the Canadian and USSR teams. The last match of this series has been named possibly one of the most dramatic wins ever, due to the hostilities and huge amount of nationalism brought on by the Cold War. The final winning goal was scored by Paul Henderson in the last 30 seconds of play, winning Canada the series and a whole ton of pride. The games were played viciously, wiht dirty mover on both sides likely affecting the outcome. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall Cont'd
... by the politician who was giving a press conference. People were led to believe the changes were immediate and with no exceptions or permits necessary. Excited citizens flocked to the border to see for themselves and grew furious when they were told t come back the next day with a special permit. After a huge amount of people gathered and protested, the border guards went against direct orders and let all the people through. The gates were opened. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
People weren't happy with the erection of the Berlin Wall to begin with, and in 1989 those bad feelings escalated. Thousands of people began to flee East Germany through the border between Hungary and Austria, and many more escaped into the West German embassies. Officials of East Germany tried to stop the floods of people leaving, but this only resulted in over 1 million people rioting. The government tried to pass a law allowing people to cross the border with permits, but a mistake was made.. -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
Put simply, the Soviet Union grew too big to manage successfully. Several other factors led up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, including the Afghanistan Quagmire, Perestroika, Decentralization, Glasnost and Chernobyl, among others.
