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The first use of the Atomic Bomb
The first use of the atomic bomb took place in 1945 on August 6th (August 9th as well). America dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulting in the death of 120,000 civilians. This was the first and only atomic bomb used, which caused a spark to the Cold War. -
Gouzenko Affair
On September 5th, 1945, a Russian clerk and intelligence officer at the Soviet Embassy (Igor Gouzenko) found papers containing evidence that there was a Soviet Spy Ring in Canada that was being aided by Canadian politicians. To keep him and his family from being sent back to Russia, he brought the papers to the RCMP,but they didn't believe him, until his apartment was ransacked. He and his family were sent to Camp X to hide and to stay protected, and the politicians were tried for treason -
Formation of the United Nations
On January 1, 1942, representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis Powers met in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations endorsing the Atlantic Charter, pledging to use their full resources against the Axis and agreeing not to make a separate peace. China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, etc were all involved in the formation. The UN developed friendly relations among nations and aimed to prevent wars from happening. -
Formation of NATO
On April 4th, 1949, Canada, Luxembourg, US, France, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, Italy, Great Britain, Norway, Holland, and Portugal formed NATO to protect members from the USSR, and they pleaded to defend one another if such an attack had occurred. The formation of NATO was significant because it was Canada’s first peacetime military alliance. -
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Korean War
On June 25th, North Korea invades South Korea, UN steps in and assists South Korea to fight off North Korea. North Korea,True Korea, South Korea, USA, China, USSR, UN, India, Turkey, UK, Canada, France, and plenty more were involved in the Korean War. The war lasted three years and 26,791 Canadian Military Personnel fought in the Korean War. This war was Canada’s third bloodiest oversea conflict, 516 Canadians were killed and 1200+ wounded. -
Formation of the Warsaw Pact
In 1955, The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. The Warsaw pact was the rival alliance to the NATO. It provided stability between both conflicting forces and was a form of non-nuclear confrontation between the allied Soviet and the United States. -
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The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a war fought by USA, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, China, Cambodia, North Vietnam, USSR, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, North Korea, Philippines, etc. North Vietnam was communist, while South Korea was a Capitalist government. Canada played a role by donating $29 million towards South Vietnam and sold a total of $12.5 billion worth of war supplies to the US. -
Suez Crisis
The Suez crises in October 1956 was military and political issues and confrontations in Egypt, which threatened to turn the West, America, against the East, Britain. This is significant because the UN and Canada became more of peacekeeping organizations, they were able to fix and solve the situation before it got out of hand. -
Formation of NORAD
Canada and America were both involved in the formation of NORAD in 1957. NORAD integrated the air defence forces of the two countries, America's commander was first in command, and Canada’s was the second in command. After NORAD was created, Canada was primarily dealing with the US instead of Britain for the first time. -
The Cancellation of the Avro Arrow
The Avro Arrow was a supersonic jet interceptor developed by A.V. Roe of Canada. The Arrow was designed to carry air-to-air nuclear-tipped missiles to destroy Soviet bomb attacks over the Canadian North. At the time, the cancellation of the arrow was not significant because almost everyone that knew about the aircraft agreed that the program should end. It was after cancellation that the myth making and exaggeration began and the Arrow then became the world's best aircraft. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962, Cuba, America, Canada and the USSR were involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis. This crisis had major confrontation that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba. Because of how close Cuba is to America, Americans and Canadians feared that if the Soviets shot missiles they could hit America and some parts of Canada. This crisis marked the closest point that the world had ever come to global nuclear war. -
SALT Treaty
In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in a treaty signed by Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. For the first time during the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union had agreed to limit the number of nuclear missiles in their arsenals. This is significant because it is considered the crowning achievement of the Nixon-Kissinger strategy of détente. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
In 1983, the United States had the Strategic Defence Initiative, a response to possible nuclear attacks. There were concerns brought up about the program “contravening” the anti-ballistic missile of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks years before. Because of this, the Strategic Defence Initiative was ultimately set aside. This event is significant because it played a significant role in the events that led to the end of the cold war nuclear confrontation. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Initially, East Germany put up the wall but the spokesperson for the East Berlin Communist Party said that there was a change in the relations with West Berlin, and that the members of the GDR were able to cross the country’s borders. The Berlin Wall symbolized the separation between Capitalism and Communism, as well as the lack of freedom from being under a communist government. It was and continues to be one of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War. -
Break up of the Soviet Union
In 1991, representatives from the soviet republics announced that they were no longer apart of the soviet union. Instead they declared they would establish a commonwealth of independent states. These representatives include Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Since the USA resigned there was nobody for the other countries to fight against. The threat of communism and nuclear was no longer there.
