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The first use of the Atomic Bomb
-This event involved Japan and the U.S. The US uses one of its atomic bombs on Japan, this is the first military use of this weapon. They did this because they felt like this was the way to end the war and they also wanted to test their nuclear weapons (A-Bomb). -
Gouzenko Affair
This involved Canada and the USSR. Igor Gouzenko, displeased with Soviet life, defected and made his way to Canada with many Soviet documents. These documents showed massive spy networks operating in Canada, primarily concerned with the secrets of the atomic bomb. This gave Canada great information on what the Soviets were doing in regards to their spy networks in Canada. -
Formation of NORAD
The North American countries, Canada and the United States, feared greatly a Soviet assault from over the North pole. So then, they combined their air forces and set up radar stations throughout the Canadian arctic to detect any Soviet aircraft that may encroach upon their position. The Canadians fear that being in the middle of both countries would make them a target therefor set this up with the US as a early warning sign for both countries -
Formation of the United Nations
All the original members of the U.N. A replacement for the League of Nation after World War II in order to prevent another conflict. This organisation is what keeps the world from another world war and has worked up to this date. The UN also finds itself often in defense of capital, contrasting its well meaning initial goals. -
Formation of NATO
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an organisation between Canada, the US, Britain and the nations of Western Europe. NATO was created in part to aid in the cessation of the spread of communism by capitalist countries. Capitalist nations feared the spread of communism and so decided it necessary to take even more military action to cease its spread. -
Korean War
North and south Korea, The United Nations and China were involved in this event. North and South Korea both sought to unify the entirety of Korea, the two nations though had very different ideas of what they wanted the country to be like. The South, supported by the UN, wished for the country to remain a capitalist nation. On the other hand, the North, supported by the USSR, wished to turn the country into a communist nation. Canada sent troops on the behalf of the United Nations. -
Formation of the Warsaw Pact
Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania all formed a communist pact opposing the capitalists NATO. The unification of communist countries meant that the UN and NATO would have some difficulty stomping out the spread of communism. -
Vietnam War
The Canadians and the U.S and Vietnam were involved. this was another ideological battle, like the Korean war, consisting of the US backed south Vietnamese forces, and the communist North. Canada stated that it was a neutral peacekeeper during this time, but secretly supported US. -
Suez Crisis
This evolved the US, Great Britain and Canada. The Suez canal, a place of great strategic importance for the sake of trade routes, that were being fought over by Israel and Egypt. Canadian Lester B. Pearson created the world’s first, large-scale United Nations peacekeeping force to de-escalate the situation. This later won him a Nobel Peace Prize. This marked a great change in how the United Nations would treat world conflict compared to the League of Nations. -
The Cancellation of the Avro Arrow
This involved Canada and the US. The Canadian government and private investors spent many millions of dollars developing a very high tech plane intended to intercept nuclear assaults. This later fell through as technology in anti-nuclear missiles advanced. This event caused great anger among the Canadian government and caused significant financial damage. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
It was seen by America that the USSR was building a missile base upon communist Cuba, this threatened America greatly and so they responded with threats towards the Cuban people and the Soviet Union. It was eventually agreed that if America promised not to invade Cuba, then the USSR would cease the building of the base. Meanwhile, America built missile bases in Turkey. This aided significantly in cementing Cuban independence from imperialist assaults by America. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
This involved the U.N and the Soviet Union. This is a Program that was intended to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. This was a very large step towards defense against nuclear assault. -
Fall of the Berlin wall
This involved the US, Germany and the Soviet Union.The relative wealth of West Germany compared to the East brought a revolution in East Germany. This revolution was in part what brought down the Berlin wall and marked German unification and a shift to capitalism in all of Germany. This event was cementing the falling of communism. -
Breakup of the Soviet Union.
This involved Russia, Gorbachev. The USSR held a referendum to determine whether or not the people wished to keep the Soviet Union around. The people voted 77.85% in favour of keeping it. So they dissolved it anyways and fully adopted capitalism. This event officially marked the end to the Cold War and the tragic fall of the Soviet Union
