Canada and the Post-War World

1. Canada and the Post-War World Foreign Policy and Cold War

2. Canada and the U.N. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who had led Canada through the war, was one of the world leaders who attended the United Nations conference in San Francisco in the spring of 1945. The purpose of this new international organization was to be to keep the peace in the world.

3. Mackenzie King did not want Canada to be in control, to be a “super power”. • Instead, he wanted Canada to be a “middle power”, one whose opinions are heard and respected. • Taking this role marked the start of a new era for Canada, sometimes called the “golden age of Canadian foreign policy”.

4. What is foreign policy? • A nation’s positions and actions towards other nations • A plan of action for handling relations with other countries in the world

5. What shapes foreign policy? • The goals of a nation in the following areas, among others: national sovereignty (independence) economic growth peace security the environment

6. Tools of foreign policy

7. Lester Pearson • Pearson was one of Canada’s diplomats in the 1950s • He wanted Canada to play a larger role on the world stage, to be more important.

8. Canada’s contributions to the world • At the end of World War II, Canada had a population of just 10 million, not enough to make it a great world power • However during the war, its contributions of food, training, and scientists made it an important country on the international level. • Pearson wanted to expand that role.

9. The search for peace • Canada was ready to join in the search for a permanent peace in the world. • Canadian diplomats were involved in efforts to ease international tensions, settle disputes, and promote peace and security in the world.

10. Canadian diplomats and soldiers have often been called upon to help ease tensions in potentially explosive situations. • The aim has been to prevent small disagreements from becoming major wars between the superpowers.

11. The Suez Crisis - 1956 • In 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nassar seized control of the Suez Canal from the British and the French, who saw this as a threat to their link to the Far East

12. A few months later, Britain and France joined with Israel to attack Egypt and take control of the canal back • This invasion caused an international uproar, and the Soviet Union threatened to join Egypt to fight Britain and France • It was precisely this sort of situation the United Nations was created to solve.

13. The origin of Canada as peacekeeper • It was Lester Pearson, who was Canada’s Minister of External Affairs at the time, who came up with the solution which was implemented. • His idea was to create a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), which would go to Suez and keep peace at the borders.

14. Within a few days, all hostilities had stopped, and UN “peacekeepers” went into the combat zones. • Since then, Canada and the UN have been involved in peacekeeping efforts in many parts of the world.

15. Pearson wins Nobel Prize • For his efforts in bringing peace to Suez, and the creation of the UN Peacekeeping Force, Lester Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957

16. The “Cold War” Rivalry in the Post-War World

17. Superpowers in conflict • After World War II, the two “superpowers” the United States and the Soviet Union were rivals over which country had the most influence in the world.

18. This led to a war of words, and propaganda, and threats, which we call the “Cold War”, and which lasted until 1991 • It was a cold war, because there was not actual fighting directly between the two countries, even though both supported one side or another in a number of smaller conflicts, like the Korean War

19. NATO vs Warsaw Pact • The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, or NATO, was set up in 1949 for mutual defence. Canada was part of this alliance, which included the US and Britain among others. • In response, the USSR formed its allies into an association called the Warsaw Pact Nations in 1955. • Two armed camps again existed.

20. The Arms Race • The rivalry between the US and USSR triggered an arms race in both conventional and atomic weapons, as each tried to be stronger than the other.

21. In 1945, only the US had the atomic bomb, but by 1949, Soviet Union had tested its first A-bomb. • Neither side had an advantage.

22. The arms race escalates • By 1957, both countries had developed a hydrogen bomb • This was 1000 times more powerful than the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima to end World War II • The late 50s and early 60s also saw the development of ICBMs – Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, which could travel thousands of miles

23. These huge rockets with hydrogen warheads could destroy targets half a world away, half an hour after launch.

24. Canada in the crossfire • The most direct route for these missiles to take was straight over Canada. • Canada was caught between the superpowers by geography.

25. The concept of deterrence • Fighting a nuclear war was a no-win situation, as each side would destroy the other. • As the Cold War continued, each side built up a stockpile of nuclear weapons. • The idea, and the hope, was that neither side would dare use them because of the possible results.

26. Supporters of deterrence argued that building more and bigger nuclear weapons helped keep world peace. • Opponents disagreed, fearing that a nuclear war could be easily started. • Canada participated in the US defence activities by allowing the building of the DEW Line, the Distant Early Warning Line, of missile detection stations in the Arctic. • This triggered protests by many Canadians.

27. Detente • By the early 1970s, tensions between the US and USSR began to ease, and the world entered the era of Detente – or relaxing of tensions • A “hotline” telephone line was set up between Washington and Moscow to allow the leaders to communicate directly to solve issues and avoid war.

28. The Cold War Ends • By the late 1980s the Soviet Union was in internal turmoil, economically and politically. • The Prime Minister, Gorbachev, attempted to make badly-needed reforms. • These reforms were intended to shift the Soviet political and economic systems towards those in the “west”.

29. These reforms included loosening the control the USSR had over the other Warsaw Pact nations. • In 1989, the “Iron Curtain”, first described by Winston Churchill in 1946, as eastern Europe fell under the spell of communism, fell of its own accord. The Soviets did nothing to prevent it.

30. Former Warsaw Pact countries began to replace communist rule with democratic governments, and to sever their ties with the Soviet Union • Countries like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, both formed after World War I, broke up into smaller states • Eastern Germany dissolved.

31. The Berlin Wall comes down • The final symbol of the division, the Berlin Wall, was torn down in 1989 as well. • After over 40 years of separation, Germany was reunited.

32. The demise of the USSR • The Soviet Union itself broke up in 1991 • Once again, areas which had been independent before the Russian Revolution in 1917 asserted their sovereignty • We saw the re-emergence of Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldavia, and Tajikistan, and 10 others