Transcript The Cold War - ECI Summer School 2014

The Cold War
The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War
In 1945, Canada and her Allies celebrated victory over
Germany in the Second World War. But Hitler's Nazi
menace would soon be replaced by a new threat to world
peace as the Soviet Union and the United States faced off
in a war of cold stares and harsh words known as the Cold
War.
As studied earlier in this unit, Joseph Stalin was the leader
of the Soviet Union (also known as Russia). He was a
dictator and a communist. As dictator, Stalin was a oneperson ruler. As a communist, he believed in economic
equality in society, but he was prepared to force equality
with the use of violence.
The Cold War
Interactive Map Illustration of Cold War Europe
The Cold War
The World and the Cold War
In 1945, Stalin’s troops occupied the countries of
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany and
some others. Although Stalin had promised the
United States and England that he would allow free
elections in these countries, he did not deliver on this
promise. By 1948, Stalin had forced communist
governments on these countries.
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Stalin’s actions infuriated the United States and its
allies. The world was rid of one powerful dictator
(Hitler), but now he had been replaced by another
(Stalin).
After the six years of terrible fighting during World
War II, neither side wanted more casualties, therefore
they resorted to the Cold War. The Cold War was
deadly serious, especially after the Soviet Union
gained possession of the atomic bomb in 1949.
The Cold War
Berlin Crisis
With the conclusion of World War II in Europe,
Germany was divided into four occupation zones. The
German capital, located deep in the Soviet zone, was
similarly divided between the four victors. On March
25, Soviet forces began restricting Western traffic into
Berlin and stated that nothing could leave the city
without their permission. This led to Clay ordering an
airlift to carry military supplies to the American
garrison in the city. The Soviets cut off all ground
access to Berlin. Having cut off Allied forces in the city,
Stalin elected to test the resolve of the West.
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Unwilling to abandon the city, American policy makers
directed Clay to meet with General Curtis LeMay,
commander of United States Air Forces in Europe, regarding
the feasibility of supplying West Berlin's population by air.
The Royal Air Force had calculated the supplies required to
sustain the city: 1,534 tons of food and 3,475 tons of fuel
per day. By the end of July the airlift was delivering around
5,000 tons a day. Alarmed the Soviets began harassing
incoming aircraft. On the ground, the people of Berlin held
protests and the Soviets were forced to establish a separate
municipal government in East Berlin. As winter approached,
airlift operations increased to meet the city's demand for
heating fuel.
The Cold War
On average an aircraft was landing in Berlin every
thirty seconds. Stunned by the success of the airlift,
the Soviets signaled an interest in ending the
blockade. The Berlin Airlift signaled the West's
intention to stand up to Soviet aggression in Europe.
Operations continued until September 30 with the
goal of building a surplus in the city. During its fifteen
months of activity, the airlift provided 2,326,406 tons
of supplies which were carried on 278,228 flights.
The Cold War
Berlin Airlift Videos from the CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/intern
ational-politics/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-berlinwall/berlin-blockade-begins.html
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/intern
ational-politics/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-berlinwall/berlin-airlift-keeps-city-supplied.html
The Cold War
Spy Scandal
In September 1945, a young Russian man symbolically
ushered in the Cold War when he walked into Ottawa
newsroom and announced he had proof of a widespread
Soviet spy ring operating in Canada.
"It's war. It's Russia," he told the night editor of the
Ottawa Journal.
The man who touched off the political crisis was Igor
Gouzenko. Gouzenko had spent part of the Second World
War at the Soviet Embassy in Canada, as a cipher clerk,
encoding communications to Moscow.
In 1945, Gouzenko received orders to return to the Soviet
Union, but disillusioned with his communist homeland
and attracted by life in the West, he decided to stay.
The Cold War
He plotted his escape for several weeks, stealing classified
material that he could use to ingratiate himself with his
Canadian hosts.
"During the course of about half a month, I examined the
materials so as to select the best ones that would disclose
the operative work, leaving the informational telegrams
on one side," he wrote, "the telegrams which I wished to
take out I marked by bending over slightly one of the
corners."
The information revealed a spy ring had operated in
Canada during the war. It involved civil servants,
scientists, even a Member of Parliament. The Soviets
were trying to get information about North American
technology including the atom bomb.
The Cold War
On September 5, 1945, Gouzenko stuffed 109
documents under his shirt and walked to the
newsroom of the Ottawa Journal. He confronted the
night editor, Chester Frowde.
By noon on September 6, the Canadian government
was aware of Gouzenko and Mackenzie King was
informed of the incident.
Canada was about to meet with the Soviets, Britain,
France and the United States to discuss and construct
a post-war peace, and King was worried that this
scandal would damage international relations.
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Later that day Gouzenko applied for Canadian
citizenship, then wandered around Ottawa,
unsuccessfully seeking asylum. At that point, the
Canadian government was unclear how to act on the
unfolding developments. But the Soviets were now
aware of the theft and were looking for Gouzenko.
That night, Gouzenko and his family stayed with a
neighbour. Just before midnight four men from the
Soviet embassy broke into the apartment searching
for Gouzenko and his documents. The Ottawa police
quickly arrived, followed by the RCMP and staff from
External Affairs.
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The Canadian government finally offered Gouzenko and
his family the asylum he sought.
His story remained secret for five months while an
investigation was conducted into the activities of
suspected spies named in the documents, most of them
civil servants. In February 1946, arrests were made.
Israel Halperin, a mathematician who did military
research, was arrested and detained for five weeks
without charge, and questioned by a Royal Commission,
not knowing whether he was a suspect or a witness.
Twenty people were eventually sent to trial. Nine were
acquitted, including Dr. Halperin. Fred Rose, a Communist
Member of Parliament, was convicted of spying for the
Soviets, and sentenced to six years. All spend the rest of
their lives under suspicion, their reputations tarnished.
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The Gouzenko spy scandal reverberated throughout
the world. In the United States as in Canada, there
was heightened suspicion and paranoia of communist
spies. A more lasting legacy of Gouzenko's revelations
was an increased the distrust between the Soviet
Union and the West, helping ignite the Cold War.
Gouzenko and his family were given a new identity. In
1948, he wrote his memoirs entitled This Was My
Choice. Gouzenko occasionally emerged in the public
spotlight but he but always wore a hood over his face
to conceal his identity. He died in 1982.
The Cold War
American orbit
In the post-war era, Canada moved closer to the
American sphere of influence as international
tensions escalated. In 1949 the Soviet Union tested its
first atomic bomb and in reply Canada's military
spending soared.
In 1950, Communist North Korea invaded the U.S.
backed South Korea adding further pressure on
Canada to build up its armaments. Canada took part
in a United Nations force deployed to the area.
The Cold War
Communist paranoia
At the height of the Cold War, Canada joined its southern
neighbour in an effort to unearth homegrown
communists, real or imagined.
Communism was a dirty word in Canada and the western
world after the Second World War. The common view was
that communists were planning to overthrow democracy.
Therefore anyone with communist leanings, or even
progressive opinions should be under suspicion.
In the United States, Senator Joseph McCarthy led the
communist witch-hunts in the 1950s. He convinced many
Americans that members of the Communist Party had
infiltrated the United States government.
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McCarthy's unfounded charge sparked a frantic search
for "Reds" under every American bed. A parade of the
nation's actors, writers, journalists and labour leaders
appeared before the House Un-American Activities
Committee, to be interrogated about political
affiliation and beliefs.
In Canada, Minister of External Affairs Lester B.
Pearson cautioned against following in American
footsteps.
"Let us by all means remove the traitors from
positions of trust, but in doing so, I hope we may
never succumb to the black madness of the witch
hunt."
The Cold War
On the whole Canada proceeded forcefully but more
discreetly that the Americans. Ottawa set up a
sweeping system of security checks. In one year
alone, 70,000 checks were done. The RCMP quietly
investigated civil servants, scientists, university
professors, and trade unionists, seeking out political
or sexual nonconformity.
In Quebec, Premier Maurice Duplessis was a
vociferous anti-communist crusader.
The Quebec Padlock law gave police the power to seal
off any property where communist literature or
activity was suspected.
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A Macleans magazine columnist described the
paranoid atmosphere of the time:
"If a housewife in Ottawa hears a knock on her door, it
can be one of only two people. The milkman or the
RCMP".
Canada's hunt for communists began to lose
momentum in the mid-1950s as the anti-Communist
fervour died down throughout the West. Senator
Joseph McCarthy was discredited in the United States
after he directed his anti-communist attacks on the
American army. In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin
died in 1952 and was replaced by the more moderate
leader Nikita Khrushchev.
The Cold War
A CBC Video about the fear of communism in Canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/warconflict/cold-war/cold-war-culture-the-nuclear-fearof-the-1950s-and-1960s/calgary-evacuates-operationlifesaver.html
The Cold War
Peacekeeping milestone
In 1956, a brilliant diplomat named Lester B. Pearson led
Canada into middle power respectability when he pulled
the world back from the brink of war in the Middle East.
The chill between the two superpowers left little room for
Canada to have a voice in international relations. Now the
External Affairs Minister in the Liberal cabinet of Louis St.
Laurent, Pearson believed Canada could be an
independent force for international peace and goodwill.
But as the Cold War locked Canada into the American
orbit, Lester Pearson feared his dream was threatened.
The Cold War
"We are constantly faced with the problem of trying
to influence United States policy in a manner which
will protect our own interests and our conception of
what is good for the world, but which will not involve
us in public quarrels with a great and friendly
neighbour."
But in the mid-1950s events would unfold in the
Middle East that finally gave Pearson a chance to
realize his vision for Canada's place in the new world
order.
In the post-war world, Egypt was growing closer to
the Moscow and accepting Soviet arms.
The Cold War
In the summer of 1956, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel
Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal, a critical shipping
route, which was run by French and British interests.
Nasser had acted in response to the two countries
withdrawing foreign investment funds to build a dam on
the Nile River.
In October, despite American opposition, Britain and
France, together with Israel launched attacks on Egypt.
Nasser appealed to Soviet leader Khrushchev, who
threatened to shower the west with nuclear weapons if
the British and French didn't withdraw.
At the United Nations, Pearson proposed a striking
solution. The plan called for the British and French to
withdraw but would allow for a United Nations force to
remain in the area, stabilizing the situation.
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The British were unhappy with the proposal, but when it
was tabled, all 57 member nations voted for it. There
were some in Canada who were critical of it as well, angry
that Canada had not sided with Britain.
It was the first large international peacekeeping force. It
included 6000 men from ten countries under the
command of a Canadian General E.L.M. Burns. It helped
to keep peace in the Middle East until Egypt demanded
that it leave the area in 1967.
Pearson emerged from the Suez crisis as hero, winning
the Nobel Peace Prize for his role. He had also fulfilled his
dream to give Canada an independent place on the world
stage.
Pearson would be elected Prime Minister in 1963 and
Canada's peacekeeping operation would continue to grow
and flourish under his leadership.
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The Avro Aero
The CF-105, or Avro Arrow, was a supersonic jet
developed by a Canadian company. Faster than any other
aircraft, the Arrow was designed to carry nuclear-tipped
missiles to destroy Soviet bomb attacks over the Canadian
North.
Canada's greatest aeronautical achievement was the CF105 jet fighter, and the subsequent cancellation of the
project in 1959 still remains a story of political intrigue
and controversy.
But the costs of development kept mounting - the original
production estimate of $2 million per aircraft rose to $12
million. At the same time, demand for the interceptors
fell as the world entered the age of the long-range
missiles.
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Prime Minister Diefenbaker was under pressure from the
US to join their defence plan by acquiring the American
Bomarc missiles. Faced with the skyrocketing costs, and
the inability to sell the Arrow to Europe or the US,
Diefenbaker cancelled the project on February 20, 1959.
An angry A.V. Roe immediately fired his 14,000
employees, and the government ordered all plans and
prototypes destroyed.
Cancelling the Arrow made good economic sense, but the
effects were felt throughout Canada. Most of the
scientists and engineers involved in the project moved to
the US, and Canadians bemoaned the devastation of the
Canadian aircraft industry. Negative public reaction
marked the beginning of the decline of Diefenbaker's
popularity, and led to his eventual defeat.
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Avro Arrow Videos