Canada’s Response to Major International Events The Fall of the Berlin Wall, The Gulf War, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Somalia, Rwanda

The Creation of the Berlin Wall After WWII Germany was split into two West Germany became democratic and independent East Germany become communist and a part of the Soviet Union Berlin, which had been the capital of Germany was split into two NATO forces (including Canadians) kept military bases in West Germany to defend against Soviet attack

The Creation of the Berlin Wall In 1961, communist officials built a wall in the dead of the night to prevent East Berliners from escaping to the West This wall stood for 28 years

A soldier escapes to West Berlin

Construction of the wall

Friends talking over the wall

Peter Fetcher

The final construction of the Berlin Wall

The Fall of the Berlin Wall Then, in 1989 the East German government made an announcement the borders would be opened People flocked to the border and began to chip away at the wall

Knocking it down!

Tearing the Wall down

Celebrating the fall

Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Gulf War In 1990, Iraq President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait claiming they were stealing Iraqi oil In late 1990, the UN demanded Iraqi forces leave Kuwait by January 15, 1991 or face military consequences Saddam ignored the deadline, and the Gulf War began.

Saddam Hussein addressing his troops

Iraqi tanks driving through Kuwait

Troops responding to the invasion before the Gulf War

The Gulf War Troops from the US and Britain led the operation. Canadian Forces escorted hospital ships, provided medical help, and transported personnel and cargo The Canadian air force flew combat patrols and took part in bombing missions

Women walk through rubble

Troops adjusting to the climate

The end of the Gulf War The Iraqis were quickly overpowered and on February 26, Iraqi toops started to withdraw from Kuwait A cease-fire was accepted on March 3, 1991 Saddam Hussein was defeated, but he retained his power and remained in control for 12 more years

People in Kuwait celebrate the end of the war

Refugees on the border of Iraq and Jordan

Controversy of the Gulf War Some observers did not believe the war was fought on behalf of Kuwait citizens but rather for access to oil for the coalition countries After the Gulf War, many people believed Hussein was amassing WMD, so Canada, the US and many other nations continued sanctions against Iraq

Consequences of the Gulf War Some people argued the sanctions didn’t harm Saddam but rather hurt the Iraqi people by limiting their access to food, medicine and other supplies. UNICEF reported that 300,000 Iraqi children died because of the shortage of food and medical supplies

The Gulf War

Discussion Break

War in Yugoslavia

The re-creation of Yugoslavia After WWII Yugoslavia was recreated as a Socialist state It was split into 6 republics: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia By 1992 nationalism had replaced communism within the federation

The break-up Slovenia and Croatia were the first to break away, which caused renewed conflict with Serbia Next was Bosnia, but the Serbians who lived there wanted to remain a part of Yugoslavia, this led to a three-sided conflict between Bosnians, Serbs and Croats This separation was mostly along religious lines, and led to ethnic cleansing

Independence in Croatia

End of the War American pressure to end the war eventually led to the Dayton agreement in 1995 Created two self-governing entities within Bosnia (Bosnian Serb Republic and Muslim-Croat Federation) A NATO-led peacekeeping force implements the military aspects of the peace agreement

The UN in Yugoslavia

Canada’s Role Canadian peacekeepers played an important role in the UN mission to Yugoslavia Canadian General Lewis MacKenzie commanded the force Peacekeepers often found themselves in terrible situations but their orders prevented them from intervening

War in Yugoslavia

Kosovo

Conflict in Kosovo In 1998 Kosovo rebelled against Serbian rule Serbians fought back and persecuted the Kosovo Albanians After an attempt to broker peace failed, in 1999 NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia without the authorization of the UN

Air strikes

Missing Kosovo citizens

Macedonia and Kosovo split from Serbia In 2001 Macedonia split peacefully from Yugoslavia In 2008, Kosovo declared independence; Serbia claimed the declaration was illegal and the UN did not recognize Kosovo Despite this, Canada, the US and many European countries recognized Kosovo’s independence

War in Somalia

The government of Somalia collapsed in late 1992 Warlords and clans were fighting for power, while a famine affected the country The UN sent a peacekeeping mission to try to stabilize the situation, including 900 members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment

Soldiers in Somalia

Famine relief

Canadian Controversy Some members of the Canadian regiment committed violent acts against Somali citizens The soldiers were brought to justice, but it tarnished the reputation of Canadian peacekeepers In 1996, the CAR was disbanded in disgrace

War in Rwanda

The two main ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tsutsis, had a history of fighting for power In 1993 the UN sent about 2500 peacekeepers, including 400 Canadians Canadian General Romeo Dallaire was responsible for the UN mission

UN in Rwanda

Genocide In April 1994, an airplane carrying the president, a Hutu, was shot down and the Tutsis were blamed Over 100 days, up to 800,000 people were killed, more than 90% of whom were Tutsis Dallaire had warned the UN of the risk of genocide, but his requests were ignored

Genocide in Rwanda

Rwanda’s fleeing

Hotel Rwanda Clip Is what the videographer says true of people in developed countries?

Discussion Break Canada’s role in Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda was controversial. Do you think Canada helped or hindered in each of these events?

International Criminal Tribunals Set up by the UN Security Council to investigate crimes against humanity In 1993 established a tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia In 1994 it established a similar tribunal to investigate the Rwandan genocide Canadian Louise Arbour named chief prosecutor in 1996

International Criminal Court The tribunals set in motion the creation of a permanent international criminal court in 1998 The Canadian government strongly supported and fought for its creation 60 of the UN’s 192 members needed to support it, which occurred in 2002

Picturing International Security and Social Justice Look at the pictures on page , and have a discussion with the people beside you about the questions posed below each picture