1. The Cold War 1945-1990 US vs. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Democracy vs. Communism
Capitalism vs. Socialism

2. US/USSR Relationship during WWII
1939: Stalin (USSR) makes a deal with Hitler (Germany).
1941: Hitler breaks deal and attacks USSR.
Stalin changes sides and fights with US and other allies.

3. Post-World War Two Tensions
The U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies in WWII, however the only commonality between them was opposition of the Axis powers
As tensions grew both countries used espionage (spies) and assisted their allies during small conflicts (wars)
Both countries stockpiled arms including nuclear weapons, and became known as superpowers
The super powers did not fight directly with one another (= nuclear annihilation), but competed for political influence over smaller countries
The tensions between the superpowers began through political and economic differences: the Soviet Union was communist and the U.S. capitalist

4. Post WWII/Cold War Goals for US
Promote open markets for US goods to prevent another depression
Promote democracy throughout the world, especially in Asia and Africa
Stop the spread of communism
“Domino Effect”

5. Post WWII/Cold War Goals for USSR
Create greater security for itself
Lost tens of millions of people in WWII and Stalin’s purges
Feared a strong Germany
Establish defensible borders
Encourage friendly governments on its borders
Spread communism around the world
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.”
Excerpt from Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain Speech.”

6. Tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union (USSR)
The tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union became known as the Cold War because the conflict never erupted into an open war.
It lasted over forty years.

7. Cold War Characteristics
Political, strategic and ideological struggle between the US and the USSR that spread throughout the world
Struggle that contained everything short of war
Competing social and economic ideologies

8. Key Concept: What were the six major strategies of the Cold War?1.
The six major strategies were:
1. Brinkmanship,
2. Espionage,
3. Foreign aid,
4. Alliances,
5. Propaganda,
6. Surrogate wars. 3. 2. 4. 5. 6.

9. Canada and the Marshall Plan
UK and USA wanted Europe to recover after WWII
USSR wanted Europe to remain in despair to make communism appealing
Canada loaned the UK large sums of money from to help in their recovery
1948, Secretary of State George Marshall came up with a plan to help Europe recover
Canada and the US jointly contributed 13.5 billion dollars (mostly from the US) in supplies and loans from
The recovery in Europe was beyond the expectations of those who created the plan
Stability and prosperity returned to Western Europe within a decade

10. Canada and the Cold War

11. Canada and the Cold War- Concerns and Suspicions
The Gouzenko Affair
In September 1945 a Russian clerk at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, Igor Gouzenko took documents proving a Soviet spy ring was operating in Canada to the Ottawa Journal.
At first no one paid him any attention, so Gouzenko fearing for his life and his family’s he went to the RCMP, the department of justice, and the PM’s office.

12. The Gouzenko Affair – cont’
it wasn’t until Soviet agents broke into Gouzenko’s apartment that the police listened to his story.
In February 1946 the RCMP arrested several people suspected of being Soviet spies; eighteen were brought to trial and eight were found guilty.
The spy ring was likely trying to discover the secrets of the atomic bomb
The threat of communism and the Cold War now hit home for Canadians

13. The Red Scare
The massive fear of communism became known as the Red Scare
The RCMP began inquiries of potential communists in Canada
PM Louis St. Laurent refused to outlaw communism, believing doing do was a dictatorship tactic not a democratic
Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis introduced the Padlock law to shut down suspected communist organizations

14. Policy of Containment
Western countries feared that the goal of communists was to overthrow all societies
the American strategy was to ‘contain’ communism by preventing it from spreading to other countries
The U.S. therefore provided economic aid and military support to those countries threatened by communism

15. Policy of Containment

16. Containment – Domino Theory
The Domino Theory: the Americans developed this metaphor to describe the fear of countries falling one by one to the Soviets and communism
Stalin had quickly created communist regimes in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia after WWII

17. McCarthyism
In the U.S. anyone suspected of being a communist could be persecuted, fired or black listed; this became known as “witch hunting” or McCarthyism because it was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the “Committee of Un-American Activities”

18. The Division of Germany
At the end of WWII Germany was split into four zones of occupation
Britain, France, the U.S. joined their three zones to form West Germany and the Soviet Union created East Germany (German Democratic Republic)
Although Berlin was located in East Germany, it also was divided into four zones. Western nations were permitted access through specific highways, railways and air corridors.

19. Germany – Berlin Blockade
When the West introduced new currency into West Germany, the Soviet Union refused to accept it in Berlin and blocked transportation routes which the West used to supply West Berlin.
This was considered a direct act of confrontation by Stalin, and the Western nations did not want to give up Berlin (due to the domino theory).
For 15 months (June 24, 1948 to May 11, 1949) West Berlin got supplies through massive airlifts by the Western Nations.
The Soviets realized the blockade was not working and the dispute ended with two separate governments for Berlin.

20. Berlin Blockade - Airlifts

21. Berlin Blockade
Western Allies decided to form NATO (1948) after the Berlin Blockade Crisis
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The Berlin Blockade became one of the first major crises of the new Cold War
The crisis subsided after the Soviet Union did not act to stop American, British and French humanitarian airlifts of food and other provisions to the Western-held sectors of Berlin; referred to as Operation Vittles.
The Berlin Blockade was one of the largest blockades in history.

22. Germany – The Berlin Wall
In August 1961 the Berlin Wall began construction, closing the border between East and West Berlin (for 28 years).
Professionals and skilled workers were migrating to West Berlin, damaging the East economically and Soviet leader Khrushchev approved the building of a wall to stop emigration.
The Berlin Wall became a major symbol of the Cold War

23. Berlin Wall
East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961.

24. Berlin Wall - view from West Berlin - death strip & graffiti;
In the last phase of the wall's development, the "death strip" between fence and concrete wall gave guards a clear shot at hundreds of would-be escapees from the East.

25. Canada in Korea ( )
Canadian Government sent troops, three navy destroyers and air craft
Over 22,000 Canadians fought in Korea between June 1950 and July 1953
309 were killed, 1,203 were wounded and 32 became POWs
Canadians took on a peacekeeping role after the armistice was signed

26. Suez Crisis (1956)
In 1956, Egypt seized the Suez Canal from France and Britain
France, Britain and Israel joined forces and attacked Egypt to take back control of the Canal
The Soviet Union sided with Egypt and demanded a withdrawl of the invading armies
The fighting increased
Looked as if this crisis would ignite a Third World War

27. The Suez Crisis & The Start of UN Peacekeeping
Canada’s Acting Minister of External Affairs, Lester Pearson, came up with a plan to end the conflict
He went to the UN and suggested creating a peacekeeping force to run the Suez Canal until a settlement could be reached
The UN agreed and the battle forces withdrew from the canal
Lester Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in ending the Suez Crisis

28. Vietnam War ( )
Communist North Vietnam invaded capitalist South Vietnam
The United States entered the war to stop Vietnam from becoming a united communist nation
The US were involved militarily in Vietnam from the early 1960s until they withdrew in 1975
The communists took control of Vietnam
The war divided the people of the United States
1.3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans were killed as a result of the conflict

29. Canada and Vietnam ( )
In 1965, PM Lester Pearson criticized US involvement in Vietnam in a speech he gave at an American university
US President Lyndon Johnson met Pearson the next day
Johnson lifted Pearson off the floor by his coat collar and told him, “You came into my house and pissed on my rug!”.
The Canadian Government also let US Draft Dodgers and conscientious objectors into Canada during the Vietnam War
This also angered the US Government who felt that these people should be tried as criminals in the United States

30. Cuban Missile Crisis (1959-1962)
This was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The US armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever, and Soviets in Cuba were prepared to launch nuclear weapons to defend the island if it were invaded.
In 1962, the USSR lagged far behind the US in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union.
In April 1962, Soviet Premier Khrushchev deployed missiles in Cuba to provide a deterrent to a potential US attack against the USSR.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the US. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable.
Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the USSR secretly installed the missiles.
CIA map showing range of Soviet supplied intermediate and medium range missiles if launched from Cuba

31. Cuban Missile Crisis…
The crisis began on October 15, 1962 when reconnaissance revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba.
After seven days of intense debate within the White House, Kennedy imposed a blockade around Cuba to stop the arrival of more Soviet missiles.
On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missiles and his decision to blockade Cuba and that any attack launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the US by the USSR and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.
October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba.
Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and remove the missiles, expressing his trust that the US would not invade Cuba.
Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a US demand that Soviet bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of US assurances not to invade Cuba.
From top: Castro, Kennedy, Khrushchev, and poster for a movie about the crisis called Thirteen Days