2. Canada: Post WWII
Newfoundland joins Canada
• On March 31, 1949 Newfoundland entered
confederation as the tenth province.
• Joey Smallwood spearheaded the union and
became Newfoundland’s first premier
• In a referendum in Newfoundland, 45% of the
people voted in favor of creating a responsible
government, while 41% voted to join Canada, and
14% voted for a commission Government.
• This vote was considered unclear, and in a second
vote union with Canada obtained a majority vote.
4. Boom in resource development
• A wave of prosperity swept Canada in the fifties.
Western oil and Natural gas reserves yielded new
sources of power for Canadian industry.
Hydroelectric projects were initiated to harness
electricity
• As new resources were discovered new industries
sprung up to support them. Ex the St. Lawrence
Seaway was constructed to aid in the transport of
materials. Building the St. Lawrence Seaway
• A great deal of this economic growth was largely
due to foreign investment, much of it American.
This contributed to the wealth of Canada during the
1950’s and 1960’s. Unfortunately this also led to
future conflicts over the ownership and financial
control of Canada’s resources
5.
6. The Baby Boom
Canada’s population grew more quickly in the 15 years after WWII than at
any other time. By 1961 there were 50% more Canadians than there had
been at the end of the war. This period becomes known as the Baby Boom.
Many Canadian soldiers had married overseas and brought their “war
brides” home.
People began to move to the “suburbs,” shopping malls, cars and
expressways became part of the Canadian way of life.
In this post-war period more immigrants came to Canada than at any time
since the turn of the century. Many were refugees or displaced persons
from Eastern European countries like Poland, Yugoslavia, and Latvia. Now
that their homelands were ruled by communists they felt they could no
longer live there.
By 1951, only 47% of Canadians had their roots in Britain. The multicultural
society had arrived
In Canada today around 27% of the total population, belong to the children
of baby boomers.
This generation is often called Generation Y or the echo generation 'echo of
the baby boom.’
7. Case Study: Canadian Sports Heroes of the 40’s
and 50’s
• Barbara Ann Scott King was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948
Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time
Canadian national champion (1944–46, 48) in ladies' singles.
• Known as "Canada's Sweetheart", she is the only Canadian to have won the
Olympic ladies' singles gold medal
• Joseph Henri Maurice "The Rocket" Richard was a Canadian professional ice
hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey
League (NHL) from 1942 to 1960.
• The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve
the feat of 50 goals in 50 games and the first to score 500 goals in a career
• Richard won the Stanley Cup eight times in Montreal, He was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961
8. The Fabulous Fifties
• Economically things looked good in the 50’s.
• Television became a common feature in Canadian
homes. Mass Marketing becomes much more
effective and is beginning to be aimed at the growing
teen population.
• The fifties brought prosperity and excitement. But
rapid change can be hard. The divorce rate began to
creep up. The move to the suburbs increased reliance
on the automobile. Cities, fashions, lifestyles and
values were transformed in the 50’s
• Rock and Roll emerged as a new form of musical
expression and drew attention to the new culture of
youth that was developing because of the Baby Boom
• The 50’s marked the beginning of the civil rights
movement in the US and this would effect Canada as
well.
13. Socialism in Canada • The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, or
CCF was elected in 1944 in Saskatchewan under
the leadership of Tommy Douglas. Mouseland
• The CCF favored socialist policies, designed to
increase government involvement in the economy
and improve social programs.
• During the cold war the CCF faced a great deal of
criticism and were occasionally denounced as
communists.
• In 1961 Douglas resigned from the CCF to become
the national leader of the newly organized New
Democratic Party (NDP)
• Ultimately the CCF and the NDP under the
leadership of Douglas, were responsible for the
introduction of the Medicare Act to Canada.
Social Credit
15. The Cold War
In the 1950’s cold war politics divided the world
between two opposing ideologies: totalitarian
Communism and democratic Capitalism both
competing for control of the rest of the world (mostly
developing countries or former colonies of Western
powers.)
The developing world became the battleground for the two
new superpowers in a series of proxy wars.
Fear of Communism/The Second Red Scare:
• In the US McCarthyism began to spread at the instigation
of American senator John McCarthy, who accused many
Americans in and out of government of being communists
and started, causing many to lose jobs and be black-listed
16.
17. Igor Gouzenko
• Igor Gouzenko was a clerk for the
Soviet embassy in Canada who gave
away Soviet spy secrets and
defected.
• Gouzenko is often credited with
helping start the Cold War.
Interview
• His defection highlighted the
distrust between the West and
Eastern Powers
18. The Cold War Continued:
Korea
• In 1951 the Cold War centered on Korea
• This was the first open warfare between
Communist forces and pro-Western forces.
• Within days of the invasion of South Korea,
Canada offered 3 naval destroyers to the UN
force. By the end of the Korean war, about 25 000
Canadians saw action in the conflict. 312
Canadians were killed
• The Korean War involved the USSR and China vs.
the USA and its allies under the leadership of the
UN. The Korean War ended in 1953 only to be
replaced by a long and bloody war in French Indo-
China, that would eventually draw the US into
combat in Vietnam.
19.
20. Cold War: The Arms Race
• In 1951 the US tested its first hydrogen bomb.
• Through out the Cold War the US and the Soviet
Union develop weapons of Mass destruction.
Building bombs nearly 1000x as powerful as the
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• The USSR followed by testing its first hydrogen bomb
in 1953.
• People in North America begin to build Fallout
Shelters, to hide in, in the event of a nuclear attack
• The Arms Race was on. By the end of the decade,
guided missiles were beginning to replace bombers.
The US and the USSR were now able to attack targets
10 000 km away in less than 1 hour.
25. Canada and the Cold War
Canada had a precarious position in the Cold War.
Canada is located between the two major players in
the Cold War the US and the USSR. Canada was firmly
on the side of the US in the Cold war and became a
member of both, NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and NORAD (North American Air
Defense Command) this changed in 1981 to (North
American Aerospace Command), which acted as the
North American defense system.
The Communists had their own defensive
organization known as the Warsaw Pact
26. NATO and the Warsaw Pact
• NATO countries include:
• Norway, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, France,
Belgium, Netherlands, West Germany, Italy,
Greece, Turkey and of course the USA and
Canada
• Warsaw countries include:
• The Soviet Union, East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and
Romania
27. Canada and the Cold War:
the Avro Arrow
• During the 1950’s the Canadian government was involved in the
development of a new military jet aircraft, the Avro Arrow.
• It was expected to be one of the most advanced war planes of its kind.
• The Arrow was initially approved by the Liberal government in 1953,
however when the conservatives took power under John Diefenbaker
(AKA Dief the Chief) in 1957, he canceled the Arrow project.
• This led to a great deal of controversy: thousands of people lost their
jobs.
• People charged that the government had abandoned a made-in-Canada
project in favor of a made in the US defense policy. They claimed that the
entire Canadian aircraft industry was crippled by Diefenbaker's decision.
• Despite being partially responsible for the creation and passage of the Bill
of Rights in 1960, Diefenbaker’s decision to ground the Arrow
contributed to the Conservative party defeat in 1963.
29. The Suez Canal Crisis
• The French built the Suez Canal in the 1860’s, a major
trading route. In 1955 Britain agreed to withdraw from
Egypt.
• The Egyptians, under the Leadership of Colonel Gamal
Abdel Nasser, began the completion of the Aswan High
Dam across the Nile to control water flow for flood
prevention, irrigation, etc.
• In 1956 because of Nasser’s dealings with the USSR,
Britain and the US cut off aid for the Aswan project.
• In return Nasser seized the Suez Canal Company. He also
encouraged more terrorist attacks on Israel, and invited
the USSR to help him finish the dam. This made the British
very angry.
33. The Suez Canal Crisis: Continued
• The Commonwealth, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand,
were not sympathetic to what was viewed as an example of British
imperialism.
• Canada did not care about the Canal, however it was very concerned
about the effect of the crisis on international relations.
• Canada realized that while the US might not agree with Nasser’s actions,
they would not support Britain in an aggressive action against Egypt.
• France and Israel supported Britain.
• The Israelis were supposed to attack Egypt on Nov. 1, 1956. The plan was
that the French and English would use this as a pretext to step in and
guard the vital international waterway.
• Their hope was that Nasser’s government would then topple.
• On Oct. 29 Israeli paratroops struck. On Oct. 30, Britain and France
ordered both Egypt and Israel to stay 16km away from the Canal.
• The USSR responded with an ultimatum: Atomic Bombs would rain down
on London and Paris if the invasion did not end.
34. The Suez Canal Crisis: Continued
• The U.N. Security Council ordered Israel to withdraw, Britain and France used
their vetoes for the first time.
• The issue was taken before the U.N. General Assembly. There, 65 nations
supported a resolution denouncing the invasion. Canada abstained from the
vote.
• Canada was torn over the issue. A small majority supported the British
invasion. Prime Minister St. Laurent did not.
• The Prime Minister and then Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester
Pearson told England that there would be no Canadian support for the
Attack on Egypt.
• Pearson proposed that an “emergency UN force” be sent in. This is known as
the UNEF.
• This gave the French and British a pretext to withdraw from Egypt. Nassar
agreed that the force was acceptable.
• Pearson had found the formula that kept Britain and France from
humiliation, and the UN, NATO and the Commonwealth survived the
confrontation intact.
• In 1957 Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Suez
Canal Crisis.
• This is the climax of Canada’s role as first of the middle powers.
36. The creation of OPEC
• Oil producing nations like Iran started OPEC in 1960s
• The founding members of OPEC are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and
Venezuela.
• In 1973, OPEC declared an oil embargo in response to the United States'
and Western Europe's support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War (Arab-
Israeli war) of 1973. The result was a rise in oil prices from $3 per barrel to
$12 and gas rationing.
• U.S. gas stations put a limit on the amount of gasoline that could be sold,
closed on Sundays, and limited the days gasoline could be purchased
based on license plates
37. Bomarc Missiles
• First long-range anti-aircraft missiles in
the world developed by Canada with the
help of the Americans.
• They were put all around the coasts and
the border to protect against soviet
planes.
38.
39. NORAD
• Stands for North American Aerospace
Defence Command.
• The US pressured Canada to setup a missile
defense program to warn of incoming nuclear
weapons.
• The program was established in
1958.
41. The DEW Line
• Stands for Distance Early Warning Line and
was used in the fifties.
• A system of radar stations in the far north that
would detect soviet bombers.
• Became outdated as it became possible for
countries to launch nuclear weapons without
planes using intercontinental ballistic missiles
or ICBMS.
