Canada and the Cold
War
Even before the Second World War ended,
the Allies were beginning to drift apart. As the
Soviet
Union grew increasingly intransigent in dealing with Britain and the United
States, it was clear that postwar relations were not going to be easy. The
Canadian government was rudely introduced to the new reality in September 1945
when Igor
Gouzenko, a cypher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, defected with
documents that proved the existence of a Soviet spy ring in Canada. Public
servants and scientists were implicated, giving rise to serious concern in light
of Canada's involvement in atomic research during the Second World War. The
information provided by Gouzenko showed that British and American citizens were
also guilty.
This bombshell was kept under wraps until
it was leaked to the media early in 1946. It created a sensation, and helped
turn Canadian public opinion strongly against the Soviet Union. With the
delivery of Churchill's famous "Iron
Curtain" speech shortly
thereafter, the Cold War was on in earnest.
The Western powers feared what seemed to
be a relentlessly expansionist Soviet Union. Communist satellites were created
on its borders immediately after the war, and Greece and Iran were threatened.
In 1948, a coup replaced the democratic government of Czechoslovakia
with yet another Soviet puppet. That same year the Soviets blockaded the
Allied
sectors of Berlin, a divided city isolated deep within the Soviet zone of
occupied Germany. In response the Western Allies, led by the United
States, mounted a massive airlift of food and fuel for the beleaguered
inhabitants.
With the United Nations incapable of
responding to these developments because of the Soviet veto in the Security
Council, it became evident that the Western powers would have to form a military
alliance outside the confines of that body. This was not inconsistent with the
UN charter, which allowed for the creation of regional organizations. In August
1947, Escott Reid, a senior Canadian diplomat, promoted this idea for the first
time at a public policy conference in Ontario. Later that fall, at the UN
General Assembly, St. Laurent
strongly advocated a regional alliance, the first Western leader to do so.
The first concrete move came from Western
Europe, where a number of nations, including
Britain
and France, created a defensive alliance under the Brussels Treaty in March
1948. Defence talks were held between Canada, Britain and the United States,
then expanded to include the Brussels signatories. The goal was a North Atlantic
treaty that would unite Western Europe and North America in the cause of common
defence.
Canadian officials saw it as more than a
mere military alliance, fighting hard to obtain a clause that would require the
members to co-operate economically as well. They succeeded, despite the
reluctance of the British and Americans, but the clause had little real effect.
Over the years the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
has been first and
foremost a military alliance. Nevertheless, membership in NATO had definite
benefits
for Canada. As a member, Canada would have a say in alliance policy. Equally
important, Canada was now able to deal with the United States in a multilateral
context, thus lessening the disparity between the two countries that would
always be present in strictly bilateral dealings. For Canada, NATO provided
safety in numbers, both militarily, against the threat of Soviet aggression, and
diplomatically, against the overwhelming might of the United States.
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For further information on Canada
and the Cold War follow the link below:
Text source:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/canada7-en.asp#cold_war