The Cold War

• Cold War Hysteria: Fuelled by propaganda, misinformation, and the threat of a 3rd World War, paranoia grew among citizens during the Cold War, especially in the US.
• Canada in the cold War - BecAuse of Canada’s historical ties to Britain and its shared border with the US there has never been any doubt as to which side Canada supported in the Cold War.
• Canada in the Cold War - In 1949 Canada was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance designed to defend members from attacks from the USSR and its allies . Canada also fought communist troops in the Korean War (1950-1953) and participated in North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD)
• France's Dissuasion Policy - In the early 20th France was one of the world’s leaders in nuclear technology. After WWII France began developing nuclear weapons independently of the US and UK which it used as a deterrent. This was called discussion, the french word for deterrent
• France's Dissuasion Policy - Its deterrence was different though in that it developed its nuclear weapons not as a response to a specific adversary but as a general deterrence. France sought to exercise some sovereignty from what it saw as a US dominated NATO. In fact, France withdrew from NATO in 1966. France’s nuclear defense is still prominent today
• Brinkmanship - Brinkmanship is the attempt to push a dangerous situation as far as possible without conceding anything to your opponent. (The cuban Missile Crisis is an example of this from the Cold war) 
• Brink - Cuban leader Batista was a corrupt, military leader who ignored the poor. 

  1956-59 Fidel Castro led a socialist revolution and overthrew Batista’s government
• Castro in Cuba -  Fidel Castro signed the First Agrarian reform which broke up large landholdings, restricted foreign land ownership and redistributed land to those who worked it, co-operatives, and the state.
• Castro in Cuba - The US grew wary of Castro’s socialist ideas and his relationship with the USSR. Essentially Cuba and the US began an economic and political game of diplomatic chess
• Bay of Pigs Invasion - In the years after the revolution the US received over 1 million cuban refugees and encouraged and helped plan an attempt by these refugees to retake the island of Cuba with training and support form the US government
• Bay of Pigs Invasion - 1511 Cubans and 177 paratroopers attacked April 17, 1961 and were defeated after 2 days of fighting. The failed invasion increased the popularity of Castro and made Cuba even more distrustful of the US
• Bay of Pigs Invasion - The US became unwilling to trade with Cuba and in 1962 it imposed an economic commercial and financial embargo on Cuba. The soviets on the other hand supported Cuba with aid
• Cuban Missile Crisis - US President John F Kennedy became aware that the USSR was building missile launch sites in Cuba and imposed a naval blockade around Cuba. The world watched as the two superpowers came close to the brink of nuclear war
• Cuban Missile Crisis - October 27, 1962 a diplomatic breakthrough was reached. Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove US missile sites from turkey and, in exchange, the USSR would remove its missiles from Cuba. The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis ironically led to a period of relatively peaceful relations between the US and the USSR as both superpowers realized how close they came to mutually assured destruction
• Detente and Treaties: Because the superpowers came so close to the brink of war in the Cuban missile crisis, some steps were taken to reduce the tension between the two nations: 

  • The USSR was spending billions on the arms racer which was unsustainable. Eased tensions with the US might open up more trade option 
  • The US was fighting in Vietnam against the communist north, a war that was draining financially and they wanted to spend more on social programs 
• The period of reduced tensions, from the mid 1960s to 1979, was called detente. During this time the superpowers met at summits, signed treaties and took other measures to reduce tensions. This was a method of settling differences through diplomacy, however it only lasted about 15 years
• Proxy Wars and Liberation Movements - Although the US and USSR did not fight a direct war, they did fight proxy wars
• Proxy Wars are when one superpower fights in another country or provides support to a group which opposes the rival superpower
• Liberation Movements occur when a country rebels against the country that colonized it or otherwise oppressed it. They fight against their perceived oppressor. They are often supported by one of the superpowers.
• Espionage - the practice of spying or using spies to obtain secret information, was a key tool of the superpowers in the Cold War. It fuelled paranoia but, as a retired KGB agent said it also “played a tremendous role in keeping the world from the brink, from turning the Cold War into a hot war.” 
• Post Second World War Red Scare - During and after WWII, American society experienced a red scare - an intense fear of communism overcame the majority of the American Population. This created a strong backlash toward American communists and anyone perceived as being sympathetic towards the Soviets 
• A movement against all things communist was led by an ex-marine and republican Senator, Joseph McCarthy. He accused many members of the State Dept. of being communists. A hearing was held and the charges were proven false. Yet he continued to accuse members of the democratic government of being communist
• McCarthyism - Dec 2, 1953 the Senate voted to formally reprimand McCarthy but he died 3 years later. McCarthyism was the name given to the movement to uncover and prosecute those with perceived ties to communism. 
• Easing of Tensions - In the mid 1980’s Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev initiated 2 major policy changes in the USSR: Glasnost and Perestroika
• Glasnost was a policy that called for increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union 
• Perestroika economic and governmental restructuring that marked and ideological shift to the right and include more cooperative relations with Western Europe and the US