On March 31, 1949 Newfoundland entered confederation as the tenth province.

Joey Smallwood spearheaded the movement for union with Canada and became Newfoundland’s first premier

There was a referendum in Newfoundland regarding confederation and there was a significant amount of opposition a vote was held and 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.

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.

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

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.

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 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

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.

World War II was over, however the “Cold War” was just beginning.

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The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, or CCF was elected in 1944 in Saskatchewan under the leadership of Tommy Douglas.

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 Medicare for Canada.

In the 1950’s the cold war became the dominant force in international politics. It divided the world between two opposing ideologies: totalitarian Communism and democratic Capitalism

The capitalist nations, led by the US and the communist countries, led by the Soviet Union, competed for influence over, or control of, the rest of the world.

Most of the countries the two sides sought to dominate were developing countries or former colonies of Western powers.

The developing world became the battleground for the two new superpowers.

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.

His defection highlighted the distrust between the West and Eastern Powers

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 USSR and China vs. USA and its allies. 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

Cold War destruction

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.

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.

The arms race led to the space race. If missiles could send hydrogen bombs

halfway around the world, then they could also carry nuclear payloads into space.

The USSR launched its first satellite armed with a nuclear warhead in 1958; the US soon followed.

Soon scientists began exploring the possibility of using satellites for peaceful means, such as communications and space exploration.

American Propaganda against Communism

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

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

During the 1950’s the Canadian government was involved in the development of a new military jet aircraft. The Avro Arrow was built by the A.V. Roe Company in Ontario.

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 Diefenbaker in 1957, he cancelled 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.

The French built the Suez Canal in the 1860’s Soon after the British bought a majority of shares in the Suez Canal Company, in order to make the canal part of their route to India. The British were at this time occupying Egypt. In 1955 with Brittan's eastern empire gone, Britain agreed to withdraw from Egypt.

At the same time as the British were removing themselves from Egypt. The Egyptians under the Leadership of Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser began the completion of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile.

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. The British believed that the US and the rest of the Commonwealth would share there anger over the Suez incident.

Suez Canal News Report

The Commonwealth, with the exception of Australia and New Zeeland, 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.

The Americans were very angry with the British. 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 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 Crisis.

This is the climax of Canada’s role as first of the middle powers

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.

Stands for North American Aerospace Defence Command.

The US pressured Canada to setup a missile defence program to worn of incoming nuclear weapons.

The program was established in 1958.

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.