Cold War Timeline

  • Gouzenko Affair

    Gouzenko Affair
    Igor Gouzenko was a secret spy for the Soviets. He didn’t want to go back to Russia so he offered secret documents about the Soviet spies to the Ottawa Journal and to the Minister of Justice, but they both refused. Later, the police got involved and Canada became suspicious that anyone could be a spy in Canada during the Cold War period.
  • Period: to

    The Cold War Timeline

  • Formation for the United Nations

    Formation for the United Nations
    Canada has been part of every United Nations missions since it start. In 1957 the Prime minister of Canada Lester Pearson proposed the idea of a UN peacekeeping force after the Suez Crisis.
  • Formation of NATO

    Formation of NATO
    North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed as a military alliance between 28 countries. It was created to keep peace and not stir up a war between the Soviet Union and other Communist countries. Canada was involved in this treaty and was one of the countries that signed this Agreement.
  • The Use of the Atomic Bomb

    The Use of the Atomic Bomb
    The use of the Atomic Bomb was at the end of WW2 and it ended the war, but it started the cold war and the nuclear arms race.
  • Korean War

    Korean War
    North Korea invaded into South Korea, but the South kept pushing them back with the help of the U.S. 26,000 Canadians participated in this war fighting against North Korea. In 1953, they signed a peace treaty that ended the conflict.
  • Formation of the Warsaw pact

    Formation of the Warsaw pact
    In Poland, the Soviet Union and other European countries made a defence organisation in response to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. It was also known as the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship and stated that all countries that have taken part in this treaty must help defend if the opposing countries attack.
  • Vietnam War

    Vietnam War
    North Korea (communists) vs. South Korea (anti-communist). South Korea was supported by the United States. North Korea won and South Korea was taken over by a communist government. Canada barely participated in the war.
  • Suez Crisis

    Suez Crisis
    This was where there were attacks on Egypt by Israel and there was many different countries involved, it could have been the start of another World War. The Prime Minister of Canada proposed a peace keeping force at the UN Assembly, which resolved most of the conflict.
  • Formation of NORAD

    Formation of NORAD
    This stands for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Under the threat of a nuclear attack the US and Canada got together and built towers so that they would be able to identify if a bomber was coming and war the public and intercept it.
  • The Cancellation of the Avro Arrow

    The Cancellation of the Avro Arrow
    The Avro Arrow was a jet aircraft that was created by A.V. Roe of Canada. After a threat of Soviet bombers export effort failed again, it was canceled by the government and 14,000 employees were fired.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Cuban Missile Crisis
    The Soviet Union was behind in the nuclear arms race, America could have bombed the whole Soviet Union and they could only bomb places in Europe. They decided to start building nuclear weapons in Cuba for the safety of themselves and Cuba, the United Stated stepped in and told them to remove the bombs. This was the closet it ever came to a nuclear war starting.
  • SALT Treaty

    SALT Treaty
    The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreements were two talks between the Soviet Union and the U.S. (SALT I and SALTII). These talks were on the topic of armament control and resulted in START(Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty)
  • Strategic Defense Initiative

    Strategic Defense Initiative
    This was a plan to set up satellites that would detect missiles coming from Russia and stop them before they hit America by shouting them down. Canada also decided to set up satellites to protect them.
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

    Fall of the Berlin Wall
    The Berlin Wall was a boundary between West and East Germany. The Communist party in Eastern Germany announced that the Western citizens could cross the border. Large crowds showed up at the wall later that night, some crossed into West Germany and others used hammers and picks to chip away the wall. This became a symbol of the cold war.
  • Breakup of the Soviet Union

    Breakup of the Soviet Union
    This was the end of the cold war where the Soviet Union broke up into 15 separate countries. The democratic defected the totalises.