Download After years of playing a supporting role on the international stage

It's no wonder we use the term "Cold War" to describe
relations between the United States and the Soviet Union
after World War II. The atmosphere was downright frosty!
During the 45-year Cold War, the world found itself divided
between East and West and between capitalism and communism.
Each side was convinced that the other side was involved in
espionage -- and sometimes they were right.
Canada had its own spy scandal, the Gouzenko Affair. In
September 1945 a cipher clerk from the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa
tipped the Canadian government off to the fact that Soviet spies
had been instructed to obtain confidential information about radar
technology, explosives and nuclear and uranium processing. The
Canadian government swung into action, making several arrests
and clamping down on suspected subversives.
As the Cold War intensified, Canada found itself drawn into the
orbit of the Americans -- no big surprise given that the countries'
economies were becoming increasingly interwoven. The Americans
had long since abandoned the isolationist stance that they had
assumed during the years between the two wars and now saw
themselves as the champions of the free world, committed to
containing communism at home and abroad.
When the United States became involved in the Korean War
under the umbrella of the United Nations, Canada followed its lead.
Some 25,000 Canadians participated in the Korean War and 300 of
them lost their lives.
Canada was not the only country allowing the United States to
call the shots. Many European countries followed suit, supporting
American foreign policy in exchange for aid dollars to help rebuild
their war-ravaged economies.
After years of playing a supporting role on the international
stage, Canada finally got its chance to step into the
limelight following World War II, thanks in part to the
country's close ties to the United States and the creation of
the United Nations.
This was a situation where geography really paid off for
Canada. As the Cold War intensified and relations between the
United States and the Soviet Union grew increasingly strained, the
Americans became acutely aware of the importance of ensuring
that Canada was on its side rather than that of the Soviets -especially in matters of the defence of the North American
continent and access to Canada's vast resources.
Canada also managed to attract a fair bit of attention from the
rest of the world. It had a significant voice in the newly formed
United Nations, established in 1945. Canadian John Humphrey, for
instance, played a pivotal role in drafting the 1948 Declaration of
Human Rights, which laid the foundation for changes in policy
toward the poor, women, Aboriginal peoples and minorities in
Canada and around the world.
Canada was also invited to participate in the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization -- a development that allowed it to forge links
with many powerful Western European nations. And the country
played an important role in the Korean War and the Suez Crisis -the latter involvement earning future Prime Minister Lester B.
Pearson the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize. At the same time, Canada
was taken more seriously in economic circles. It was invited to
Geneva in 1947 to sign a multilateral trade agreement designed to
stimulate world trade by reducing tariffs.