The Cold War: North American Country Trends

Figure 1.--These American children, presumably after Duck and Cover exercises at school are digging their on bomb shelter. These efforts and the so-called anti-Communist hysteria is now commonly ridiculed in academic and journalistic circles. In reality, the Soviet Union did constitute a very real threat to America and the evil character of the Soviet Empire such as the extent of the Gulag or repression in Eastern Europe was not fully understood in either America or Western Europe.

North America is dominated by the United States and Canada. The Cold War at its essence was a struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States the two super powers emerging from World War II. America's European allies played critical roles in the Cold War, but without America, Western Europe could not have resisted the Red Army and Soviet domination. America unlike the Europeans emerged from the War largely undamaged and with a strong vibrant economy. In many respects America was strengthened by the War. American industry emerged from the depression and with a much stronger technical and research base. And the country for the first time as a result of Pearl Harbor has a more realistic concept of its place in the world. Only slowly, however, did the public understand the Soviet threat. There was a real possibility that like World War I, America might withdraw from Europe. Ulti mately under President Truman's guidance, America provided both the nuclear umbrella and the economic strength that enabled the Europeans to recover from the War and to build strong successful economies. America has been criticized for some of its Cold War decisions such as supporting dictators or especially the Vietnam War. Certainly as in any such struggle, mistakes were made and strategies and tactics can be debated. Ultimately the American Cold War effort destroyed the totalitarian Soviet Empire, what President Regan called the Evil Empire, and allowed small nations in Europe and around the world to live and develop their futures in peace. It also created an economic system that has allowed now billions of people around the world to merge from poverty and lead a prosperous life. Canada although a much smaller country, nonetheless played an important role. As it did in World War II, played its part in the Cold War, joining NATO and the UN effort to save South Korea. Canada' s commitment to NATO has remained solid, but its outlook toward the developing world varied at times from that of the United States.

Bermuda

Canada

Canada as a British Dominion joined Britain in both World War I and World War II, although its French-speaking minority was less supportive. After the War, Canada continued to be involved in Europe, this time along with the United States. Canada signed the UN Charter (1945). The country has from the beginning placed a major emphasis on the United Nations in it foreign policy and has provided peace keeping forces on several occasions. This reflects an idealistic thread in Canadian foreign policy which Primeminister Louis St. Laurent outlined (1947). He saw a foreign policy based on the principles of national unity, political liberty, the rule of law, Christian values, and acceptance of international responsibilities. He saw Canada achieving those goals by participating in constructive international action through multilateral organizations. There was also the reality of the Soviet Union which Canada faces across the Arctic Ocean. Canada was a founding member of NATO (1948). Canada pressed for the inclusion Article 2 which some call the 'The Canadian Article'. This provides that NATO members will work to strengthen democracy, stability and well-being and increase economic collaboration. NATO met Canada's foreign policy needs because it was a multilateral organization and not a bilateral effort with either America or Britain. A Soviet defector exposed a spy ring in Canada (1948). Canada participated in the U.S./UN effort to save South Korea (1950). It pressed the United States not to push north and draw China into the War. After Korea, Canada began to take a more neutralist position in the Cold war. Canada maintained relations with Castro's Cuba, apparently its commitment to non-interference was stronger than its commitment to democracy and human rights. As in Western Europe, the American effort to save South Vietnam was unpopular in Canada.

Greenland

Greenland was of importance during the Cold War because of its location between the United states and the Soviet Union. Greenlnd offered the possibility of dominating the passage between the Soviet Arctic ports and the Atlantic. This had been a World War II battleground as the Allies used Arctic convoys to supply the Soviet Union. Greenland was also a useful base for observing any intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) activity. Both American and Sovet misdles were programmed to be fired over the arctic. The United States thus had a strategic interests in Greenland. The United States actually offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100 million (1946). Denamrk declined the offer. The World War II Kauffman Treaty was replaced with a updated Treaty. The World War II Thule Air Base at Thule (Qaanaaq) in the northwest became a permanent U.S. Air Force Base (1951). DEnmark forced some Inuit families to move to provide needed space for extension of the base (1953). The base thus became source of friction between the Danish government and the Greenlandic people. Tensions increased after a nuclear accident (1968). A B-52 Stratofortress carrying four hydrogen bombs crashed near the base, contaminating the area with radioactive debris. Most of the contaminated ice was cleaned up, but controversy continued. Declassified information indicateding that one of the bombs was not found. A Danish parliamentary scandal, which became known as Thulegate brought to light that nuclear weapons were routinely present in Greenland's airspace in the years leading up to the accident. The Danish Government had tacitly approved this activity despite its official nuclear free policy in Denmark itself. As American shifted from bombers to missles, the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) was an important part of the American strategic defense system. It was later upgraded with a phased array radar. Some Greenlanders argue that BMEWS poed a danger to the local people because it would be targeted by the Soviets in a nuclear war.

United States

The Cold War at its essence was a struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. America's European allies played critical roles in the Cold War, but without America, Western Europe could not have resisted the Red Army and Soviet domination. After World War II, Europe was devastated. Britain which played a major role in winning the War was bankrupt. Only the United States had the capability of saving Western Europe from Soviet domination. This required a fundamental shift in American foreign policy. After World War I, the United Sates following its long-term foreign policy, withdrew from Europe. President Truman was determined that America would not repeat this mistake. And thus from a very early point America made a commitment to resist Soviet aggression. The turning point came with the Soviet takeover of democratic Czechoslovakia (1948). The result was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which committed the Unites States militarily to the defense of Western Europe. This was followed by the Berlin Airlift (1948-49). The American effort to save Berlin from Soviet control proved to be the turning point in the struggle for Germany. And it would be Germany that would determine the outcome of the Cold war. From the beginning, Germany would be pivotal in the Cold war. While the Cold War began in Europe, it gradually spread to the developing world (Africa, Asia, and Latin America). At the onset, much of Africa and Asia were European colonies. And here the Cold War took on a different character. And the Soviets positioned themselves as the great opponent of European colonialism, while at the same time carving out a huge Eastern European empire of their own. One criticism of America is that during the Cold War, the United States was too willing to deal with dictators. That is a valid issue and one that some HBC readers have posed. Those critics rarely make the same criticism of the United States dealing with Stalin during World war II. One consequence of decolonization in the aftermath of World war II was that independence came at a time when socialist theory and the Soviet image was at its height. This resulted in many developing countries rejecting democracy and free market capitalism and adopting socialist statist solutions which led to decades of economic stagnation and authoritarian rule. The flash points in the Cold War proved to be Berlin and Cuba. Thankfully a military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union was avoided. The long term consequences of socialist economics gradually became apparent leading to economic decline and undermining Soviet military power. The Soviet economy ultimately could not sustain the cost of the Cold War competition with the United States. It was General Secretary Gorbechev's reluctance to use military force to hold the Soviet Empire and ultimately the Soviet Union together that finally ended the Cold war.

Created: 11:26 AM 3/20/2014
Last updated: 8:01 PM 4/20/2014