Canada and the Cold War: A question of Canada's Autonomy

After the end of World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union began a race to spread their political views. America defended democracy, whereas the USSR defended the ideals of communism. As the two ideologies spread, the antagonism evolved into an arms race and the Cold War. Contrary to the position that Canada was America's pawn during that period, I believe that Canada was acting in its own best interests siding with the United States. After all, the two shared economic interests, political views, and were longtime allies.  Nevertheless, even between close allies interests might differ. In international affairs, Canada thought it could best contribute to world peace and security through participation in international organizations, particularly the UN. Americans, on the other hand, when faced with United Nations paralysis, opted for direct intervention — actually investing themselves into the role of  "police of the world." Canada rejected that role and only joined the U.S. when its own national security interests were at stake.

"The Korean War was the most important war ever fought between the West and communism." The war "brought to the people of Korea appalling destruction, devastation and tragedy; there were millions of deaths and more millions of divided families; yet it is still an unknown war." Korea had been part of the Japanese Empire since 1910, but after the surrender of Japan, Korea was left with no government. Then the United States and Soviet Union divided Korea into two — North and South — along the 38th parallel. In 1950, the USSR helped the North Koreans invade the South. The United Nations then decided to intervene to help South Korea. Soldiers from 16 countries, including Canada, "were given the job of not just driving North Koreans out of the South —but of capturing North Korea and forcing it to rejoin the South." The Chinese Communists pushed back and the war continued for three years until a cease-fire agreement was reached. Until the present day, the 38th parallel is still the "unofficial" border separating the two Koreas. At the end of the war, "Both sides claim to have won, yet both sides seem to feel they lost."

The Vietnam War was a conflict between North Vietnam, the USSR, China, and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the U.S. The communists who followed Ho Chi Minh, wanted to conquer the South, uniting the country. However, "The United States was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and the rest of Asia." In Diane Yancey's words, "The Vietnam War occurred because America believed it had a duty to fight communism during the Cold War." Americans were scared that if South Vietnam fell into communism, others would soon follow. This was the basis of the "domino theory". It was a baseless theory used by the U.S. to persuade skeptical Americans to support the war. Canada was skeptical too. They believed the outcome would be similar to that of the Korean War. So, Canada refused to participate in military operations — at least openly — but "there were Canadians in Vietnam fighting and dying in American uniforms; others were working in Canadian-run hospitals; and there were Canadian diplomats in Vietnam who tried to stop the war before it began."

The Suez Canal is a waterway built in the mid 19th century linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas. It shortened the trade route between Europe and Asia. The Suez Canal held great importance as "it was an oil reservoir with which the European allies increasingly depended." Ships were charged a fee to use the Canal which became an important source of revenue. In 1956, the Egyptian Government under Gamal Nasser, nationalized the Canal. Egypt wanted to prove its independence at a time when countries were fighting colonialism. Egypt and its Arab allies had been defeated by Israel in the country's war of independence and had been enemies since. After claiming ownership of the Canal, Egypt closed it to Israel's ships. Israel, supported by France and the UK, attacked Egypt and a war began. Egypt was militarily defeated but won a diplomatic victory as it reached its objective of keeping the Canal. "Americans objected that France and the UK were breaking one of the rules that all of the countries in the UN had agreed to: every country has the right to control its own territory. The French and the British were trying to take this right away from Egypt." Canada intervened in the Suez Crisis and "rescued the British and French from the hole that their own imbecility had dug, and on the side established peacekeeping as a vocation for the UN and for Canada."

The hypothesis of Canada's autonomous decision making rests on the following arguments: "In 1945 Canada had only recently become a sovereign state. As a recent former colony, Canada prized the acquisition of sovereignty. The Canadian government worried endlessly over any hint that this independence might be compromised." Staying on legal grounds oriented the country's policies. In Korea, Canada did participate in military actions, but did so under the banner of the UN. In Suez, Canada refused to join, but integrated a UN mandated peacekeeping force. The same happened in Vietnam. As Whitaker and Hewitt point out, "The Americans pushed hard for military commitments from their western allies, including Canada." Despite the pressure, Canada refused to participate. When Canada joined a U.S. led alliance it did so because it chose to, not because of a U.S. imposition. Boyco contests this view. In Vietnam, he points out "All Cabinet members knew that for decades Canada had been swapping sovereignty and principle for jobs." Nevertheless, Boyco weakens his argument calling it a "Faustian bargain, accepted only when threats and wars were believed to be just." In my view, even if it was a "deal with the devil", it was still a matter of choice. Boyco adds that "Canada's claim to neutrality in a war while economically benefiting from it" which implies that Canada could have been hypocritical, but not a subservient country. 

This essay discussed the question of Canada's autonomy during the Cold War. Economically, the U.S. and Canada are interdependent, and share interests in many fields—especially security concerns — making  the two countries "natural" allies.  But by joining the Cold War, Canada was acting on its own best interests. In addition to that, Korea, Suez and Vietnam illustrate some conflicts Canada took part in, but unlike the U.S. they valued its own national security instead of trying to be the "police of the world". So, yes, Canada did not fully participate in the Cold War, but when it did, the decisions were fully autonomous, always putting the country's needs first. 

Sofia Lima

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bibliography

Bothwell, Robert. Alliance and Illusion: Canada and the World, 1945-1984. Vancouver, UBC Press, 2007

Boyco, John. The Devil's Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War. Alfred A. Knoff, 2021.

Kolpin, Robert. Global links: Connecting Canada. Oxford University Press, 1999.

Quinlan, Don at al. World Affairs: Defining Canada's Role. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Whitaker, Reg, and Steve Hewitt. Canada and the Cold War. ‎ Lorimer; Illustrated edition, 2003.

Wise, Bauer Susan. The Story of the World, Volume 4: The Modern Age. Virginia, Peace Hill Press, 2014.

Uschan, Michael V. The Korean War. Lucent Books, Inc., 2001.

Yancey, Diane. The Vietnam War. Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2001.