Canada–Soviet Union relations
Encyclopedia
Canada-Soviet Union relations were the relations between Canada
and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union).
to work together. The Soviet Union's first ambassador to Canada was Georgy Zarubin
Prior to that date, relations had been hostile. Canada had participated in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
, and in general mirrored the hostility towards the Soviet Union demonstrated from London. Canadian authorities suspected Soviet involvement in Canadian labour disturbances such as the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and the Regina Riot of 1935, while Canada was the subject of unflattering propaganda in the Soviet Union, and subject to the popular front
policy. Besides this, Canada had limited powers over her own foreign affairs until the Statute of Westminster 1931
.
During the war, aid and arms were relayed through Canada and Alaska to the Soviets, and relations were improved. However, the wartime relationship ended abruptly with the Gouzenko Affair in 1945 and 46. Igor Gouzenko
was a clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa who defected
to Canada with evidence of Soviet spying in the West. This was combined with the general East-West tension leading up to the early Cold War, led Canada back to an anti-Soviet stance. By 1947 Canadian foreign policy analysts were advocating the creation of a Western Alliance outside of the United Nations. Soon after in 1949, Canada joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance against the Soviet bloc. In 1950 Canada joined in the Korean War
against the Soviet-allied North. Once the Soviet Union acquired the nuclear bomb, it became obvious that any Soviet attack on the US would go through Canadian airspace
. This led to the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line
and Canada's entry in the North American Aerospace Defense agreement
with the US.
After the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
, Canada hoped tensions would ease, and then Foreign Minister Lester Pearson traveled to the Soviet Union for talks with Nikita Khrushchev
in 1955, the first NATO foreign minister to do so. However, tension arose again over the Hungarian Revolution and Suez Crisis
in 1956. In 1962 the new Tory
Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
caused a crisis of his own by refusing to put Canadian forces on alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis
of 1962, and by agreeing to buy nuclear-equipped Bomarc missiles from the US to use against Soviet bombers.
After Pierre Trudeau
came to power in Canada, Canadian policy changed dramatically. Trudeau was a left-leaning but free-thinking intellectual who had traveled to the Soviet Union in the 1950s and was arrested for throwing a snowball
at a statue of Stalin. Trudeau wanted to lessen Canada's reliance on the United States by forging closer ties with other countries and breaking out the of the Cold War straitjacket. During a trip to the Soviet Union in 1971 he identified the United States as a bigger threat to Canada than the remote Soviet Union. The Americans, he said, are "a danger to our national identity from a cultural, economic and perhaps even military point of view." Eventually Trudeau backed away from his "Third Option" policy and returned to the Western fold. However, at the end of his tenure, when he believed that tension between the US and Soviet Union were again too high, he launched a peace mission to Moscow which the Americans did not approve of.
The government of Conservative Brian Mulroney
cast a much more critical eye on the Soviet Union, despite the changes produced in that country by Mikhail Gorbachev
's perestroika
and glasnost
reforms. As late as January 1989, foreign minister Joe Clark
still identified the Soviets as a threat to the West, by May however, he spoke approvingly of Gorbachev's reforms. Canada's changed position was fully shown in November 1989, when Prime Minister Mulroney visited the Soviet Union, accompanied by more than 200 representatives of Canadian business. Numerous agreements were signed during the visit, the most important of which was a Political Declaration calling for Canadian-Soviet cooperation in such areas as the environment, the Arctic, terrorism, and the drug trade. Canadian-Soviet relations were now on friendly terms, until January 1991, when Gorbachev cracked down on independence-seeking Lithuania
and Latvia
, prompting Canada to suspend credit and technical aid to the Soviet Union. During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt new foreign affairs minister Barbara McDougall
, evoked much criticism by indicating that Canada could work with the plotters, a position that was particularly embarrassing when Gorbachev was quickly returned to office.
As the Soviet Union fell apart, Canada moved speedily to establish full relations with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
. It acted even before the United States, and in December 1991, Canada was the first Western country to recognize the independence of Ukraine
. With Gorbachev's resignation that month, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, prompting Canada to recognize Russia
as an independent state.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union).
Diplomatic history
Diplomatic relations did not begin until 1941 after the German invasion of the Soviet Union forced the Soviets and the Western AlliesWestern Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
to work together. The Soviet Union's first ambassador to Canada was Georgy Zarubin
Prior to that date, relations had been hostile. Canada had participated in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War
The Allied intervention was a multi-national military expedition launched in 1918 during World War I which continued into the Russian Civil War. Its operations included forces from 14 nations and were conducted over a vast territory...
, and in general mirrored the hostility towards the Soviet Union demonstrated from London. Canadian authorities suspected Soviet involvement in Canadian labour disturbances such as the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and the Regina Riot of 1935, while Canada was the subject of unflattering propaganda in the Soviet Union, and subject to the popular front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
policy. Besides this, Canada had limited powers over her own foreign affairs until the Statute of Westminster 1931
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom...
.
During the war, aid and arms were relayed through Canada and Alaska to the Soviets, and relations were improved. However, the wartime relationship ended abruptly with the Gouzenko Affair in 1945 and 46. Igor Gouzenko
Igor Gouzenko
Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defected on September 5, 1945, with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West...
was a clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa who defected
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to Canada with evidence of Soviet spying in the West. This was combined with the general East-West tension leading up to the early Cold War, led Canada back to an anti-Soviet stance. By 1947 Canadian foreign policy analysts were advocating the creation of a Western Alliance outside of the United Nations. Soon after in 1949, Canada joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance against the Soviet bloc. In 1950 Canada joined in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
against the Soviet-allied North. Once the Soviet Union acquired the nuclear bomb, it became obvious that any Soviet attack on the US would go through Canadian airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
. This led to the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line
Distant Early Warning Line
The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the North Coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska, in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland...
and Canada's entry in the North American Aerospace Defense agreement
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
with the US.
After the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, Canada hoped tensions would ease, and then Foreign Minister Lester Pearson traveled to the Soviet Union for talks with Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
in 1955, the first NATO foreign minister to do so. However, tension arose again over the Hungarian Revolution and Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in 1956. In 1962 the new Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
caused a crisis of his own by refusing to put Canadian forces on alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
of 1962, and by agreeing to buy nuclear-equipped Bomarc missiles from the US to use against Soviet bombers.
After Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
came to power in Canada, Canadian policy changed dramatically. Trudeau was a left-leaning but free-thinking intellectual who had traveled to the Soviet Union in the 1950s and was arrested for throwing a snowball
Snowball
A snowball is a spherical object made from snow, usually created by scooping snow with the hands, and compacting it into a roughly fist-sized ball. The snowball is often used to engage in games, such as snowball fights. Snowball fights are usually light-hearted and involve throwing snowballs at...
at a statue of Stalin. Trudeau wanted to lessen Canada's reliance on the United States by forging closer ties with other countries and breaking out the of the Cold War straitjacket. During a trip to the Soviet Union in 1971 he identified the United States as a bigger threat to Canada than the remote Soviet Union. The Americans, he said, are "a danger to our national identity from a cultural, economic and perhaps even military point of view." Eventually Trudeau backed away from his "Third Option" policy and returned to the Western fold. However, at the end of his tenure, when he believed that tension between the US and Soviet Union were again too high, he launched a peace mission to Moscow which the Americans did not approve of.
The government of Conservative Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
cast a much more critical eye on the Soviet Union, despite the changes produced in that country by Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
's perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
and glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
reforms. As late as January 1989, foreign minister Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
still identified the Soviets as a threat to the West, by May however, he spoke approvingly of Gorbachev's reforms. Canada's changed position was fully shown in November 1989, when Prime Minister Mulroney visited the Soviet Union, accompanied by more than 200 representatives of Canadian business. Numerous agreements were signed during the visit, the most important of which was a Political Declaration calling for Canadian-Soviet cooperation in such areas as the environment, the Arctic, terrorism, and the drug trade. Canadian-Soviet relations were now on friendly terms, until January 1991, when Gorbachev cracked down on independence-seeking Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, prompting Canada to suspend credit and technical aid to the Soviet Union. During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt new foreign affairs minister Barbara McDougall
Barbara McDougall
Barbara Jean McDougall, PC, OC, is a former Canadian politician. McDougall received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in political science and economics, in 1963.In 2000, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada....
, evoked much criticism by indicating that Canada could work with the plotters, a position that was particularly embarrassing when Gorbachev was quickly returned to office.
As the Soviet Union fell apart, Canada moved speedily to establish full relations with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. It acted even before the United States, and in December 1991, Canada was the first Western country to recognize the independence of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. With Gorbachev's resignation that month, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, prompting Canada to recognize Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
as an independent state.