A HOUSE DIVIDED
We all know how world history was shaped by the great depression, WWII and the subsequent Cold War.
Canada was one of the countries most affected by these events, particularly by the Cold War.
After WWII, many of the countries, including the winners, were in a very bad shape, demographically and economically and peace did not bring rosier times for many of those.
Canada was very affected by these events: having participated in WWII, it suffer immensely with severe human and economic losses.
The US decision not to extend the Marshall Plan to Canada (as it was postulated that the country did not needed as much as the devastated European ones), increased anti-US sentiments among the general population and also in many echelons of the military.
Britannia facing its own reconstruction hurdles was in no position of helping rebuilding Canada’s economy; this was seen as a betrayal by many Canadians as the country was among the first to came into Britain help in the dark early rimes of WWII.
Al these factors, coupled with growing unemployment and cuts within the military, led to severe protests, culminating in a coup in 1947; the military coup found ample support among the general population.
Britain was in no position to intervene and the US decided also to do nothing, as the movement was initially, not seen as against its interests; initially, the military junta was seen as pro-West and maintaining all of Canada’s traditional ties.
This was however a misleading vision as the movement was supported (and even perhaps instigated) by elements very close to Moscow.
As the late 1940’s was still a time with relatively proximity between the West and the USSR (specially considering what would happen over the next decades), some proximity of Moscow to the new Canadian Government was not amply seen as overly problematic.
In the meantime, the USSR (and its Canadian supporters) was quietly replacing the traditional Western partners in several area of the Canadian society.
It was then, in 1952, that the mask fell off and the true intentions of new government were made more explicit; the military junta declared that was time for the Canadian people to take control of the county and its resources; a wave of nationalizations was initiated, many public servants and military leaders were removed from its positions and a more non-aligned public speech was brought forth.
The US and much of the West was tied up in Korea; Canada had chosen not to participated on that conflict and was, instead rebuilding its military at home.
The US, this time, did not stand still though; the CIA planed and executed a coup.
This, however, was so brutal and blatantly the work of US forces (and not a Canadian movement) that it was met with fierce resistance and the military junta was soon again in power.
This was the begin of a Civil war and many in Canada did legitimately opposed the Junta and its intentions; the two factions fought for 2 years and in late 1954, this division between two opposing sides (one pro-west and the other pro-soviet) was expressed in the constitution of two states: the Federal Republic of Canada (FRC) and the Union of the Canadian Democratic Republics (UCDR).
The two states were divided among a line running north-south close to the 89º West Meridian; the former provinces and territories were divided along that line, with Ontario being split almost in half by each new state; the FRC capital was in Ottawa and the UCDR’s was in Vancouver.
With this division, several areas became highly contested: the border of the UCDR with Alaska and the other US states; and between the two new republics, along the 89º West Meridian and particularly in the Hudson bay.
As a new front line state, the UCDR received the uppermost support of the USSR and this included the top Soviet military gear; likewise the FRC was also the recipient of the most advanced US and western military equipment.
Canadian history would continue pretty much along these lines, until the early 1990s USSR collapse, and the eventual reunification of the country in 1993.
