Canadas Defining Moments in History free essay sample

Their first active role in international affairs was in the United Nations. The United Nations was founded in 1945 by France, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. They wanted to replace the old League of Nations (Founded after World War 1) with a better organization that would succeed where the League of Nations failed. The United Nations aimed to promote world peace and security, economic and social development, and human rights. Canada strongly supported the United Nations and their idea of promoting world peace and security so they decided to sign the charter on April 4th 1945 with 50 other nations. Canada wanted to increase the foreign aid to the less developed countries around the world with the help of the United Nations. Canada contributed a lot towards the UN like money and support for world peace. Their role in the UN was tremendous. Lester B Pearson served as the president of the General Assembly from 1952 to 1953. Canada had served a record six terms on the Security Council, first in 1948-49. Being part of the United Nations was a defining moment in Canadian history since nations around the world started to become aware of the things Canada is able to do by their selves. Canada was deeply involved in the creation of the United Nations. Some nations thought Canada should not be focusing at any economic or cultural organizations at that time. According to David Mackenzie, the author of â€Å"A World beyond Borders†, some people thought Canada shouldn’t be a part of world affairs and should be just focusing on creating military alliances. He stated â€Å"Although some countries acknowledged Canada’s interest in non-military article, they saw no need for Canada to be joining any economic or cultural organizations. Canada should stick to creating military alliances instead. (Mackenzie 83) If Canada listened to these people then Canada wouldn’t be where they are today. Canada needed to be part of more international affair so they decided to join the United States and ten other countries in NATO. On April 4th 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed.. The United States, Canada, and ten other countries signed the tr eaty that day. NATO was a defence alliance. NATO was formed during the Cold War. It was mean to help each other out if they get attacked by the Soviet Union or the Warsaw Pact. The twelve countries had committed to defend each other no matter what happened. According to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, all the members that were a part of the organization had promised to defend each other in the event of an attack, it stated â€Å"An armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all†(Mackenzie,83). This meant if France was getting attacked by the Soviet Union then the countries involved in NATO had to help out France. I think this is a very good rule to obey since if you are fighting with another country it is nice to know that you have allies by your side that would help you no matter what. NATO was another defining moment in Canadian history because it was the first peacetime alliance Canada had ever joined. Canada was a part of peacetime alliances before but that was when Britain controlled the country. This was their first alliance as a independent country. Nations around the world started to become aware of what Canada was doing in world affairs after World War 2. They started thinking about having alliances with Canada after seeing what they were capable of doing. Especially the United States, they start to become alert of what Canada is capable of doing. To make their defense cooperation with Canada stronger they decided to work together to create NORAD. The North American Air Defence Command (NORAD) was formed in 1957, when the United States found out that the Soviet Union built long range bombers and ballistic missiles that were able to reach North America. The Soviet Union had a plan to send missiles through Canada to hit the United States. Canada was in a crucial position at that time; they did not know what they should do. Canada played a very important role in NORAD since with their permission the United States would build a series of radar tations in the arctic to be warned of Soviet Union attacks. Canada analyzed the situation and agreed to help the United States defeat the Soviet Union. This was a defining moment in Canadian history since our alliance with the United States started to become even stronger. Their defence cooperation started to increase after NORAD since the US started to gain more trust in Canada. Without Can ada’s help in the cold war there would be a different end result to the war. After working with the United States, Canada found it much easier to trade with the US after NORAD. This is Canada and the United State’s first time working together as a defence cooperation and it was successful. If Canada did not work with the United States in NORAD Canada would not have had a strong alliance like they do today. These defining moments made Canada who they are today. It gave Canada a better reputation and it showed countries around the world that Canada can not only fight in wars but they can also work together in world affairs. Canada’s relationship with the US got stronger because of NORAD and NATO. Also, Canada started to become known better on the world stage