Canada's Prime Ministers and the Nuclear Weapons Venture, from Uncle Louis to Dief, 1948 to 1963
Abstract
The fact that Canada possessed nuclear weapons and operationalized their use for a significant period of its recent history is relatively unknown and understudied in both Canada and in the United States. Most unfamiliar is how Canada played in the great game of the early Cold War by engaging in the strategic debate and leveraging nuclear capabilities as instruments of national power. Of this topic, much of the historic research has proved that Canada's policies and actions did fit into a sovereign and coherent national strategy, serving national interests. With this argument in hand, this work refines how the leadership of Prime Ministers Louis St. Laurent (1948-1957) and John G. Diefenbaker (1957-1963) had an impact on Canada's nuclear weapons venture in the early Cold War from 1948 to 1963. Of different political party allegiances, with very different upbringings, and animated by very different personalities and leadership abilities, both had a very personal and profound impact on the operationalization of nuclear weapons in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 10, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1020346
Entities
People
- Mathieu Primeau
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College