Canada-Europe relations

History

Canada’s relationship with Europe is an outgrowth of the historic connections spawned by colonialism and mass European immigration to Canada. What is now Canada was first colonized by the British , and after 1763 was formally added to the British Empire after its capture in the Seven Years‘ War . Formal diplomatic relations were not possible between Canada and European countries when the British colony was founded, but migration continued through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Traditionally, from the beginnings of Canadian diplomacy in the 1870s to the 1930s, Canadian contacts with European countries were limited. Canada was not fully independent of the British Empire in matters of foreign affairs. Therefore, Canada could not accept ambassadors to European capitals but rather relied on the Canadian High Commissioner in London or the Canadian Legate attached to the British Embassies in Paris, and Washington to make contacts with European diplomats.

Travel between Canada and Europe for political leaders was also limited. This was first introduced during the First World War, when Canada was a member of the Entente Powers in alliance with a variety of European states including France, Belgium, Italy, and Russia, and sent troops to France and Belgium. Formal expression of this new relationship emerged after 1919 when Prime Minister Robert Borden attended the Paris Peace Conference , and when Canada joined the League of Nations and sent representatives to its headquarters in Geneva .

Canadian engagement with the League of Nations has been relatively weak, however, as the government of Mackenzie King largely pursued a policy of isolationism . Though King did more regular occurrence, including a visit to Adolf Hitler in Berlin in 1937. ^[1]

With the onset of the Second World War Canada has become an intimately involved in the politics of Europe, as a member of the Allies , as a sanctuary for European refugees with the Dutch royal family , and with Canadian troops fighting in France, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands. Canada Began raising the status of assignments icts in Europe from legations to Canada Embassies in 1944. Was a strongly Atlanticist state, and Following The war, the new links Were institutionalized through the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizationwhich bound Canada to defend any of the (Western) European members of the alliance if it was attacked by the Soviet Union. Relations with „Eastern Europe“ (in the sense of the Warsaw Pact ) were decidedly cooler.

Economically, Canada still deals much more with the United Kingdom than the rest of the continent, but this was soon after the economic war booms in France and West Germany combined with British relative decline. At the same time Canada’s relations with the United States have never been so far, so that relations with UK were no longer so important, as they had been before. Reviews This was confirmed by Canadian refusal to back Britain’s position in the Suez Crisis of 1957 and Britain’s entry into the European Economic Communityin 1973 over Canadian (and Australasian) objections. Canada and Britain still continues to be a part of the Commonwealth .

Canada’s commitments to the rest of Europe included NATO-related forces stationed in Germany and Norway, and a series of economic agreements with the EEC starting in 1976.

Since the end of the Cold War, Canada has expanded with Eastern Europe, including being the first western country to recognize the independence of the Baltic States and Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Current relations

Canada is still a member of the NATO alliance in Europe, but Canadian forces in Germany and Norway have been withdrawn.

Proposals for transatlantic economics and political parties, which Canadian hoped NATO would include in 1949, have not come to fruition. The European Union and the North American Free Trade Association instead represent two divergent trade blocs . However, Canada has signed a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association in 2008. As of 2010 talks for Canada – EU FTA are ongoing.

See also

• Foreign relations of Canada
• Canada-NATO relations
• Canada-European Union relations
• Canada-European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement
• European Canadians

References