1945 was a watershed year for Canada and the world. It ushered in the modern era and set Canada on a new course. With the momentous dropping of the Atomic bomb on Japan, everything had changed. There was a sense of relief at the ending of hostilities, but there was also great uncertainty and fear of the brave new world unfolding. On the eve of WWII, Canada's population was just 10 million. The country was a sleepy backwater where nothing of much significance ever happened. If we accept that the country forged its national identity in World War I, it's fair to say that it came of age in the six years of WWII. As a result, Canada stepped into the modern era in 1945 completely changed and ready to assume its place in the world as an independent nation, no longer under the colonial sway of the mother country.