 America retained and expanded its Newfoundland bases after the war, because the island was on the shortest Great Circle air route between the Soviet Union and the East Coast of the United States, and Soviet bombers carrying nuclear weapons was the largest threat to American cities.Its five large American bases—four Air Force and one Navy—were important to Newfoundland's economy, and many Americans intermarried with native residents.Fears of a permanent American presence in Newfoundland caused the Canadian government to attempt to persuade the island to join the Canadian Confederation.