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Military history of Canada

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Military History and War

   Canadian soldiers advancing behind a tank at the Battle of Vimy Ridge,
   one of Canada's greatest military victories.
   Enlarge
   Canadian soldiers advancing behind a tank at the Battle of Vimy Ridge,
   one of Canada's greatest military victories.
   A Canadian recruiting poster from the First World War.
   Enlarge
   A Canadian recruiting poster from the First World War.

   The military history of Canada comprises millennia of armed actions in
   the territory encompassing modern Canada, and the role of the Canadian
   military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. For thousands of
   years, the area that would become Canada was the site of sporadic
   intertribal wars among First Nations peoples. Beginning in the 16th
   century, the arrival of Europeans led to conflicts with Aboriginal
   peoples and among the invading Europeans in the New World. Starting in
   the 17th century, the region was the site of conflicts between the
   French and the British for more than a century, as each allied with
   various First Nation groups. In 1763, the British emerged victorious
   and the French civilians, whom the British hoped to assimilate, were
   declared "British Subjects". New challenges soon arose when the
   northern colonies chose not to join the American Revolution and
   remained loyal to the British crown. The victorious Americans looked to
   extend their republic and launched invasions in 1775 and in 1812. On
   both occasions, the Americans were rebuffed by British and local
   forces; however, this threat would remain well into the 19th century
   and partially facilitated Canadian Confederation in 1867.

   After Confederation, and amid much controversy, a full-fledged Canadian
   military was created. Canada, however, remained a British colony, and
   Canadian forces joined their British counterparts in the Second Boer
   War, and the First World War. While independence followed the Statute
   of Westminster, Canada's links to Britain remained strong, and the
   British once again enjoyed Canadian support in the Second World War.
   Since the Second World War, however, Canada has been committed to
   multilateralism and has gone to war only within large multinational
   coalitions such as in the Korean War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, and
   the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Canada has also played an important
   role in UN peacekeeping operations worldwide and has cumulatively
   committed more troops than any other country. As of 2006, Canada had
   the second-highest peacekeeping fatality in the world, behind India.

European colonization

First Nations

   The first conflicts between Europeans and Native peoples may have
   occurred around 1006, when parties of Norsemen attempted to establish
   permanent settlements along the coast of Newfoundland. According to
   Norse sagas, the native Beothuk (called skraelings or skraelingars by
   the Norse) responded so ferociously that the newcomers eventually
   withdrew and gave up their original intentions to settle. Among later
   European settlers, the First Nations developed a reputation for
   violence and savagery. The Natives gave no heed to the idea of
   surrender, and tended to torture and kill those who did so.

   Prior to the arrival of Europeans, some First Nations warfare tended to
   be formal and ritualistic, and entail relatively few casualties. But
   there is also evidence of much more violent warfare, even the complete
   genocide of some groups by others, such as the total displacement of
   the Dorset culture of Newfoundland by the Beothuk mentioned above, as
   well as by the Inuit in other regions. There is no evidence of genetic
   or cultural continuity, so the Dorset are presumed to have simply been
   wiped out. Just prior to French settlement in the St. Lawrence River
   valley, the local Iroquoian peoples were completely eradicated,
   probably in warfare with their neighbors. Study of whether any of these
   people, who had several large towns along the St. Lawrence River,
   survived the 16th century is inconclusive. After Europeans arrived,
   fighting tended to be bloodier and more decisive, especially as tribes
   became caught up in the economic and military rivalries of the European
   settlers. By the end of the seventeenth century, the East Coast First
   Nations rapidly adopted the use of firearms, supplanting the
   traditional bow. While a skilled warrior could dodge an incoming arrow,
   and wooden armour offered some measure of protection against arrows,
   nothing could protect them from a bullet. Even wounds to limbs from
   these large-calibre, low velocity bullets eventually proved fatal. The
   adoption of firearms significantly increased the number of fatalities.
   The bloodshed involved in native conflicts was also dramatically
   increased by the uneven distribution of firearms and horses among
   Native groups.

   Native tribes became important allies of the French and English in the
   struggle for North American hegemony during the seventeenth and
   eighteenth centuries; these alliances escalated the violence. Scalping,
   which is now believed to have existed before the arrival of the
   Europeans, became more common as the Europeans demanded the
   presentation of scalps as evidence of their military success.

Early French settlements

   The French under Samuel de Champlain founded settlements at Annapolis
   Royal in 1605 and Quebec in 1608, quickly joining pre-existing Native
   alliances that brought them into conflict with other indigenous
   inhabitants. For example, soon after the founding of Quebec, Champlain
   joined a Huron-Algonkian alliance against the Iroquois Confederacy. In
   the earliest battle, superior French firepower rapidly dispersed a
   massed groups of Natives. The Iroquois changed tactics by integrating
   their hunting skills and their intimate knowledge of the terrain with
   their use of firearms obtained from the Dutch; thus, they developed a
   highly effective form of guerrilla warfare, and were soon a formidable
   threat to all but the handful of fortified cities. As well, as the
   French gave few guns to their Native allies, the Iroquois waged
   devastating warfare against the tribes of the Great Lakes region. For
   the first century of its existence the chief threat to the inhabitants
   of New France came from the Iroquois Confederacy, and particularly from
   its eastern-most people, the Mohawks. While the majority of tribes in
   the region were allies of the French, the Iroquois were aligned first
   with the Dutch, and, after the ceding of New Netherlands to England,
   with the British, and received their weapons and support.

   The French and Iroquois Wars continued intermittently for until 1703,
   with great brutality on both sides. In response to the Iroquois threat,
   the French government dispatched the Carignan-Salières Regiment, the
   first group of uniformed professional soldiers to set foot on what is
   today Canadian soil. After peace was attained, this regiment was
   disbanded in Canada. The soldiers settled in the St. Lawrence valley
   and, in the late 17th century, formed the core of the Compagnies
   Franches de la Marine, the local militia. Later, militias were
   developed on the larger seigneuries.

English-French conflict

   Canada was colonized by two major European powers that were
   historically at odds with each other, and it was inevitable that this
   age-old tension would spill over into Canada; during the 17th and 18th
   centuries, there was almost continuous conflict between the colonizing
   powers in Canada.

17th century

   Before the Battle of Quebec, Frontenac famously rebuffs the English
   envoys: "The only response I have for your general is through the
   muzzles of my cannons." Watercolour on commercial board.
   Enlarge
   Before the Battle of Quebec, Frontenac famously rebuffs the English
   envoys: "The only response I have for your general is through the
   muzzles of my cannons." Watercolour on commercial board.

   Two years after the French founded Annapolis Royal, the English began
   their first settlement, at Jamestown, Virginia to the south. From these
   original footholds, much larger colonies would emerge. The French
   colony of Quebec on the Saint Lawrence River was based primarily on the
   fur trade and enjoyed only lukewarm support from the French monarchy.
   It grew only slowly amidst the tough and unyielding geographical and
   climatic circumstances. The more favourably located English colonies to
   the south developed more diversified economies and flourished. The
   result was that by the 1750s, when the economic, political, and
   military rivalries came to a head in the struggle of the Seven Years'
   War, the total population of the 13 English colonies was 1,500,000,
   whereas that of their French rivals to the north was only about 60,000.
   As a result, outside of their strongholds of Quebec City and
   Louisbourg, the French were forced to employ both guerrilla warfare
   tactics, largely borrowed from the Natives. The guerilla form of
   fighting became known as la petite guerre. During the 17th century,
   there were several skirmishes between the two great powers. In 1629, a
   group of English seaborne marauders captured and burnt the stronghold
   at Québec and carried off Champlain and its other leaders into
   captivity in England. However, the French returned in 1632, rebuilt
   their capital, and resumed their endeavours. The next most serious
   threat to Québec in the seventeenth century came in 1690 when, alarmed
   by the attacks of the petite guerre, the New England colonies sent an
   armed expedition north, under Sir William Phips, to capture the source
   of the problems: Québec itself. This expedition was poorly organized
   and had little time to achieve its objective, having arrived in
   mid-October, shortly before the St Lawrence would freeze over. The
   expedition was responsible for eliciting one of the most famous
   pronouncements in Canadian military history. When called on by Phips to
   surrender, the aged Governor Frontenac, then serving his second term,
   replied (according to Frontenac's self-congratulatory reports) "I will
   answer … only with the mouths of my cannon and the shots of my
   muskets." After a single abortive landing on the Beauport shore to the
   east of the city, the English force withdrew down the icy waters of the
   St Lawrence.

   In 1695, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville was called upon to attack the
   English stations along the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland. Iberville
   sailed with his three vessels to Placentia (Plaisance), the French
   capital of Newfoundland. Both English and French fishermen exploited
   the Grand Banks fishery from their respective settlements on
   Newfoundland under the sanction of the treaty of 1687, but the purpose
   of the new French expedition of 1696 was nevertheless to expel the
   English from Newfoundland. Iberville and his men left Placentia on
   November 1, 1696 and marched overland to Ferryland, 50 miles south of
   St John’s. Nine days later, Iberville joined with naval forces and both
   detachments began the march north to the English capital, which
   surrendered on November 30, 1696 following a brief siege. After setting
   fire to St John’s, Iberville’s Canadians almost totally destroyed the
   English fisheries along the eastern shore of Newfoundland. Small
   raiding parties terrorized the hamlets hidden away in remote bays and
   inlets, burning, looting, and taking prisoners. By the end of March
   1697, only Bonavista and Carbonear remained in English hands. In four
   months of raids, Iberville was responsible for the destruction of 36
   settlements.

Early 18th century

   During the 18th century, the British-French struggle in Canada
   intensified as the rivalry between the mother countries worsened in
   Europe. As concerns grew, the French government poured more and more
   military spending into its North American colonies. Expensive garrisons
   were maintained at distant fur trading posts, the fortifications of
   Québec were improved and augmented, and a new fortified town was built
   on the east coast of Île Royale, or Cape Breton Island—the fortress of
   Louisbourg, the so-called " Dunkirk of the North."

   Three times during the 18th century, the French and English North
   American colonies found themselves at war with one another. The first
   two major wars were local off-shoots of larger European conflicts—the
   War of the Spanish Succession (1702–13), the War of the Austrian
   Succession (1744–48). The last, the Seven Years' War (1756–63), started
   in the Ohio Valley. The petite guerre of the Canadiens left a trail of
   terror and devastation through the northern towns and villages of New
   England, sometimes reaching as far south as Virginia. The war also
   spread to the forts along the Hudson Bay shore. In 1713, a British
   force managed to capture Port Royal, the French capital of Acadia in
   present-day Nova Scotia. As a result, France was forced to cede control
   of mainland Nova Scotia to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht, leaving
   present-day New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton Island
   in the hands of the French. British possession of Hudson Bay was
   guaranteed by the same treaty.

   During the War of the Austrian Succession, a force of New England
   militia, under William Pepperell and Commodore Peter Warren of the
   Royal Navy, succeeded in capturing Louisbourg in 1745. Yet by the
   Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that ended the war in 1748, France got
   Louisbourg back by trading off other of its conquests in the
   Netherlands and India. The New Englanders were outraged, and as a
   counterweight to the continuing French strength at Louisbourg, the
   British founded the military settlement of Halifax in 1749, with a
   strong naval base in its spacious harbour.

Seven Years' War

   In 1754, the Seven Years' War began in North America, where it is
   sometimes called the French and Indian War. The French had begun to
   challenge the claims of Anglo-American traders and land speculators for
   supremacy in the Ohio Country to the west of the Appalachian
   Mountains—land that was claimed by some of the British colonies in
   their royal charters. In 1753, the French started the military
   occupation of the Ohio Country by building a series of forts. In 1755,
   the British sent two regiments of the line to North America to drive
   the French from these forts, but these were destroyed by French
   Canadians and American Indians as they approached Fort Duquesne. War
   was formally declared in 1756, and in Quebec, six French regiments of
   troupes de terre, or line infantry, came under the command of the newly
   arrived general, the 44-year-old Marquis de Montcalm. Accompanying him
   were another two battalions of 'troupes de terre', bringing the total
   number of French professional soldiers in the colony to about 4000.
   This was the first significant aggregation of trained professional
   soldiers on what was to be Canadian soil.
   The Death of General Wolfe, painted by Benjamin West, apocryphally
   depicts General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains
   of Abraham in 1759.
   Enlarge
   The Death of General Wolfe, painted by Benjamin West, apocryphally
   depicts General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains
   of Abraham in 1759.

   Under their new commander, the French at first achieved a number of
   startling victories over the British, first at Fort William Henry to
   the south of Lake Champlain, where, in 1757, over 2400 men, mostly
   British regulars, surrendered. In the following year, an even greater
   victory followed when the British army—numbering about 15,000 under
   Major General James Abercrombie—was roundly defeated in its attack on a
   French fortification at Carillon (later renamed Fort Ticonderoga by the
   British) at the southern tip of Lake Champlain. The French numbered no
   more than 3500, but before the British withdrew, the French had
   inflicted a loss of about 2000 men, mostly regulars, for a total French
   loss of about 350. In the meantime, the British war effort had been
   galvanized by the appointment of William Pitt as British Prime
   Minister, who was determined to win battles, and who decided that North
   America would be the crux of the British war effort. In June 1758, a
   British force of 13,000 regulars under Major General Geoffrey Amherst,
   with James Wolfe as one of his brigadiers, landed and permanently
   captured the Fortress of Louisbourg.

   A year later Wolfe set his gaze on Quebec City. After several botched
   landing attempts including particularly bloody defeats at Beauport and
   Montmorency, Wolfe succeeded in slipping his army ashore, forming ranks
   on the Plains of Abraham September 12. Montcalm, against the better
   judgment of his officers, sallied out with a numerically inferior force
   to meet the British. An epic battle followed in which Wolfe was killed,
   Montcalm mortally wounded, and 658 British and 644 French fell dead or
   wounded. Badly mauled by massed British volleys, the French retreated
   to the citadel and endured a painful siege and blockade before
   capitulating on August 18.

   However, in the spring of 1760, the last French General, François
   Gaston de Lévis, marched back to Quebec from Montreal and defeated the
   British at Ste. Foy in a battle similar to that of the previous year;
   now the situation was reversed, with the French laying siege to the
   Quebec fortifications behind which the British retreated. However, the
   French finally had to concede the loss of New France when the Royal
   Navy rather than the French fleet sailed up the St Lawrence after the
   breakup of the winter ice. France lost almost all of its North American
   possessions, and retained only the small islands of Saint-Pierre and
   Miquelon as a base for its fishing fleet, which worked the Grand Banks.
   The French formally withdrew from much of North America in 1763 when
   they signed the Treaty of Paris. France was given the choice of keeping
   either New France or its sugar-producing Caribbean island colony
   Guadeloupe, and chose the latter as it had ten times the GDP of Quebec
   and, unlike Canada, was profitable.

Conflicts with the United States

   With the French threat eliminated, Britain's eastern seaboard colonies
   became increasingly restive. The American Revolution largely arose from
   their resentment of paying taxes to support a large military
   establishment, when there was no obvious enemy. This was augmented by
   further suspicions of British motives when the Ohio Valley and other
   western territories previously claimed by France were not annexed to
   the existing British colonies, especially Pennsylvania and Virginia,
   which had long-standing claims to the region. Instead, under the Quebec
   Act, this territory was set aside for the First Nations. The American
   Revolutionary War (1776–83) saw the revolutionaries use force to break
   free from British rule and claim these western lands. American forces
   took Montreal and the chain of forts in the Richelieu Valley, but
   attempts by the revolutionaries to take Québec were repelled. During
   this time most French Canadians stayed neutral. The revolutionaries'
   failure to achieve success in these areas, and the continuing
   allegiance to Britain of some colonists, resulted in the split of
   Britain's North American empire. Many Americans who remained loyal to
   the Crown, known as the United Empire Loyalists, moved north, greatly
   expanding the English-speaking population. The independent republic of
   the United States emerged to the south, while a series of loyal British
   colonies remained in place along its northern border. The remaining
   British colonies were collectively referred to as British North
   America.

War of 1812

   After the cessation of hostilities, animosity and suspicion continued
   between the United States and the United Kingdom. This erupted into a
   shooting war in 1812, when the Americans declared war on the British.
   The Americans were irked by British harassment of US ships on the high
   seas (including impressment of American seamen into the Royal Navy),
   the occurrence of which was a byproduct of British involvement in the
   ongoing Napoleonic Wars. The Americans did not possess a navy capable
   of challenging the Royal Navy, and so an invasion of Canada was
   proposed as the only feasible means of attacking the British Empire.
   Americans on the western frontier also hoped an invasion would bring an
   end to what they saw as British support of American Indian resistance
   to the westward expansion of the United States, and finalize their
   claim to the western territories. The early strategy was to temporarily
   seize Canada as a means of forcing concessions from the British.
   However, as the war progressed, outright annexation was more frequently
   cited as an objective—an early expression of what would later be called
   "Manifest Destiny". Many Americans hoped the French Canadians would
   welcome the chance to overthrow their British rulers.
   "Push on, brave York Volunteers!" A mortally wounded General Brock
   urges the Canadian militia forward.
   Enlarge
   "Push on, brave York Volunteers!" A mortally wounded General Brock
   urges the Canadian militia forward.

   The Americans launched an invasion across the northern border in July
   1812. The war raged back and forth along the border of Upper Canada, on
   land as well as on the waters of the Great Lakes. The British succeeded
   in capturing Detroit in July, and in October, a major American thrust
   across the Niagara frontier was defeated at the Battle of Queenston
   Heights by a combined force of British regular troops and colonial
   militia under Sir Isaac Brock, who lost his life in the battle.

   1813 was the year of American victories, when they retook Detroit and
   enjoyed a string of successes along the western end of Lake Erie,
   culminating in the Battle of Lake Erie (Sept. 10) and the Battle of
   Moraviantown or Battle of the Thames on Oct. 5th. The naval battle
   secured U.S. dominance of lakes Erie and Huron. At Moraviantown, the
   British lost one of their key commanders, the Shawnee chief Tecumseth.
   Further east, the Americans succeeded in capturing and burning York
   (later Toronto) and taking Fort George at Niagara, which they held
   until the end of the year. However, in the same year, two American
   thrusts against Montreal were defeated—one by a force of British
   regulars at Crysler's Farm southwest of the city on the St Lawrence;
   the other, by a force of mostly French Canadian militia under the
   command of Charles de Salaberry, to the south of the city at Allan's
   Corners on the Chateauguay River. The Iroquois tribes of the Upper
   Canada, the Caughnawagas from near Montreal, and western tribes under
   the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, were valued allies of the British
   throughout the campaign. These First Peoples played an important part
   in many battles and on many occasions had a psychologically
   debilitating impact on their enemy.

   In 1814, the British recaptured all of their lost territory and seized
   Michilimackinac in Michigan. The defeat of Napoleon gave the British
   the chance to turn their attention to the North American theatre and
   launch raids on Washington, Baltimore and New Orleans. Prudently, the
   Americans put out peace feelers that summer.

   In December of 1814, the two opponents signed a peace treaty that
   restored the borders that had existed before the war. Sir Isaac Brock
   became a martyred Canadian hero. Although the successful defence of
   Canada relied heavily on the assistance of British regular troops, the
   Royal Navy, and American Indian allies, in Canada the war has
   traditionally been portrayed as a Canadian victory.

British withdrawal

   The fear that the Americans might reactivate their wish to conquer
   Canada remained a serious concern for at least the next half century,
   and was the chief reason for the retention of a large British garrison
   there. From the 1820s to the 1840s, there was extensive construction of
   fortifications in the colonies, as the British attempted to create
   strong points around which defending forces might centre in the event
   of an American invasion; these include the Citadels at Québec and
   Halifax, and Fort Henry in Kingston. The Rideau Canal was built during
   these years to allow ships in wartime to travel a more northerly route
   from Montreal to Kingston. (The customary peacetime route was the St
   Lawrence River, which constituted the northern edge of the American
   border, and hence was vulnerable to enemy attack and interference.)
   British regulars struggle forward at the Battle of Saint-Denis, 1837.
   Enlarge
   British regulars struggle forward at the Battle of Saint-Denis, 1837.

   One of the most important actions by the British forces during this
   period was the putting down of the Rebellions of 1837. The Upper Canada
   Rebellion was quickly and decisively defeated by the British forces.
   Attacks the next year by Hunters' Lodges, U.S. irregulars who expected
   to be paid in Canadian land, were crushed in 1838 in battles at Pelee
   Island and Prescott. The Lower Canada Rebellion was a greater threat to
   the British, and the rebels were victorious at the Battle of St. Denis
   on November 23. Two days later, the rebels were defeated at the Battle
   of Saint-Charles, and on December 14, they were finally routed at the
   Battle of Saint-Eustache.

   By the 1850s, fears of an American invasion had begun to diminish, and
   the British felt able to start reducing the size of their garrison. The
   Reciprocity Treaty, negotiated between Canada and the United States in
   1854, further helped to alleviate concerns. However, tensions picked up
   again during the American Civil War (1861–65), apparently reaching a
   peak with the Trent Affair of late 1861 and early 1862. This was
   touched off when the captain of a US gunboat stopped the Royal Mail
   Steamship Trent and removed two Confederate officials who were bound
   for Britain. The British government was outraged and, with war
   appearing imminent, took steps to reinforce its British North American
   garrison, which was increased from a strength of 4000 to 18,000. In the
   end, cooler heads prevailed, war was averted, and the sense of crisis
   subsided. This incident proved to be the final major episode of
   Anglo-American military confrontation in North America, as both sides
   increasingly became persuaded of the benefits of amicable relations. At
   the same time, many Canadians went south to fight in the Civil War,
   with most joining the Union army, although some Canadians, especially
   in the Toronto militias, were sympathetic towards the Confederacy (see
   Canada and the American Civil War).

   In the meantime, Britain was becoming concerned with military threats
   closer to home, and disgruntled at paying to maintain a garrison in
   colonies that were becoming increasingly self-assertive, and that,
   after 1867, were united in the self-governing Dominion of Canada.
   Consequently, in 1871, the troops of the British garrison were
   withdrawn from Canada completely, save for Halifax and Esquimalt, where
   British garrisons remained in place purely for reasons of imperial
   strategy.

Fenian raids

   The Battle of Ridgeway, 1866.
   Enlarge
   The Battle of Ridgeway, 1866.

   It was during this period of re-examination of the British military
   presence in Canada and its ultimate withdrawal that the last invasion
   of Canada occurred. It was not carried out by any official US
   government force, but by an organization called the Fenians. This was a
   group of Irish-Americans, mostly Union Army veterans from the Civil War
   who believed that by seizing Canada, concessions could be wrung from
   the British government regarding their policy in Ireland. The Fenians
   had also, to a large degree, incorrectly estimated that Irish
   Canadians, who were quite numerous in Canada would support their
   invasive efforts and rise up, both politically and militarily.

   After the events of the Civil War, anti-British sentiment was high in
   the United States. Irish-Americans were a large and politically
   important constituency, particularly in parts of the Northeastern
   States and large regiments of Irish Americans had participated in the
   war. Thus, while deeply concerned about the Fenians, the US government,
   led by Secretary of State William H. Seward, generally ignored the
   Fenian organizing efforts. The Fenians were allowed to openly organize
   and arm themselves, and were even allowed to recruit in Union Army
   camps. The Americans were not prepared to risk war with Britain, and
   intervened when the Fenians threatened to endanger American neutrality.

   The Fenians were a serious threat to Canada, being veterans of the
   Union Army they were well armed. They made three attacks in 1866: one
   on Campobello Island in New Brunswick in April, and the others in the
   Niagara and the St Lawrence Valley regions in July. The Campobello and
   St. Lawrence valley attacks failed. The Fenians won the Battle of
   Ridgeway when troops, mostly University of Toronto students and young
   men from Hamilton, were led into a bungled attack and a sloppy retreat,
   but the Fenians quickly withdrew, fearing a British counter-attack. In
   New Brunswick, their failure was due to the presence of a strong force
   of British regulars and the confiscation of Fenian weapons by the
   American navy. Two later attacks along the Québec-Vermont frontier in
   1870 and Manitoba in 1871 proved similarly fruitless.

   Despite these failures, the raids had some impact on Canadian
   politicians who were then locked in negotiations leading up to the
   Confederation agreement of 1867. The raids reinforced a sense of
   military vulnerability, especially because the British were known to be
   seriously considering the downsizing of their garrison, if not its
   outright withdrawal. The Confederation debates were to some degree held
   in an atmosphere of military crisis, and the greater military security
   that would be gained through the pooling of colonial resources was one
   of the factors that weighed heavily in Confederation's favour.

Canadian autonomy

Canadian militia

   With Confederation in place and the British garrison gone, Canada
   assumed full responsibility for its own defence; Britain undertook to
   send aid in the event of a serious emergency, and the Royal Navy
   continued to provide oceanic defence. Small professional batteries of
   artillery were established at Québec and Kingston. In 1883, a third
   battery of artillery was added, and small professional schools of
   cavalry and infantry were created. These were intended to provide
   professional backbone for the much larger force of militia that was to
   form the bulk of the Canadian defence effort. In theory, every
   able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 60 was liable to be
   conscripted for service, but in practice, the defence of the country
   rested on the services of volunteers who made up the so-called Active
   Militia, which in 1869 numbered 31,170 officers and men. During the
   remaining decades of the century, this force was consolidated,
   attending summer camps, parading about in colourful uniforms, and
   occasionally being mustered to serve in times of strikes and other
   civil emergencies.
   Contemporary lithograph of the Battle of Fish Creek.
   Enlarge
   Contemporary lithograph of the Battle of Fish Creek.

   The most important early tests of the militia were the expeditions
   against the rebel forces of Louis Riel in the Canadian west. The
   Wolseley Expedition, containing a mix of British and militia forces,
   restored order after the Red River Rebellion with little violence in
   1870. A greater test was the North-West Rebellion in 1885 that saw the
   largest military effort undertaken on Canadian soil since the end of
   the War of 1812. The Rebellion saw a series of battles between the
   Métis and their allies against the Militia and North West Mounted
   Police, from which the government forces emerged victorious. The Battle
   of Loon Lake, which ended this conflict, is notable as the last battle
   to have been fought on Canadian soil.

   In 1884, Britain for the first time asked Canada for aid in defending
   the empire. The mother country asked Canada to send experienced boatmen
   to the Sudan to help rescue Major-General Charles Gordon from the Mahdi
   uprising. However, Ottawa was reluctant to do this, and eventually
   Governor General Lord Lansdowne recruited a private force of 386
   Voyageurs who were placed under the command of Canadian Militia
   officers. This force, known as the Nile Voyageurs, served ably in the
   Sudan and became the first Canadian force to serve abroad.

Boer War

   The defence of the empire was again an issue when Britain found itself
   hard pressed in the Second Boer War in South Africa. The British asked
   for Canadian help in the conflict, and the Conservative Party was
   adamantly in favour of raising divisions for service in South Africa.
   French-Canadians almost universally opposed the war, as did several
   other groups. This split the governing Liberal Party deeply, as it
   relied on both pro-imperial Anglo-Canadians and anti-imperial
   Franco-Canadians for support. Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier initially
   sent 1,000 soldiers of the Royal Canadian Regiment. Later, other
   divisions were sent, including the privately raised Lord Strathcona's
   Horse.

   The Canadian forces missed the early period of the war and the great
   British defeats of Black Week. The Canadians in South Africa won much
   acclaim for leading the charge at the Second Battle of Paardeberg, one
   of the first decisive victories of the war. At the Battle of
   Liliefontein, three Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross for
   protecting the rear of a retreating force. About 7,400 Canadians,
   including 12 female nurses, served in South Africa. Of these, 224 died,
   252 were wounded, and several were decorated with the Victoria Cross.
   The war remained deeply unpopular in Quebec, where many people viewed
   it as crushing a democratic minority group, that, in many ways, was
   similar to French-Canadians. Canadian forces also participated fully in
   the concentration camp programs that led to the deaths of thousands of
   Boer civilians.

Creation of the Canadian navy

   HMCS Rainbow in 1910
   Enlarge
   HMCS Rainbow in 1910

   Soon after the debate over the Second Boer War, a similar one developed
   over whether or not Canada should have its own navy. Canada had long
   had a small fishing protection force attached to the Department of
   Marine and Fisheries, but relied on Britain for maritime protection.
   Britain was increasingly engaged in an arms race with Germany, and in
   1908, asked the colonies for help with the navy. The Conservative Party
   of Canada argued that Canada should merely contribute money to the
   purchase and upkeep of some British Royal Navy vessels. Some
   French-Canadian nationalists felt that no aid should be sent; others
   advocated an independent Canadian navy that could aid the British in
   times of need.

   Eventually, Prime Minister Laurier decided to follow this compromise
   position, and the Royal Canadian Navy was created in 1910. To appease
   imperialists, the Naval Service Act included a provision that in case
   of emergency, the fleet could be turned over to the British. This
   provision led to the strenuous opposition to the bill by Quebec
   nationalist Henri Bourassa. The bill set a goal of building a navy
   composed of five cruisers and six destroyers. The first two ships were
   the Niobe and Rainbow, somewhat aged and outdated vessels purchased
   from the British. With the election of the Conservatives in 1911, in
   part because the Liberals had lost support in Quebec, the navy was
   starved for funds, but during the First World War, it was greatly
   expanded and played an important role in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

Creation of a Canadian army

   As British troops began to leave Canada in the late 1800s and early
   1900s, the importance of the Militia (comprising various cavalry,
   artillery, infantry and engineer units) grew. The last Officer
   Commanding the Forces (Canada), Lord Dundonald, instituted a series of
   reforms in which Canada gained its own technical and support branches.
   These various services, called "corps", included
     * Canadian Engineer Corps (created 1 Jul 1903)
     * Signalling Corps (created 24 Oct 1903)
     * Canadian Army Service Corps 1 Dec 1903
     * Permanent Active Militia Army Medical Corps 2 Jul 1904
     * Ordnance Stores Corps 1 Jul 1903
     * Corps of Guides 1902

   In 1904, the appointment of Officer Commanding the Forces was replaced
   with a Canadian Chief of the General Staff. Additional corps would be
   created in the years before the First World War, including the world's
   first separate military dental corps.

World Wars

First World War

   The Battle of Vimy Ridge after a painting by Richard Jack. Canadian War
   Museum.
   Enlarge
   The Battle of Vimy Ridge after a painting by Richard Jack. Canadian War
   Museum.

   On August 4, 1914, Britain entered the First World War by declaring war
   on Germany. The British declaration of war automatically brought Canada
   into the war, because Canada was still considered a colony. However,
   the Canadian government had the freedom to determine the country's
   level of involvement in the war. Canada eventually sent four divisions
   to fight on the Western Front.

   In the later stages of the war, the Canadian Corps was regarded as
   among the most effective and respected of the armies on the Western
   Front; Canadian divisions were larger than British divisions by 1917
   due to manpower shortages (though manpower problems would cause Canada
   to scrap plans for a second Canadian Corps and two additional divisions
   as well as institute conscription for overseas service). Indeed, in the
   aftermath of the Battle of the Somme, the Canadian Corps developed a
   reputation as shock troops which were feared by the Germans. Given this
   fact, in 1916 the United Kingdom even made use of specific Canadian
   help to defend the British colonies of the West Indies from the German
   navy with many Canadian forces being stationed on the island of Saint
   Lucia to help defend from a possible German navy attack.
   Canadian painter Alfred Bastien's impression of Canadian soldiers. This
   painting can be seen at the Canadian War Museum.
   Enlarge
   Canadian painter Alfred Bastien's impression of Canadian soldiers. This
   painting can be seen at the Canadian War Museum.

   Without conscription, the Canadian force was limited to those dedicated
   enough to enlist. The high point of Canadian military achievement came
   at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917, during which Canadian
   troops captured a fortified German hill that had resisted British and
   French attacks earlier in the war. Vimy, as well as the success of the
   Canadian flying aces William Barker and Billy Bishop, helped to give
   Canada a new sense of identity. This translated into greater autonomy,
   with Canada sending its own delegates to the Treaty of Versailles
   negotiations in 1919, joining the League of Nations as a member in
   1921, and being formally granted autonomy via the Statute of
   Westminster in 1931.

   The other major combatants had all introduced conscription to replace
   the massive casualties they were suffering. Spearheaded by Sir Robert
   Borden who wished to maintain the continuity of Canada's military
   contribution and with a burgeoning pressure to introduce and enforce
   conscription, the Military Service Act was ratified. Although reaction
   to conscription was favourable in English Canada (as well as at the
   front), the idea was deeply unpopular in Quebec. In the end,
   conscription raised about 120,000 soldiers, of whom about 47,000
   actually went overseas. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 did much to
   highlight the divisions between French and English-speaking Canadians
   in Canada.
   The Second Battle of Ypres by Richard Jack, 146 x 234 1/2 in., at the
   Canadian War Museum.
   Enlarge
   The Second Battle of Ypres by Richard Jack, 146 x 234 1/2 in., at the
   Canadian War Museum.

   Despite the rancour, the Conscription Crisis of 1917 did not hinder
   Prime Minister Robert Borden's political career, for in the following
   election of that year, Borden's Union government won 153 seats, nearly
   all from English Canada. However, of Quebec's 65 seats, Borden's
   government won only 3.

   For a nation of eight million people, Canada's war effort was widely
   regarded as remarkable. A total of 619,636 men and women served in the
   Canadian forces in the First World War, and of these 66,655 were killed
   and another 172,950 were wounded.

   In 1919, Canada sent an expeditionary force to Siberia to aid the White
   Russians in the Russian Civil War. These troops were based in
   Vladivostok and saw little combat before they withdrew, along with
   other foreign forces.

   Canadian sacrifices are commemorated at eight memorials in France and
   Belgium. Two of the eight are unique in design: the giant white Vimy
   Memorial and the distinctive Brooding Soldier at the Saint Julien
   Memorial. The other six follow a standard pattern of granite monuments
   surrounded by a circular path. They are the Hill 62 Memorial and
   Passchendaele Memorial in Belgium, and the Bourlon Wood Memorial,
   Courcelette Memorial, Dury Memorial, and Le Quesnel Memorial in France.
   There are also separate war memorials to commemorate the actions of the
   soldiers of Newfoundland in the Great War. The largest are the
   Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial and the National War Memorial in
   St. John's. Newfoundland did not join Confederation until 1949.

Second World War

   Canadian forces in Italy advancing from the Gustav Line to the Hitler
   Line
   Enlarge
   Canadian forces in Italy advancing from the Gustav Line to the Hitler
   Line

   Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Canada's
   Parliament supported the government's decision to declare war on
   Germany on September 10, one week after the United Kingdom and France.
   Canadian airmen played a small but significant important role in the
   Battle of Britain, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian merchant
   marine played a crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic. Two
   Canadian infantry battalions were involved in the failed defence of
   Hong Kong. Troops of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division also played a
   leading role in the disastrous Dieppe Raid in August 1942. The 1st
   Canadian Division and tanks of the independent 1st Canadian Armoured
   Brigade landed on Sicily in July 1943 and after a thirty-eight day
   campaign there, took part in the successful Allied invasion of Italy.
   Canadian forces played an important role in the long advance north
   through Italy, eventually coming under their own corps headquarters
   after Fifth Canadian Armoured Division joined them on the line in early
   1944 after the costly battles on the Moro River and at Ortona.

   On June 6, 1944, the 3rd Canadian Division (supported by tanks of the
   independent 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade) landed on Juno Beach in the
   Battle of Normandy. Canadian Airborne troops had also landed earlier in
   the day behind the beaches. Resistance on Juno was fierce, and
   casualties were high in the assault waves, in particular the first
   assault waves which sustained a 50 percent casualty rate. By day's end,
   however, the Canadians had made the deepest penetrations inland of any
   of the five seaborne invasion forces. The Canadians went on to play an
   important role in the subsequent fighting in Normandy, with the 2nd
   Canadian Infantry Division coming ashore in July and the 4th Armoured
   Division in August. In the meantime, both a corps headquarters (II
   Canadian Corps) and eventually an army headquarters - for the first
   time in Canadian military history - were activated. One of the most
   important Canadian contributions to the war effort was in the Battle of
   the Scheldt, where First Canadian Army defeated an entrenched German
   force at great cost to help open Antwerp to Allied shipping.

   First Canadian Army fought in two more large campaigns; the Rhineland
   in February and March 1945, clearing a path to the Rhine River in
   anticipation of the assault crossing of that obstacle, and the
   subsequent battles on the far side of the Rhine in the last weeks of
   the war. The I Canadian Corps returned to Northwest Europe from Italy
   in early 1945, and as part of a reunited First Canadian Army assisted
   in the liberation of The Netherlands (including the rescue of many
   Dutch from near-starvation conditions) and the invasion of Germany
   itself.

   Of a population approximately 11.5 million, 1.1 million Canadians
   served in the armed forces in the Second World War. Of these, an
   officially recorded total of 42,042 members of the armed forces gave
   their lives, and another 55,000 were wounded. Many others shared the
   suffering and hardship of war.

Multilateralism and peacekeeping

   Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson considered a founder of modern
   peacekeeping for his efforts in resolving the Suez Crisis in 1956.
   Enlarge
   Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson considered a founder of modern
   peacekeeping for his efforts in resolving the Suez Crisis in 1956.

   Soon after the end of the Second World War, the Cold War began. As a
   founding member of NATO and a signatory to the NORAD treaty with the
   US, Canada committed itself to the alliance against the Communist bloc.
   Canadian troops were stationed in Germany throughout the Cold War, and
   Canada joined with the Americans to erect defences against Soviet
   attack, such as the DEW Line. As a middle power, Canadian policy makers
   realized that Canada could do little militarily on its own, and thus a
   policy of multilateralism was adopted whereby Canada would only join
   military efforts as part of a large coalition. Canada also chose to
   stay out of several wars, despite the participation of close allies,
   most notably the Vietnam War and the Second Iraq War, although Canada
   lent indirect support and Canadians citizens served in foreign armies
   in both conflicts. The postwar period saw a major reorganization when,
   in 1968, the three forces were merged into the Canadian Forces. (See
   also Canada and the Cold War, Canada and the Vietnam War and Canada and
   the Iraq War).

Canada in Korea

   After the Second World War, Canada rapidly demobilized. When the Korean
   War broke out, Canada needed several months to bring its military
   forces up to strength, and eventually formed part of British
   Commonwealth Forces Korea. Canadian land forces thus missed most of the
   early back-and-forth campaigns because they did not arrive until 1951,
   when the attrition phase of the war had largely started. Canadian
   troops fought as part of the 1st Commonwealth Division, and
   distinguished themselves at the Battle of Kapyong and in other land
   engagements. HMCS Haida and other ships of the Royal Canadian Navy were
   in active service in the Korean conflict.

   Canada sent over 25,000 troops to fight in Korea. There were 1,558
   Canadian casualties, including 516 dead. Korea has often been described
   as "The Forgotten War", because for most Canadians it is overshadowed
   by the Canadian contributions to the two world wars. Canada is a
   signatory to the original 1953 armistice, but did not keep a garrison
   in South Korea after 1955.

Peacekeeping

   Closely related to Canada's commitment to multilateralism has been its
   strong support for peacekeeping efforts. Canadian Nobel Peace Prize
   laureate Lester B. Pearson is considered to be the father of modern
   United Nations Peacekeeping, and Canada has a long history of
   participation in these missions. Canada participated in every UN
   peacekeeping effort from their beginning until 1989, and has since then
   continued to play a significant role. More than 125,000 Canadians have
   served in some 50 UN peacekeeping missions since 1949, with 116 deaths.

   Since 1995, however, Canadian direct participation in UN peacekeeping
   efforts has greatly declined. In July 2006, for instance, Canada ranked
   51st on the list of UN peacekeepers, contributing 130 peacekeepers out
   of a total UN deployment of over 70,000. That number decreased largely
   because Canada began to direct its participation to UN-sanctioned
   military operations through NATO, rather than directly to the UN. The
   number of Canadian soldiers on UN-sanctioned operations in July 2006
   was 2,859 .

   The first Canadian peacekeeping mission, even before the creation of
   the formal UN system, was a 1948 mission to Kashmir. Other important
   missions include the long stay in Cyprus, observation missions in the
   Sinai and Golan Heights, and the NATO mission in Bosnia. The 1993
   Canadian response to Operation Medak pocket in Bosnia was the largest
   battle fought by Canadian forces since the Korean War. One of the
   darkest moments in recent Canadian military history occurred during the
   humanitarian mission to Somalia in 1993, when Canadian soldiers beat a
   Somali teenager to death, leading to the Somalia Affair. Following an
   inquiry, the elite Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded and the
   reputation of the Canadian Forces suffered within Canada.

Canadian Forces Europe

   Canada maintained a mechanized infantry brigade in West Germany from
   the 1950s (originally the 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade, later named 4
   Combat Group and 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade) to the 1990s as part of
   Canada's NATO commitments. This brigade was maintained at close to full
   strength and was equipped with Canada's most advanced vehicles and
   weapons systems as it was anticipated the brigade might have to move
   quickly in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of the west. The brigade
   was augmented by Militia soldiers from Canada and for a time even Royal
   Canadian Army Cadets were permitted to serve in the brigade for short
   periods.

Gulf War

   Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan
   Enlarge
   Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan

   The 1991 Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of
   34 nations, led by the US. The result was a decisive victory of the
   coalition forces. Canada was one of the first nations to agree to
   condemn Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and promptly agreed to join the
   US-led coalition. In August, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sent the
   destroyers HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Athabaskan to enforce the trade
   blockade against Iraq. The supply ship HMCS Protecteur was sent to aid
   the gathering coalition forces. When the UN authorized full use of
   force in the operation, Canada sent a CF-18 squadron with support
   personnel. The nation sent a field hospital to deal with casualties
   from the ground war. When the air war began, Canada's planes were
   integrated into the coalition force and provided air cover and attacked
   ground targets. This was the first time since the Korean War that its
   forces had participated in combat operations. Canada suffered no
   casualties during the conflict, but since its end, many veterans have
   complained of suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.

Invasion of Afghanistan

   Canada joined a U.S.-led coalition in the 2001 Attack on Afghanistan.
   The war was a response to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks,
   with the goal to defeat the Taliban government and rout Al-Qaeda.
   Canada sent special forces and ground troops to the conflict. In this
   war, a Canadian sniper set the world record for longest distance kill.
   After the war, Canada formed an important part of the NATO-led
   stabilization force, ISAF. In November 2005, Canadian military
   participation shifted from ISAF in Kabul to Operation Archer, a part of
   Operation Enduring Freedom in and around Khandahar. As of October 2006,
   forty-two Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. On May 17,
   2006, Captain Nichola Goddard of the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse
   Artillery became Canada's first female combat arms casualty. One of the
   most notable battles that the Canadian Forces have fought in
   Afghanistan thus far is the Canadian-led Operation medusa in which the
   second battle of Panjwaii was fought. Canada was also the main allied
   combatant in the first but less intense battle of Panjwaii.

   As of 2006, the Canadian troops have taken on an extended role in
   combat operations in southern Afghanistan, meeting Taliban forces in
   open conflict. A two-year mission extension was passed by parliament,
   signifying a lasting Canadian commitment to Afghanistan.

Invasion of Iraq (2003)

   In 2003, Canada refused to take part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
   unless it was approved by the United Nations. This decision, popular in
   most of Canada, upset the administration of American president George
   W. Bush. Concurrently, Canada deployed some additional troops to the
   War on Terrorism in Afghanistan, incidently freeing up some American
   and British troops for assignment in Iraq. Canada continues to have
   warships in the Persian Gulf area as part of Operation Altair. Their
   presence is justified by Canada's commitment to Operation Enduring
   Freedom. Small numbers of Canadian soldiers on exchange to American
   units participated in the invasion of Iraq.

Dramatizations

     * Passchendaele (film) (2006)
     * Legends of the Fall (1994)
     * The Devil's Brigade (1968)


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