Comments on Facebook by Doug Ford about the impending trade war has generated a lot of hostile reaction in American circles, much of it on the lines of "Canada is weak and dependent on us and we could take them over in 10 minutes."
So why haven't they?The last serious attempts, and not even all that serious, came in the wake of the US Civil War 1861-65, when Irish republicans operating out of the US tried to pressure the British into leaving Ireland to the Irish. Nine hundred British regulars with 20,000 Canadian militiamen put paid to the 600 or so Irishmen in short order.
After that, the US always seemed to have other fish to fry. Postwar expansion to the west occupied Canada and USA both, as settlers and railroads pushed to the Pacific coast. There were small friction points, such as US whiskey sellers coming north, and the RCMP's predecessors stood up in the 1870s to quiet things down with the promise of "Peace, Order, and Good Government", while the US engaged in open warfare on the Plains Indians. Canada didn't completely avoid bloodshed with the First Nations either.
The Spanish-American War in 1898 again diverted US attention away from Canada. Fighting a common cause in Europe in 1914 (or 1917, as the case may be) had its advantages. And while the US had been largely inwards looking, the death of the European monarchies and the restructuring of Europe's borders post 1918 went hand in hand with the elevation of the US as a world class power. Canada was still a Dominion of the British Empire, dependent on the old country for support.
Everything changed in 1922. The US always had war plans on file for invading Canada, but as part of the Empire, it was a dicey proposition, as the Royal Navy literally ruled the seas. The Washington Conference ended British supremacy in American waters. No longer restricted to a smaller naval presence, the US could now stop any intervention by British forces into North America, where not coincidentally, land forces and coastal defence garrisons formerly made up of British regulars, were turned over to the tiny Canadian Permanent Force.
Canada had already also earned diplomatic independence via the Statute of Westminster. Tied to this new power was an understanding in Canadian circles that Canada could no longer defeat a US invasion. It was just impossible. Canada turned its attention to creating a model of one cavalry and six infantry divisions for support to the League of Nations and the British Empire - then never bothered to actually build the model. The Great Depression in 1929 hit the USA and Canada hard, and the bad times persisted until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 (or 1941, as the case may be).
Canada nonetheless remained close to Britain and during the Second World War the Canadian forces operated near seamlessly with the British, be it in North Atlantic convoy protection, Bomber Command's offensive over Germany, or on land in Hong Kong, Italy, and Northwest Europe.
But necessity drew the Canadians closer to the US as well. The Alaska Highway was built through Canada, and a brigade of Canadians went to the Aleutians to clear Japanese soldiers from North American soil. The 1st Special Service Force, whose importance and success was exaggerated in postwar accounts, physically combined US and Canadian soldiers but the experiment was terminated long before the end of the war and the harsher realities of the inner workings of the Force were suppressed by historians. The US lived up to its nickname of the Arsenal of Democracy, however, and Canadian tank units fought the Nazis in US built Sherman and Stuart tanks. And a division of Canadians trained on US weapons in anticipation of the invasion of Japan in 1945, thankfully not needed because of the Japanese surrender.
There were six field armies in France at the end of 1944, one of which was Canadian, at least in name, with many British, Dutch, Czech, Polish and even American divisions and brigades under command. In 1945 Canada had the third largest Navy and fourth largest air force in the world, mainly because the other world players like Germany, Japan, France and Italy had been wiped out. But there was no doubt Canada had done its bit or that the US had been a strong ally.
Canada deliberately moved closer to the US after the war, and a plan to adopt US weapons across the Canadian Army was short-circuited by the Korean War. Even then, faced with trench warfare against Chinese with short range automatic weapons, Canadians ditched their bolt action Lee Enfields in favour of US M1, M2 and M3 carbines - some battalions by the end of the war were armed with as much as 50% American-made weapons. Domestically, the wartime cooperation had expanded postwar to a mutually shared responsibility for the defence of North American airspace in the nuclear age. And it was that fear of the Soviet Union that kept Canada and the US united.
Canadian combat capability in peacetime reached a high in the 1960s - we had our own aircraft carrier, seven regular infantry regiments, and a full time NATO brigade permanently housed in Germany, along with a reputation for peacekeeping that was put to the test in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, after the fall of communism. Canada had been pulling its weight, but was also asserting its independence, refusing direct boots-on-the-ground participation in Vietnam, Falklands, the invasion of Iraq - though small numbers of Canadians did participate. Reportedly thousands of individuals volunteered for combat duty with the American forces in Vietnam, one even received the Medal of Honor. Exchange officers occupied command positions in US forces in Iraq, including one deputy corps commander.
Canada's role in Afghanistan was a complicated chapter in an already complicated relationship, and there is much to unpack - the sacrifice Canada made in blood, the idea Canada had "punched above its weight", the harsh suggestion by some that the war now seems to have been futile, and of course the controversial US exit. But once again, a common enemy, this time in the Great War on Terror, kept us onside with each other.
For military historians, the idea that history repeats is starkly illustrated by Canada's bare-cupboard peacetime military that had deteriorated greatly from its peak in the 1960s, required once more as it had in 1914, 1939 and 1950 to re-arm almost from scratch and learn how to fight in slow, bloody on-the-job training, just as it had in places like Ypres, Sicily, and Kapyong. And this time, much of the gear was sourced from neither the UK or the US. Canada's C7 rifle was an improved version of the American M16, built by Colt Canada. LAVs came from General Dynamics Canada based on a Swiss design. Nyalas and Leopards came from South Africa and Germany - the former once under embargo due to Apartheid, the other our foe in both world wars. It's better to be friends than enemies.
During the Olympics in Vancouver, Tom Brokaw aired a piece about our shared military relationship and enthused "if you're in a fight, you want the Canadians on your side."
Canada's history with the US has always been complicated, and summed up nicely by JFK:
"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder."
The first clause is surely true today, the rest is undergoing a dramatic reassessment. Since the Washington Treaty in 1922 first left Canada truly vulnerable to US attack, there have been common foes to unite the two.
After that, the US always seemed to have other fish to fry. Postwar expansion to the west occupied Canada and USA both, as settlers and railroads pushed to the Pacific coast. There were small friction points, such as US whiskey sellers coming north, and the RCMP's predecessors stood up in the 1870s to quiet things down with the promise of "Peace, Order, and Good Government", while the US engaged in open warfare on the Plains Indians. Canada didn't completely avoid bloodshed with the First Nations either.
The Spanish-American War in 1898 again diverted US attention away from Canada. Fighting a common cause in Europe in 1914 (or 1917, as the case may be) had its advantages. And while the US had been largely inwards looking, the death of the European monarchies and the restructuring of Europe's borders post 1918 went hand in hand with the elevation of the US as a world class power. Canada was still a Dominion of the British Empire, dependent on the old country for support.
Everything changed in 1922. The US always had war plans on file for invading Canada, but as part of the Empire, it was a dicey proposition, as the Royal Navy literally ruled the seas. The Washington Conference ended British supremacy in American waters. No longer restricted to a smaller naval presence, the US could now stop any intervention by British forces into North America, where not coincidentally, land forces and coastal defence garrisons formerly made up of British regulars, were turned over to the tiny Canadian Permanent Force.
Canada had already also earned diplomatic independence via the Statute of Westminster. Tied to this new power was an understanding in Canadian circles that Canada could no longer defeat a US invasion. It was just impossible. Canada turned its attention to creating a model of one cavalry and six infantry divisions for support to the League of Nations and the British Empire - then never bothered to actually build the model. The Great Depression in 1929 hit the USA and Canada hard, and the bad times persisted until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 (or 1941, as the case may be).
Canada nonetheless remained close to Britain and during the Second World War the Canadian forces operated near seamlessly with the British, be it in North Atlantic convoy protection, Bomber Command's offensive over Germany, or on land in Hong Kong, Italy, and Northwest Europe.
But necessity drew the Canadians closer to the US as well. The Alaska Highway was built through Canada, and a brigade of Canadians went to the Aleutians to clear Japanese soldiers from North American soil. The 1st Special Service Force, whose importance and success was exaggerated in postwar accounts, physically combined US and Canadian soldiers but the experiment was terminated long before the end of the war and the harsher realities of the inner workings of the Force were suppressed by historians. The US lived up to its nickname of the Arsenal of Democracy, however, and Canadian tank units fought the Nazis in US built Sherman and Stuart tanks. And a division of Canadians trained on US weapons in anticipation of the invasion of Japan in 1945, thankfully not needed because of the Japanese surrender.
There were six field armies in France at the end of 1944, one of which was Canadian, at least in name, with many British, Dutch, Czech, Polish and even American divisions and brigades under command. In 1945 Canada had the third largest Navy and fourth largest air force in the world, mainly because the other world players like Germany, Japan, France and Italy had been wiped out. But there was no doubt Canada had done its bit or that the US had been a strong ally.
Canada deliberately moved closer to the US after the war, and a plan to adopt US weapons across the Canadian Army was short-circuited by the Korean War. Even then, faced with trench warfare against Chinese with short range automatic weapons, Canadians ditched their bolt action Lee Enfields in favour of US M1, M2 and M3 carbines - some battalions by the end of the war were armed with as much as 50% American-made weapons. Domestically, the wartime cooperation had expanded postwar to a mutually shared responsibility for the defence of North American airspace in the nuclear age. And it was that fear of the Soviet Union that kept Canada and the US united.
Canadian combat capability in peacetime reached a high in the 1960s - we had our own aircraft carrier, seven regular infantry regiments, and a full time NATO brigade permanently housed in Germany, along with a reputation for peacekeeping that was put to the test in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, after the fall of communism. Canada had been pulling its weight, but was also asserting its independence, refusing direct boots-on-the-ground participation in Vietnam, Falklands, the invasion of Iraq - though small numbers of Canadians did participate. Reportedly thousands of individuals volunteered for combat duty with the American forces in Vietnam, one even received the Medal of Honor. Exchange officers occupied command positions in US forces in Iraq, including one deputy corps commander.
Canada's role in Afghanistan was a complicated chapter in an already complicated relationship, and there is much to unpack - the sacrifice Canada made in blood, the idea Canada had "punched above its weight", the harsh suggestion by some that the war now seems to have been futile, and of course the controversial US exit. But once again, a common enemy, this time in the Great War on Terror, kept us onside with each other.
For military historians, the idea that history repeats is starkly illustrated by Canada's bare-cupboard peacetime military that had deteriorated greatly from its peak in the 1960s, required once more as it had in 1914, 1939 and 1950 to re-arm almost from scratch and learn how to fight in slow, bloody on-the-job training, just as it had in places like Ypres, Sicily, and Kapyong. And this time, much of the gear was sourced from neither the UK or the US. Canada's C7 rifle was an improved version of the American M16, built by Colt Canada. LAVs came from General Dynamics Canada based on a Swiss design. Nyalas and Leopards came from South Africa and Germany - the former once under embargo due to Apartheid, the other our foe in both world wars. It's better to be friends than enemies.
During the Olympics in Vancouver, Tom Brokaw aired a piece about our shared military relationship and enthused "if you're in a fight, you want the Canadians on your side."
Canada's history with the US has always been complicated, and summed up nicely by JFK:
"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder."
The first clause is surely true today, the rest is undergoing a dramatic reassessment. Since the Washington Treaty in 1922 first left Canada truly vulnerable to US attack, there have been common foes to unite the two.
My Question To You:
When this article first appeared on my personal Facebook page, I asked: can it really be that Canada and the US have grown so far apart that they no longer wish to fight the same enemies?
This question is probably more complicated than that, and one must divide foreign policy from domestic policy. There can be no denying that Canada's political outlook skews further "left" than America's. How problematic this is for relations between the two seems to change from administration to administration.
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