Canadian Forces: Encyclopedia II - Canadian Forces - History

Canadian Forces - History

Canadian Forces - Early days

Canadian troops in colonial times served as regular members of British forces and in local militia groups. After Confederation in 1867, Canada's forces remained under British command until the turn of the 20th century. Canadian militia defended their homeland in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and in the Fenian Raids. A Canadian expeditionary force assisted Britain in the Boer War.

The Canadian Forces date to the War of 1812 when Canadian militia units were formed to assist in defending British North America from the invasions by the United States. The Royal Canadian Navy was created in 1910 and the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1924.

Canadian soldiers, sailors and aviators came into their own through conspicuous service in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

Canadian Forces - Operations

The Canadian Forces or its component regiments have fought in the War of 1812, the Fenian Raids (1866-1871), North-West Rebellion (1885), the Boer War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the First Gulf War, and have contributed to UN and other peacekeeping missions and undeclared wars, notably the Suez Crisis, Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia, and the War on Terrorism (Afghanistan). Canada is a charter member of NATO and a member of the North American Air Defence treaty (NORAD).

Battles which are particularly notable to the Canadian military include the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I and, in World War II, the Dieppe Raid, the Battle of Ortona, the Normandy Landings, the Battle of the Scheldt, the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the strategic bombing of German cities. At the end of World War II Norway and the part of the Netherlands North of the rivers Rhine and Lek were liberated almost solely by the Canadian Forces from the Nazi-German occupying forces. After restoring law and order they left the countries within several months.

Since 1947, the CF has undertaken 73 operations worldwide. In 2002, nearly 3000 Canadian troops were on active duty in 11 additional operations including the international war on terrorism in Afghanistan and the NATO stabilization force (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Canadian regular and reserve troops are a visible and respected force at home as well. In 2001 alone, the Canadian Forces responded to more than 8,000 search and rescue incidents and helped to save more than 4,500 lives.

Canadian Forces - Postwar developments

At the end of World War II, Canada possessed the third-largest navy and fourth-largest air force in the world, as well as the largest volunteer army ever fielded (conscription for overseas service was introduced only near the end of the war, and only 2400 conscripts actually made it into battle). Defence spending and personnel remained high during the early years of Cold War, but began to decline in the 1960s and 1970s as the perceived threat from the Warsaw Pact diminished. Throughout the 1990s, successive budget cuts forced further reductions in the personnel, number of bases, and fighting ability of the Canadian Forces. Sizable Canadian air and land forces were maintained in West Germany under NATO command from the end of World War II until the early 1990s. Criticism has been mounted at such budget cuts as miitary spending has shrunk to only 1.4% of GDP; many argue that these cuts have prevented the Canadian Forces from modernisation.

Canadian Forces - Modern reorganization

Unlike the armed forces of Canada's closest allies -- the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and New Zealand -- the Canadian Forces is a single organization with a unified command structure. "The March 1964 White Paper on Defence outlined a major restructuring of the separate services. The White Paper described a reorganization that would include the integration of operations, logistics support, personnel and administration of the separate services under a functional command system."[2]

On February 1, 1968, Bill C-243, The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act became law and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were combined into one service - the Canadian Forces. While unification was ostensibly undertaken for cost savings, it has also been suggested that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Defence Minister Paul Hellyer did not care for the traditions behind each service and that the new Canadian Forces (in Canada's post-war modernist fashion) was easily translated to French and eliminated inconvenient monarchist references during a contentious period in Canadian history. The reorganization has been criticized, for example by J. L. Granatstein in Who Killed the Canadian Military?

The Canadian Forces remains a single service, but each member belongs to one of three "environments": navy, army, or air. The environment is usually determined by the individual member's trade: for example, a pilot is automatically in the air environment. However, for environmentally non-specific or "purple" trades, such as medical technician or military police, the environment is assigned more or less at random. The environment remains unchanged throughout the member's career, regardless of the member's unit or base.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki