Military | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Displaying 1-15 of 93 results
  • Article

    A Dish with One Spoon

    The term a dish with one spoon refers to a concept developed by the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region and northeastern North America. It was used to describe how land can be shared to the mutual benefit of all its inhabitants. According to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the concept originated many hundreds of years ago and contributed greatly to the creation of the “Great League of Peace” — the Iroquois Confederacy made up of the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk nations. The Anishinaabeg (the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Mississauga, Saulteaux and Algonquin nations) refer to “a dish with one spoon” or “our dish” as “Gdoo – naaganinaa.”

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/122dc04b-d0a1-4551-a912-1bee8991746b.jpg A Dish with One Spoon
  • Article

    Battle of Frenchman's Butte

    The 1885 battle was fought north of a prominent hill called Frenchman's Butte, about 45 km northwest of modern Lloydminster.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Battle_Frenchmans_Butte.jpg Battle of Frenchman's Butte
  • Article

    Battle of Hudson Bay

    The Battle of Hudson Bay took place on 5 September 1697 during King William’s War, the North American theatre of the Nine Years’ War between England and France. Throughout the conflict, French forces tried to capture enemy forts in and around Hudson Bay. One of these was York Factory, a lucrative and important trading post the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) built in 1684. The French captured York Factory in 1694, only to have the English take it back a year later. Then, in 1697, a naval battle ensued in Hudson Bay between English and French forces. Captain Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville succeeded in taking York Factory for the French. The fort was later transferred back to the British after the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. (See also Fur Trade in Canada.)

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/The_Sinking_of_the_Pelican.jpg Battle of Hudson Bay
  • Article

    Canada and the Second Battle of Ypres

    The Second Battle of Ypres was fought during the First World War from 22 April to 25 May 1915. It was the first major battle fought by Canadian troops in the Great War. The battle took place on the Ypres salient on the Western Front, in Belgium, outside the city of Ypres (now known by its Flemish name, Ieper). The untested Canadians distinguished themselves as a determined fighting force, resisting the horror of the first large-scale poison gas attack in modern history. Canadian troops held a strategically critical section of the frontline until reinforcements could be brought in. More than 6,500 Canadians were killed, wounded or captured in the Second Battle of Ypres.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/ypres/a022718.jpg Canada and the Second Battle of Ypres
  • Article

    Bedford Magazine Explosion

    Bedford Magazine Explosion, 18-19 July 1945, initiated when an ammunition barge blew up at the naval magazine jetty on Bedford Basin, Halifax harbour. Fire spread quickly to adjacent piles of ammunition, which had been temporarily stored outside because of overcrowding in the main compound.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/10022750263_777cc2f581_k.jpg Bedford Magazine Explosion
  • Article

    Billion Dollar Gift

    Billion Dollar Gift, the Canadian government's first comprehensive attempt to help finance Britain's war effort during the Second World War. Canada's war production, and its wartime prosperity, was dependent upon British orders, but Britain lacked gold and dollar reserves.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/Categories_Placeholders/LAC/Wars - 4233780.jpg Billion Dollar Gift
  • Article

    Bren Gun Scandal

    When Canada prepared to produce Bren guns in the lead up to the Second World War, corruption allegations against the process were published. A royal commission was set up by the government but found no evidence of corruption.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/bren_gun_girl.jpg Bren Gun Scandal
  • Article

    Canada and Gas Warfare

    Poison gas was used throughout the First World War by almost all armies. Its widespread use was unique in the history of warfare. The various types of gas, delivered by canisters, projectors, or shell, killed, maimed, and wore down morale. By 1918, soldiers of all armies encountered gas frequently while serving at the Western Front. Canadian soldiers were among the first to face the death clouds, at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. At least 11,572 Canadian soldiers were casualties of poison gas, yet many were denied pensions after the war. During the Second World War, chemical weapons were not used on the battlefield; however, the Suffield Experimental Station in Alberta developed and tested chemical and biological weapons beginning in 1941. From about the middle of the 20th century, Canadian officials worked on the global stage to ban chemical weapons, and in the 1990s, Canada signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (see Arms Control and Disarmament.)

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/GasWarfare/a002897-v8.jpg Canada and Gas Warfare
  • Article

    Canada and the Battle of the Scheldt

    The Battle of the Scheldt was fought in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands in 1944 during the Second World War. It was part of the Allied campaign to liberate northwestern Europe and defeat Nazi Germany. The First Canadian Army played a crucial role in clearing the Scheldt of German forces, opening crucial supply lines via the port of Antwerp. However, this victory came at a cost. The Allies suffered nearly 13,000 casualties during the battle, including more than 6,300 Canadians.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/BattleScheldt/Graves_Battle_Scheldt.jpg Canada and the Battle of the Scheldt
  • Article

    Carignan-Salières Regiment

    The Carignan-Salières Regiment was a regiment of French troops who were sent to New France from 1665 to 1667 to fight the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). These professional soldiers, who had little experience with fighting in the woods, invaded the lands of the Haudenosaunee but did not succeed in defeating them. Nevertheless, the French show of force led to a peace accord in 1667. Though most of the French soldiers then went home, some stayed, married and settled in New France. Many of them married Filles du Roy and now have many descendants. Quebec municipalities such as Berthier, Chambly and Verchères still bear the names of officers of this regiment.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/JeanBaptistePotierDubuisson/CarignanSalieresRegiment.jpg Carignan-Salières Regiment
  • Article

    Carry On

    'Carry On'. Patriotic song popular during World War II. The music was written by Ernest Dainty as part of the orchestral accompaniment to the Canadian silent feature film Carry On Sergeant. Extracted from the score, the tune was given lyrics by Gordon V.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/10022750263_777cc2f581_k.jpg Carry On
  • Article

    Clement Ligoure

    Clement Courtenay Ligoure, physician (born 13 October 1887 in Trinidad; died 23 May 1922 Port of Spain, Trinidad). Dr. Ligoure was Halifax’s first Black doctor and an unsung hero of the Halifax Explosion, as he treated hundreds of patients free of charge in his home medical office. Dr. Ligoure was also instrumental in the formation of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s first and only all-Black battalion (see Black Canadians; Caribbean Canadians).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/clementligoure/clementcourtenayligoure.jpg Clement Ligoure
  • Article

    The Conquest of New France

    The Conquest (La Conquête) is a term used to describe the acquisition of Canada by Great Britain during the Seven Years’ War. It also refers to the resulting conditions experienced by Canada’s 60,000 to 70,000 French-speaking inhabitants and numerous Indigenous groups. French forces at Quebec City surrendered to British forces on 18 September 1759, a few days after the crucial Battle of the Plains of Abraham. French resistance ended in 1760 with the capitulation of Montreal. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris surrendered New France to Britain. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 introduced assimilative policies that ultimately failed. They were replaced by the provisions of the Quebec Act of 1774. Although it helped spark the American Revolutionary War (1775–83), the Act also granted Canadians enviable conditions that resulted in generations of relative stability.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/30d46f28-8fea-44c4-9c87-e552ab723c5c.jpg The Conquest of New France
  • Article

    Conscription in Canada

    Conscription is the compulsory enlistment or “call up” of citizens for military service. It is sometimes known as “the draft.” The federal government enacted conscription in both the First World War and the Second World War. Both instances created sharp divisions between English Canadians, who tended to support the practice, and French Canadians, who generally did not. Canada does not currently have mandatory military service. The Canadian Armed Forces are voluntary services.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/e38df4dd-d940-43c5-b849-2f2518c8f29d.jpg Conscription in Canada
  • Editorial

    Cypress Hills Massacre

    The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/10022750263_777cc2f581_k.jpg Cypress Hills Massacre

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