Wars | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    The Battle of York

    A crushing defeat for the British in the War of 1812, the sacking of York began on the morning of 27 April 1813. At dawn, a flotilla of 16 American ships under Commodore Isaac Chauncey made its way to the capital of Upper Canada, York [Toronto]. Landing to the west, the Americans suppressed the small group of warriors defending the shore, while knocking out the town's meagre batteries. The American force of approximately 1,700 men easily assumed control. With the fort poorly defended by an undersized garrison of 700 soldiers and backed by an unenthusiastic (indeed, almost wholly absent) militia, the British general, Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, retreated. He left behind two local militia officers to negotiate the terms of surrender.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/SirIsaacBrockShip.jpg The Battle of York

  • Article

    Seven Years’ War (Plain-Language Summary)

    The Seven Years’ War (1756–63) was the first global war. In North America, Britain and France fought each other with the help of Indigenous allies. At the end of the war, France gave Canada (Quebec) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton) to Britain, among other territories. This is the reason that Canada has a British monarch but three founding peoples — French, British and Indigenous. (This article is a plain-language summary of the Seven Years’ War. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry Seven Years’ War.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/JamesWolfe/Benjamin_West_DeathofGeneralWolfe.jpg Seven Years’ War (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    The “Van Doos” and the Great War

    As the only combatant unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) whose official language was French, the 22nd (French Canadian) Infantry Battalion, commonly referred to as the “Van Doos” (from vingt-deux, meaning twenty-two in French), was subject to more scrutiny than most Canadian units in the First World War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/11751af0-ec83-4753-8f2b-bb38ed576b7f.jpg The “Van Doos” and the Great War

  • Article

    The War of 1812 (Plain-Language Summary)

    The War of 1812 was fought between Britain and the United States between 1812 and 1814. The war ended in a stalemate but had many lasting effects in Canada. It guaranteed Canada’s independence from the United States. It also gave Canadians their first experience working together as a community and helped develop a sense of nationhood. (This article is a plain-language summary of the War of 1812. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry War of 1812.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/d60240b0-5df1-48c0-bd0f-e3c0fbc67705.jpg The War of 1812 (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Editorial

    Alexander Dunn at the Battle of Balaclava

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

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Alexander Dunn at the Battle of Balaclava

  • Article

    Then and Now: Commemorating Lundy's Lane

    ​On 25 July 2014, Canada marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812. The first milestone commemoration was held in 1914, when, just days before the start of the First World War, crowds of people gathered to celebrate 100 years of peace.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/297de7ae-f50e-4b6b-ab5b-103f73d1ebe1.jpg Then and Now: Commemorating Lundy's Lane

  • Article

    U-boat Operations

    U-boat Operations threatened Canada's sovereignty in 2 world wars. German submarines (Unterseeboote) first laid mines off Halifax and attacked shipping in Aug 1918, and virtually unopposed by the unprepared naval service they sank 11 schooners and a trawler for a total of 2002 gross tons.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/c7f24305-f3af-40d0-b2e0-880f5a6e18b3.jpg U-boat Operations

  • Article

    UFOs in Canada

    For 45 years, the Canadian government investigated unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Several of its departments and agencies collected sighting reports of UFOs in Canadian airspace from 1950 to 1995. These investigations started during the Cold War, spurred by fears of Soviet incursions. What began as a military question eventually became a scientific one. From the start, however, the government was reluctant to study this topic. It devoted few resources to it, believing UFOs to be natural phenomena or the products of “delusional” minds. By contrast, many Canadian citizens were eager for information about UFOs. Citizens started their own investigations and petitioned the government for action. In 1995, due to budget cuts, the government stopped collecting reports altogether. For their part, citizen enthusiasts have continued to investigate UFOs.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/single_use_images/Michalak_sketch.jpg UFOs in Canada

  • Article

    USS Chesapeake

     During the NAPOLEONIC WARS, Britain insisted on the right to search neutral ships on the high seas for Royal Navy deserters. On 22 June 1807 HMS Leopard forcibly took 4 seamen from the American frigate Chesapeake.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 USS Chesapeake

  • Article

    Veronica Foster

    Veronica Foster Guerrette, Second World War icon, model, vocalist (born 2 January 1922 in Montreal, Quebec; died 4 May 2000 in Toronto, Ontario). Foster worked for the John Inglis Company assembling Bren light machine guns during the Second World War. She was featured on propaganda posters that encouraged women to serve Canada by working in munitions factories. Foster became a Canadian icon representing female workers in the manufacturing industry. After the war, she was lead singer with the dance band Mart Kenney and His Western Gentlemen.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/VeronicaFoster/Veronica Foster_Bren Gun.jpg Veronica Foster

  • Article

    Second World War Veterans

    When the Second World War ended, more than a million Canadian men and women, serving in uniform, were set to return to their homes. A driving question for the country was: What was owed to the veterans?

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/5400b0fb-f0c7-418f-b2ae-ea899466560f.jpg Second World War Veterans

  • Article

    Vietnam War

    The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era conflict between communist Northern Vietnamese forces and United States-backed Southern Vietnamese forces. Canada officially played the role of neutral peacemaker, but secretly backed the American effort in Vietnam.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/2dafdb1b-4b70-4fdb-8cd4-a7ea969412c3.jpg Vietnam War

  • Editorial

    HMCS Ville de Quebec in the Battle of the Atlantic

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

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/0427395c-3c01-4d33-9e61-08cb7eef24e1.jpg HMCS Ville de Quebec in the Battle of the Atlantic

  • Article

    Battle of Vimy Ridge

    The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought during the First World War from 9 to 12 April 1917. It is Canada’s most celebrated military victory — an often mythologized symbol of the birth of Canadian national pride and awareness. The battle took place on the Western Front, in northern France. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, attacked the ridge from 9 to 12 April 1917 and captured it from the German army. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war — but it would mean little to the outcome of the conflict. More than 10,600 Canadians were killed and wounded in the assault. Today an iconic memorial atop the ridge honours the 11,285 Canadians killed in France throughout the war who have no known graves. This is the full-length entry about the Battle of Vimy Ridge. For a plain-language summary, please see Battle of Vimy Ridge (Plain-Language Summary).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/a9aa6aaf-406d-4a4d-89a3-95d86d7359ca.jpg Battle of Vimy Ridge

  • Article

    Vimy Ridge

    Among Canada’s defining events, the Battle of Vimy Ridge in the First World War ranks high. It was a triumph — a major victory for the Allied side after a long, bloody stalemate — and a tragedy. In the four-day battle, 3,598 Canadians died and another 7,004 were wounded. In the century since it ended, on 12 April 1917, it has become something else: an event bordering on myth. “In those few minutes,” said Canadian Brigadier-General A.E. Ross of the victory, “I witnessed the birth of a nation.”

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/16f32862-4f2b-488d-935e-7b4fcf5a5d64.jpg Vimy Ridge