Knowing something has been done before makes it easier to achieve.
It may not be logical, but it’s how the human mind works. That’s a key reason successful nations and societies seek to preserve historical memory. The achievements of the past, particularly when those achievements are in the expansion and defence of rights, defeating foes, and building powerful institutions, can only be perpetuated if a critical mass of the populace learns about them.
This is also why upstart authoritarian regimes are so quick to try and rewrite history, to confer upon themselves an unearned legitimacy.
Used in that way, history becomes a tool of manipulation.
But when based on the truth, history becomes a tool of preserving memory, and that memory becomes armour for a nation’s values.
I’m speaking of armour in the figurative sense, of course. By preserving historic memory of the formation and evolution of Canada’s democracy, the expansion of rights to more and more of our people, and the instances in which we got things wrong, learned, and became better through that learning, we protect ourselves from those who seek to impose extreme ideologies or tear down our institutions.
However, memory can also provide real armour in terms of military strength, when memory is based on teaching a history of military strength and national mobilization.
This is something Canada has long neglected.
Distorted history
At this moment, much of our nation is stuck with a distorted sense of Canada’s military history. Many believe our country is now – and has been – primarily a ‘peacekeeping’ nation. There is also a sense that we have little foreign policy independence from the United States, a stance that assumes we are a quasi-vassal state or protectorate. These two ideas (peacekeeping & lack of independence) have merged into a sense that we are a ‘small country’ that eschews military strength and can do little to influence either our security situation or the world.
An honest look at our history shows otherwise.
National mobilization
Twice during the 20th century, Canada achieved a staggering level of national mobilization. In the First World War, despite a population of just about 8 million when the war commenced, Canada mobilized over 600,000 in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, alongside hundreds of thousands more who served in military industry and other key war-related tasks here at home.
To get a sense of the scale, that would be the equivalent of nearly 3 million Canadians signing up for military duty, and at least 1 million more in the military industry.
The First World War was also a crucial step toward a more independent Canadian nation. While we automatically went to war with Germany when Great Britain did, the extent of our participation was not proscribed. Canada chose to participate in such an extensive fashion, and while this caused national friction and debate – the conscription crisis for example – it was a debate that largely reflected our own choices as a nation.
In the Second World War, Canada independently chose to enter the conflict against fascism, years before the United States did. This is important to remember, as the defeat of the Axis powers was by no means a foregone conclusion. Canada entered the war when the Allies were the underdogs.
Over one million Canadians served, out of a population of roughly 11 million. Canada undertook an immense military-industrial mobilization, churning out weapons, ships, aircraft, trucks, ammunition, and more.
As noted by the Canadian War Museum, Canada’s shipbuilding industry grew from three shipyards and fewer than 4,000 workers to 90 shipyards and 126,000 workers. Canada built over 4,000 naval vessels, including 300 anti-submarine ships and 410 cargo ships. This helped Canada play a crucial role in protecting vital shipments of weapons and equipment from North America to Europe.
Canada finished the war with one of the largest naval fleets on Earth.
Remembering our past
In the two largest conflicts of the 20th century, Canada stepped up in a significant way, and not only produced a staggering amount of military equipment, but also directly deployed a large portion of our population.
Now, some will say that all of that was so long ago that it’s no longer relevant. However, 100 years or 80 years is not a long time in the grand sweep of history. We still live in a world shaped by many institutions founded in the wake of the Second World War. Many of our foundational views on human rights, respect for territorial integrity, and alliances were formed in response to the horrific crimes of the Axis powers.
And for many years following the Second World War, Canada retained robust military capability as part of the effort to counter the threat of the Soviet Union, though we ultimately lapsed into a sense of complacency that may be only starting to lift.
Further, many nations rightfully base their identity on historical moments much more distant than the First or Second World War, alongside those conflicts. Our southern neighbours are still shaped by their war for independence and civil war. The UK, Germany, Japan, China, Russia, and many other nations build key portions of their modern-day government/regime legitimacy (for better or worse) on the Second World War and the aftermath, so why should Canada not be shaped by our entry into the two largest conflicts of the preceding century?
We have as much right as any nation to remember and build upon our actions during the Second World War, actions which proved both that we are a country capable of immense national mobilization, and that we were willing to put our security and future on the line to fight against tyranny even when other more powerful nations sat the conflict out for years.
And so, as we face an era in which the prospect of war is rising and tyranny appears ascendant, it’s time for our nation to start remembering our proud history of military strength and military mass production.
Our federal, provincial, and even municipal governments should be doing everything they can to restore and strengthen this memory, through the refurbishing of old bases and monuments, the production of new monuments to Canadian war heroes, an expanded military history high school curriculum taught to all students, ad campaigns on all possible platforms, renewed recruiting drives, and much more.
Doing so will deepen public support for more investment in our military and national security, and reconnect us to a core part of who we are as Canadians.
Canada hasn’t survived since 1867 by accident. We have been a powerful nation in the past, and by remembering that past, we can be a powerful nation once again.
Spencer Fernando
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