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British Influence On Canada

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In the 19th century, Britain dominated the seas in a manner unrivaled by any other competitor. The Royal Navy was able to impose its will worldwide, exemplified by 19th century conflicts such as Opium Wars versus China and The Anglo-Egpytian war. During this time, Britain policed the world and ensured safety on the high seas during a prosperous period known as Pax Brittanica. No other nation was seriously able to present a naval challenge to the British Empire. This British golden age was drawing to a close however, as American, French, Russian, Italian, Japanese, and especially German navies grew increasingly more powerful. Due to the vast expanse of the British Empire, the Royal navy found itself spread dangerously thin, or facing financial …show more content…

Division in Canada was deep: Nationalists battled imperialists, and French Canadians were at odds with Anglophones. The theoretical debate was quickly halted by the outbreak of World War I, and forced into a practical test. While Canadian land forces famously punched above their weight in battles like Vimy, Ypres and the Somme, Canadian naval forces offered a lackluster showing throughout the First World War. The vast sums of money required to pursue any naval course of action meant that parliamentary ideological debate would be fierce3, and that the House of Commons would ultimately determine the direction of Canada's naval future. In light of this, it should be asked what effect Canadian politics at the turn of the century had on the development and subsequent effectiveness of the Royal Canadian Navy? Likely, Canadian politics were complicit in quashing any aspirations for a competent and powerful navy. Pursuit of a policy of splendid isolation, absence of bipartisan cooperation or communication, culminating with a poor combat record during the First World War ending 1918 as a result support this hypothesis. The first two factors are the political causes, the combat record is the concrete proof of the consequences. Despite the fact that this opinion is not widely espoused today, especially through government or official websites, the evidence …show more content…

Thus, war with any other power would mean Canada's vital merchant shipping to the British Isles and elsewhere would be a potential target. Nevertheless, even this plausible threat was largely dismissed in Canadian politics. Ex-Prime Minister J. A. MacDonald espoused the opinion widely held among Canadian politicians at the time, stating that “he did not fear even cruiser raids by countries involved in any foreseeable European war. He quickly dismissed the suggestions that Canada might none the less help with the increasing burden of imperial defence... any permanent commitment of that kind would arouse isolationist sentiments among his electorate.”9 From this excerpt, it can be clearly seen that Canadian politics had smothered the creation of the naval service as apathy was the politically safe choice. The government had been fully willing to leave the coast undefended, and shipping hapless at the hands of raiders. Although MacDonald had made the statement some fifteen years prior, the political position had shifted little by 1905. When the dialogue on forming an indigenous naval service opened under the Laurier government, Micheal Hadley states that “the British garrison lay nearly a thousand miles from Ottawa. In the consciousness of Canadian leaders it was even more remote than that. However glad they might be

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