Military history of Canada

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The military history of Canada comprises hundreds of years of armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, and interventions by the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. For thousands of years, the area that would become Canada was the site of sporadic intertribal conflicts among Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the 17th and 18th centuries, Canada was the site of four major colonial wars and two additional wars in Nova Scotia and Acadia between New France and British America; the conflicts spanned almost seventy years, as each allied with various First Nation groups.

In 1763, after the final colonial war—the Seven Years' War—the British emerged victorious, and the French civilians, whom the British hoped to assimilate, were declared "British subjects". After the passing of the Quebec Act in 1774, Canadians received their first charter of rights under the new regime, and the northern colonies chose not to join the American Revolution and remained loyal to the British crown. The Americans invaded in 1775 and from 1812 to 1814, although they were rebuffed on both occasions. However, the threat of US invasion remained well into the 19th century, partially facilitating Canadian Confederation in 1867.

After Confederation, and amid much controversy, a full-fledged Canadian military was created. Canada, however, remained a British dominion, and Canadian forces joined their British counterparts in the Second Boer War and the First World War. While independence followed the Statute of Westminster, Canada's links to Britain remained strong, and the British once again had the support of Canadians during the Second World War. Since then, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its peacekeeping efforts and large multinational coalitions such as in the Korean War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, and the Afghan war.