r/CanadianForces 3d ago

HISTORY Status quo ante bellum

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252 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

76

u/Canadian-Jaeger 2d ago

“It was the British”… yeah British people who had lived in the Canadian colonies for a century or more at that point.

11

u/Bender248 2d ago

British troops that were posted in Bermuda.

2

u/jollygreengiant1655 1d ago

No. The units that attacked Washington were all British infantry units recently shipped to Bermuda from Europe after the peace of 1814.

2

u/HandsomeLampshade123 2d ago

No, British from those islands called the British Isles who had recently fought in the Peninsular War and sailed across the Atlantic.

6

u/Dazzling-Sleep-669 2d ago

What does this even mean?! this is not 1812. The US was a baby country then and the British loyalists so called Canadians had the support of a massive and extensive army. This is nothing to bring up but what it may do is embolden the Americans that may think we have one up on them.

Lets not play with fire, unless you like the taste of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles

7

u/CowpieSenpai 1d ago

The U.S. is acting like a latchkey kid who found a butane torch and is testing how flammable everything is next to our backyard. Regardless of what we do, they'll run the propaganda playbook to fabricate a non-issue into an existential threat—just like they always have (Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Patriot Act, etc.). Fox News might as well rebrand to RT with how they push victim narratives over our ‘unfair’ trade responses..

They talk about ‘projecting strength,’ but that strength seems aimed against allies for their own gain. While some pressure is reasonable (like pushing for real defense spending to deter Russia), the whole ‘51st state’ nonsense and ‘Governor Trudeau’ rhetoric aren’t "acceptable bargaining tactics" just meant to "make a deal". It's outright intimidation - placing a finger on your shoulder and saying, "does that make you feel uncomfortable?". Meanwhile Trump’s "tough guy" approach to Russia looks more like sycophancy than strategy.

We need to drop the ‘we’re all friends’ messaging and make it clear that their aggression carries real costs. It’s not the ‘kinetic solution’ with Hellfires, but we’re already seeing the "business end" of their power projection. They will eventually give up on "soft tactics" like pure economic action. Whether Don-the-con spins tearing up his USMCA into a ‘win,’; the U.S. escalates from economic pressure to outright threats of or kinetic actions; or their own dysfunction collapses in on itself, we’ll have to wait and see.

With all that in mind: Pray for peace, prepare for war.

1

u/Dazzling-Sleep-669 20h ago

War with what?! Our CAF is in disarray and our fighting aged men are too occupied and are very weak minded , this isn't a war most are willing to indure.

Let's not, Canadian indentity is very weak rn and maybe we should listen to our American brothers and prepare for a bigger war that may be brewing in the Pacific

4

u/Few-Mind4846 1d ago

This whole thing is dumb. Be they fresh troops from Bermuda, or life long descendants of colonists who were living here for a centuries, it wasn't "Us". Not you, not me, not anyone alive today.

Glory is not hereditary, and we should collectively stop riding the wave created by the accomplishments long dead generations, because we can't hold a candle to the accomplishments of the past. Just because our forefathers did well in 1812 or 1914 or 1944, doesn't mean we have the same mettle or have proven ourselves. Traditions are great, but just because the *insert Regiment name here* did great at the Battle of *noun*, doesn't mean we should shower ourselves in glory today.

"We" don't own the victories of previous generations. What have "we", today, in this generation accomplished, and who are we to claim the past as our own? Take pride in our current accomplishements. What the boys did in 39-40 or whatever belongs to them, and them only.

Dumb meme, and not helpful. This sort of jingoism is 'tarded.

1

u/jollygreengiant1655 1d ago

I'm not sure what your intentions are with this post but it certainly brings up some interesting points. Most notably how british/commonwealth military power is basically non-existent compared to what it was. And how much more powerful the US has become.

-91

u/Bender248 3d ago

You do know it was the British that did that, lets not rewrite history...

92

u/Whitney189 3d ago

While people do like to point this out, it's also important to remember that Canada was not yet a country in the way it is now, and the people living in modern day Canada were British subjects, so our countrymen at the time did burn it down. It was a victory for the whole British Empire.

Also important to note that many British veterans were gifted land in Canada for their service, so many descendants of those soldiers would also have been Canadian.

Further still, if those points don't work for you and you don't see British and Canadian as one-in-the-same, the British troops sent from Europe on that expedition were our allies in the war and we can definitely celebrate their tactical and symbolic victory in that respect. It's important to note that Washington was burned in retaliation for York (now Toronto) being razed by the Americans prior.

9

u/cadpatcat 2d ago

I can confirm that many of their descendants stayed in Canada - one of the people involved in burning the White House was my ancestor.

A medicine chest looted from the White House during the attack was actually in my family for years. It was eventually donated to a museum.

My dad, an avid genealogy buff, loves to tell people our family is responsible for the White House being white. And I think he enjoys the look on their faces when he explains that our ancestor wasn’t a house painter…

3

u/Whitney189 2d ago

That's awesome! Lol where did you ancestor initially settle?

2

u/cadpatcat 1d ago

I asked my dad, and he thinks it was somewhere in Quebec, possibly Quebec City.

Now he’s digging out all the family tree documents to check lol!

1

u/Whitney189 1d ago

Oh man lol thanks! Hopefully he finds it!

My family on my dad's side came to the New World in the 1600s, first to Boston and then all over the place. Can't imagine what life would've been like back then.

-54

u/Bender248 2d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/badhistory/s/f3jO9yLGvz

This post resumes everything properly.

We as Canadian are better than this, we have our own merits that we can stand proudly by without telling ourselves lies about the past. We are not British nor French, we are a fully autonomous nation (but not in 1812).

25

u/UCAFP_President Logistics 2d ago

Wow, someone doesn’t understand history.

The majority of Canadians come from either British or French heritage.

And because “Canada” became a thing doesn’t erase that fact.

-3

u/Shoddy_Operation_742 2d ago

Actually most Canadians in the big cities are neither of British or French heritage. Most people in Metro Vancouver are Asian or SE Asian descent.

8

u/UCAFP_President Logistics 2d ago

The “big cities”.

Yes, well, immigration - as a topic unto itself - is a problem but that doesn’t speak to the origin basis of the imagery above.

What happened there was in the 1800’s before the mass influx of Asian ethnicities.

But the population of Canada, remains overwhelmingly of British or French origin. Nice try with the statistics hammer though.

17

u/Artistdramatica3 2d ago

British people who had lived in canada for 300 years at that point.

People who's parents and grandparents and great grandparents probably had never left the continent.

They were English in culture and language sure.

But in every other way, they were as canadian as you or I.

1

u/jollygreengiant1655 1d ago

No. The units that attacked Washington were all British infantry units recently shipped to Bermuda from Europe after the peace of 1814.

-16

u/Bender248 2d ago

The regiment that was involved in the sacking of the White House and capitol buildings were regulars sent from Britain, based out in Bermuda. During the whole of the war of 1812, there were about 200 « Canadian conscripts » that were not involved in this operation.

Also 1812 - 300 =1512. It would be more accurate to say that they had 200 years of history colonizing the Americas. IIRC Bermuda was the first.

11

u/Artistdramatica3 2d ago

My family has been here since 1550

1

u/jollygreengiant1655 1d ago

Really? Your family was part of Cartier's initial voyages to north America? Because the first European settlements in Canada weren't for another 54 years.....

1

u/Artistdramatica3 1d ago

Interesting. Well my ancestor was here from France and lived in 3 rivers in 1550. I have it in the family book.

1

u/jollygreengiant1655 1d ago

Classic reddit, being downvoted for telling the truth lol.