Signing up enhances your TCE experience with the ability to save items to your personal reading list, and access the interactive map.
Create AccountInterview
No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) — also known as the Black Battalion — was a segregated non-combatant unit during the First World War. It was the largest Black unit in Canadian military history. This is their story.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/6421f56d-9180-4137-ad07-62e0a47e8141.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/6421f56d-9180-4137-ad07-62e0a47e8141.jpg
Editorial
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/30d46f28-8fea-44c4-9c87-e552ab723c5c.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/30d46f28-8fea-44c4-9c87-e552ab723c5c.jpg
Article
In 1759, the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham. Soon after, the British took control of Quebec (see also The Conquest of New France.) The Quebec Act of 1774 was passed to gain the loyalty of the French who lived in the Province of Quebec. The Act had serious consequences for Britain’s North American empire. The Quebec Act was one of the direct causes of the American Revolution. (This article is a plain-language summary of The Quebec Act, 1774. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry on The Quebec Act, 1774.)
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/bcf0dcc3-ce34-4098-8543-00bcccbaabe0.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/bcf0dcc3-ce34-4098-8543-00bcccbaabe0.jpg
Article
The Royal 22e Régiment (R22eR) is one of the three infantry regiments of the Canadian Regular Force (see Canadian Armed Forces). It is a francophone regiment made up of five battalions, of which three belong to the Regular Force and two to the Reserve Force. In 2014, the R22eR celebrated its 100th anniversary. Its headquarters are at the Citadelle de Québec. The regiment has participated in all of Canada’s major military engagements since the First World War, including the United Nations peace missions and the campaign in Afghanistan.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/R22eR/R22eR_in_Korea.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/R22eR/R22eR_in_Korea.jpg
Article
The Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) is the senior of three regular armoured regiments in the Canadian Army. The regiment was established in 1883 as a cavalry unit. Since then, it has served in major conflicts at home and overseas, including the North-West Rebellion, Boer War, First and Second World Wars and, more recently, the war in Afghanistan. The Dragoons have also served in peace operations in Egypt, Cyprus, Somalia and the Balkans. The regiment has been based at CFB Petawawa, Ontario, since 1987. It is currently part of 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, 4th Canadian Division. A detached squadron serves at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Dragoons/Dragoons_1891.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Dragoons/Dragoons_1891.jpg
Article
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.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/SirIsaacBrockShip.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/SirIsaacBrockShip.jpg
Article
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.)
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/JamesWolfe/Benjamin_West_DeathofGeneralWolfe.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/JamesWolfe/Benjamin_West_DeathofGeneralWolfe.jpg
Article
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.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/11751af0-ec83-4753-8f2b-bb38ed576b7f.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/11751af0-ec83-4753-8f2b-bb38ed576b7f.jpg
Article
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.)
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/d60240b0-5df1-48c0-bd0f-e3c0fbc67705.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/d60240b0-5df1-48c0-bd0f-e3c0fbc67705.jpg
Article
Timothy Findley’s 1977 novel about the mental and physical destruction of a young Canadian soldier in the First World War won the Governor General’s Literary Award for English Language Fiction. It is widely regarded as one of the country’s definitive historical war novels. It has been called “one of the most remarkable novels of war ever published” and “the finest historical novel ever written by a Canadian.” The Globe and Mail referred to The Wars as “the great Canadian novel about the First World War.”
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/60246c70-8d6a-4c61-af84-72e302c3363a.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/60246c70-8d6a-4c61-af84-72e302c3363a.jpg
Editorial
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.
"https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9
Article
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.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/297de7ae-f50e-4b6b-ab5b-103f73d1ebe1.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/297de7ae-f50e-4b6b-ab5b-103f73d1ebe1.jpg
Article
This article is from our Toronto Feature series. Features from past programs are not updated.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/7f6cdea8-59d5-4f74-82e5-c9516d10bcdb.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/7f6cdea8-59d5-4f74-82e5-c9516d10bcdb.jpg
Article
This article is from our Toronto Feature series. Features from past programs are not updated.
"https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/342717cc-5eef-45bd-93f9-737ea5b09a60.jpg" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/342717cc-5eef-45bd-93f9-737ea5b09a60.jpg
Macleans
The two Huey helicopters carrying Maj. Alain Gauthier and platoon commanders from Canada's Royal 22nd Regiment drifted low over the coastal flats of southern East Timor. Below, the giant leaves of banana trees swayed gently in what passes for breeze in the torpid tropical heat.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on November 8, 1999
"https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9" // resources/views/front/categories/view.blade.phphttps://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9