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Canada's Defining Moments Canadian Contribution to resolving global conflicts has led it to become an independent Nation. Canada used to be only a colony of Britain, it also had little reputation in the world, and wasn't one of the richest countries like today. But over the years, Canada proved itself as a nation through defining moments in our history. The most important moments are the victory in Vimy Ridge, the Paris Peace Conference, Canada's participation in D-Day and the Suez Crisis. Vimy Ridge was a war in France, during the First World War. It included fighting in trenches, Canada's own battle technique, the "Creeping Barrage" and it stood out because it was the first time that Canadians fought together as one single Unit. At the Paris Peace Conference, Canada got the vote in for the Treaty of Versailles, which is a document to say what is going to happen to Germany after the First World War. D-Day was a plan to attack the Germans, who occupied France during the Second World War, through an invasion of Normandy. Canada got its own Beach to land on; it was called Juno Beach. At Last, an important defining moment in our history was the Suez Crisis. It started when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, which had previously been occupied by the French and English. The Canal was and important way to get their oil. Canadian Lester B. Pearson prevented another war from coming up, with his idea of a peace-keeping mission. One of the most important victories in Canadian History is the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Before this event, Canada was still a young country, meaning that it wasn't considered important or capable of being involved in the world wars. Vimy Ridge was a real turning point for Canada in World War Two; it was the first time that all 4 Canadian divisions fought together as one single unit. This Battle would be a test of courage, purpose and skill, it required more than just participation. It started on Easter Sunday Morning, April 19, 1917. There was lots of careful planing and preparations were intense, Canadian airplanes, took pictures of the terrain, and every Canadian got a map and objective of what to do, this happened for the first time in any war. The attack consisted of short artillery fire, then the Canadians attack German lines. The Creeping Barrage protected them. This new strategy threw the Germans off. The Creeping barrage also helped by destroying the German defense systems, so the artillery could run and attack. Also and important fact is that the Canadians, cut off their connection lines, and bombed behind the Trenches, so there couldn't be any German reinforcements. With this strategy, it took 4 days to take Vimy Ridge. This moment is very important to Canadians, because it makes Canadians have a sense of Nationhood, which we never had before. This battle also shows how Canadians really fought well, and strong, since both the French and the British failed miserably in taking the "Ridge". This gave Canadians good reputation, which we needed to get to where we are now. Now the British and French trusted Canadians, because of our high victory. After the Allies won the First World War, they had to make a peace settlement, so that war couldn’t break out again. The allies decided in a Peace Conference, in Paris, that Germany should be made poor, and without a military so they can't start another war. In the Paris Peace Conference, they wrote down the “Treaty of Versailles" which every country had to sign that participated in the war. Since Canadians did such a good job, they also got to sign it, but they couldn't vote, because it was still considered a colony of Britain, and the US complained that Britain could have too much power. Canada thought that the punishment on Germans was too hard, but this had no influence. This is an important moment, because Canadians had worked hard to get to this Peace Conference, and it is an important step to independence. D-Day was a plan to end the Second World War, the beach of Normandy was chosen, because it was considered having the best odds of being successful. Operation Overlord was a series of small events to distract Germans. It started with Britain, arresting German spies in Britain, and giving them a chance, of either telling everything they know about the plans of Germans, and to work for them as “Double agents" of to get killed. This way the British gained lots of information, and the German spies, who were now against Germany, told Germany wrong information, such as a planed invasion on the opposite side of the German empire. Germany trusted those sources and took lots of defense to those imagined invasion spots. Also an important thing is that the Allies took movie producers, to help them with building fake tanks, and fake armies up so that German planes would actually think that there was a massive launch planned. The Canadians got its own beach shore on the Normandy coast, which was nicknamed “Juno Beach". The invasion was planed for June 5th, but because of bad weather, they changed it for 24 hours. Te invasion went pretty good, and it was of importance, that Canadians took their part first, so they showed that they are strong too. D-Day was very important to Canada’s History, because it showed that Canadian can fight under pressure, and time limit, very well, and that they plan very well too. Canadians where already considered independent during D-Day. The Suez Crisis mainly defined Canadian Sense of Peace. The Suez Crisis started with Egyptian Prime Minister, Gamel Abdel Nassar, nationalizing the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal had previously been occupied by the British and French; it was used to transport oil from the Arabian countries, to Britain and France. After Egypt nationalized it, they cut off this transport route, and cutting off the oil to Britain and France. Britain and France responded by threatening to bomb the canal if Egypt didn’t back up. Egypt refused, so they started bombing. After a little while, Russia came in, and threatened to launch a nuclear attack on Paris and London. Through this the tension really raised, and there seemed to not be a normal way of resolving this, because if they would follow Russia to avoid nuclear war, they then wouldn’t have oil anymore. In this critical situation, Lester B. Pearson, Canadian Prime Minister, came with an idea. He went to the UN and told them that his idea was to send in peace keeping forces to the Canal to keep everything under control. After that, France and Britain backed up, and the Arabian-Israeli war started. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson won the Noble Peace Prize for that. Through this defining moment we can see how Canada contributed to resolving global conflicts, which led to avoiding a possible World War Three. In conclusion we can now clearly see how Canada got all its Pride, sense of Nation hood, and independence. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was Canada’s greatest victory in World War One, and it should be remembered by every Canadian because we stood out as one single unit. The Paris Peace Conference also showed Canadians in the world politics, and it helped gain our independence, and to lose ties to Britain. Canada’s Contribution in D-Day also showed that Canadian soldiers stand up, and fight for what they think is right. They supported other countries, and fought well as Allies. Our own Juno beach is famous for our Canadian contribution to the fall of Hitler. And Finally without the Suez Crisis, Canadians couldn’t prove what a peace keeping country it is. We can see how this all has changed our nation, our character, and personality, as we came from a small colony of Britain, to one of the world’s riches countries. This essay is only for research purposes. If used, be sure to cite it properly! |
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