Canada's defence partnerships.

Of the 500,000 troops Canada contributed to the allied war effort during World War I, 60,000 never came back. In 1919, the League of Nations was organized and Canada became a founding member. World War I had ironically been called "the war to end all wars," and the League was established to guard the peace. Its goal was to maintain international security by imposing collective economic or military sanctions against countries that threatened the peace. But Canada quickly asserted its independence at the League by declining to participate collective securityy measures. This contributed to the isolationism, even more evident in the United States at that time, that finally rendered the League ineffective.

In 1931, Canada achieved sovereign nation status through the Statute of Westminster. As a member of the new British Commonwealth of Nations, Canada now had full power to make its own foreign and defence policies. Great Britain could no longer declare war on Canada's behalf But, when World War 11 broke out in 1939, Canada again contributed generously to the allied effort. The loss of 45,000 soldiers further strengthened the country's resolve to defend world peace. In 1945, the United Nations was formed as the central forum for dealing with issues of world peace. As a recognized middle power, Canada used its voice in world councils to promote collective security. An early and strong advocate of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Canada firmly supported the United Nations involvement in the Korean War in 1950.

But Canadian leaders chose not to maintain a large military force during peacetime as a means of deterring war. After both world wars, Canada demobilized its troops a rapidly as any of the victorious powers. While it supported NATO in the late 1940s as a bulwark against Soviet military expansion into Western Europe, it did not plan to send troops to Europe in aid of the alliance. When the call came from the United Nations requesting troops be sent to Korea, the Canadian military cupboard was almost bare. Once again, Canada found itself rapidly mobilizing: its defence budget leaped to an all-time high of 7.8% of the gross domestic product; 154 Canadian naval vessels including nine destroyers put to sea, and 27,000 Canadian soldiers (the fourth largest United Nations contingent) saw action in Korea, with 424 casualties.

NATO, however, profited most from Canada's dramatic remilitarization in 1950. Canada deployed 10,000 troops and 12 air squadrons to Europe, and earmarked its naval forces in the Atlantic chiefly for the alliance. But the situation in Europe has changed, and the 1994 White Paper on Defence announced the recall of these troops. Canada will instead maintain its military forces at home in the event of a new security threat.

The wars in which Canada's soldiers fought during this century were not great tests of Canadian patriotism because the Canadian homeland was never clearly at risk. For Canada, these were wars of principle: Canadians believed they were defending democracy during the two world wars and supporting the notion of collective security in the Korean War and more recently in the Gulf War. But, these were also wars of commitment. In the 20th century, Canada went to war partly because of commitments to its great power benefactors. For Canada, the world wars were Britain's wars; the Korean War and the Gulf War were America's wars.