History Browser

In 1756, the graft of Canadian-born François Bigot, Intendant (and chief financial minister of New France) made a bad situation worse. His theft and corruption led to rampant inflation in New France, which impoverished many officers, particularly the French-born ones without local incomes.

Canada became an independent state within the British Empire in 1867, but Canadian politicians assumed that Britain would continue to keep military forces in Canada, and pay for them as well. Britain, on the other hand, wanted the Canadians to pay for any troops.

Official currency in France and its colonies consisted of 'livres' (pounds), 'sous' (shillings) and 'deniers' (pence), but the shortage of coins led to common use of Spanish silver pieces in New France. The first recorded use of paper money in the modern sense was also in New France.

Both Britain and France needed strong navies to protect their coasts, fishing fleets and colonies. The peak of French naval power was during the 1690s, when it dominated the coasts of England. Defeated in 1692, the French navy declined in quality and strength from that point on.

The emergence of the Cold War in 1951 changed the downward slide of Canadian military budgets. Spending and recruiting of the regular force exceeded the strength of the reserves for the first time in Canadian history.

As fears of rebellion faded in the early 1840s, the garrison in Canada was reduced. Canadian units were disbanded, and the British presence shrank each year. A unit of British veterans, the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment, was raised to help prevent desertions to the United States.

Aside from creating the Royal Canadian Airforce in 1924, the Canadian government avoided large expenditures for developing its armed forces between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second World War.

The wartime government of Canada attempted to keep the cost of living from rising by announcing a freeze on prices and the setting of levels for wages and salaries. The steps taken and the effects on the Canadian public were documented in articles in three English language papers archived by the Hamilton Spectator.

Canadian forces raised in the First World War were disbanded and military affairs resumed their pre-war status. The National Defence Act of 1923 rationalized the three services into one organization that was poorly funded until rearmament began in 1936. The financial crises of the 1920’and 30’s severely restricted budgets and military planning.

Faced with a threat of war in 1812, the British authorities raised a small army of troops in Lower Canada. A volunteer regiment of Light Infantry, the famous Canadian Voltigeurs, was backed by four conscripted battalions of Lower Canada Select Embodied Militia.