1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910827037703321

Autore

Kasurak Peter Charles <1949->

Titolo

A national force : the evolution of Canada's army, 1950-2000 / / Peter Kasurak

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Vancouver : , : UBC Press, , 2013

ISBN

0-7748-2641-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (366 p.)

Collana

Studies in Canadian military history series, , 1499-6251

Disciplina

355.00971

Soggetti

Military history

Canada Armed Forces History 20th century

Canada History, Military 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- The 1950's: A Professional Army? -- Soldiers, Civilians, and Nuclear Warfare in the 1960's -- The Army and the Unified Force, 1963-67 -- Trudeau and the Crisis in Civil-Military Relations -- Reform, Regimentalism, and Reaction -- The Plan for a "Big Army" -- The Unified Staff and Operational Difficulties -- Reform and Constabulary Realism -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

Canadians consider the period between the Second World War and the unification of the armed services in 1968 as a "golden age," a time when their army dropped the shackles of its imperial past and emerged as a truly national peacekeeping force. In this landmark book, Peter Kasurak draws on recently declassified documents to show that this era was in fact clouded by the army's failure to loosen the grasp of British army culture, produce its own doctrine, and advise political leaders effectively. The discrepancy between the army's goals and the Canadian state's aspirations as a peacemaker in the postwar world resulted in a series of civilian-military crises that ended only when the scandal of the Somalia Affair in 1993 forced reform. Kasurak offers an illuminating account of the organizational growing pains that wracked the Canada's army as it evolved into a force that could reflect the aspirations of both its country and military leadership.