Everyone today knows about the current military juggernauts: the United States, Russia, and
China.
Both the US and Russia have waged considerable campaigns since the end of the second world
war, and though both have proven they have the might to crush any conventional army they
encounter, their efforts to fight non-conventional wars have often met with disaster.
But what about the nations who have never lost a single war?
Today we’re going to look at two of the world’s undefeated military powers.
First up is the land of the Yukon, America's ever-so-polite tophat - Canada.
Canada is world renowned for its politeness and civility, and yet time and again Canada
has proven that it can be quite ferocious in battle.
Earning its independence in the second half of the nineteenth century, Canada very quickly
found itself in conflict against revolutionaries.
One of those revolutionaries was Louis Riel, who fought for the rights of the native population
as the new Canadian Confederacy pushed its influence out into tribal lands.
He ultimately led two unsuccessful rebellions against Canadian forces, and the Battle of
Loon Lake during the North-West Rebellion was the last battle to ever occur on Canadian
soil.
In 1899 Britain asked Canada for assistance during the Second Boer War taking place in
South Africa.
Though Canada was technically a free nation, it had always enjoyed its freedom with the
very heavy implication that it would still support Britain if need be.
The Canadian population was split on the topic of supporting Britain, but ultimately about
eight thousand troops would be sent to assist the British in South Africa.
The Boer Wars- also known as the Farmers Wars- took place between British forces and white
farmers who were descendants of original British colonists in South Africa.
During the second conflict fighting started over Britain's exploitation of gold reserves
in the region, of which the South African farmers felt they deserved some share of by
virtue of this being their land.
Britain, not in the habit of sharing anything with its colonists, rebutted the South African
argument by shooting a bunch of people.
Ultimately the war would be successful for the British and their Canadian allies.
While Britain was engaged in an arms race with Germany just before the First World War,
it leaned on Canada again for help in maintaining its navy.
Canada, which had no navy of its own, faced very divisive internal politics over the issue,
with many feeling that Britain could very well go mind its own business and support
its own navy with its own money.
In a compromise, Canada decided that instead of directly financing the British navy, it
would simply build one of its own with a clause stating that in time of war, Britain could
assume direct control over it.
When Europe kicked off its 20th century tradition of waging world wars, Canadian forces were
immediately pulled into the conflict as Canada was still subservient to Britain.
This didn't exactly go well with many Canadians who had no stake at all in a conflict taking
place on the other side of the world, and despite that over half a million Canadians
were sent to war anyways.
Towards the end of the fighting, Canada even sent a small force to aid allied efforts in
bringing an end to the Russian Civil War.
Canada was once more embroiled in European wars two decades later, and joined the second
world war just one week after France and Britain declared war.
Canadian pilots helped defend Britain during the Battle of Britain, and its infantry fought
both in Europe and in the Pacific theater, where they were initially defeated by the
Japanese in China.
The greatest Canadian contribution however was to the Battle of the Atlantic, where Canadian
ships fought side by side with the British and the Americans against the Nazi submarine
fleet.
During the Cold War Canada closely allied with the United States, cementing an alliance
that holds to this day and makes the North American continent the safest in the world.
Realizing that Canada was unable to fight conflicts alone, Canada very quickly adapted
a policy of multilateralism, wherein its military efforts would be a part of a larger coalition
of nations.
This led to Canada's involvement in Korea during the Korean War, although its forces
had been largely demobilized and required a long time to prepare for combat, thus arriving
late in the war.
As the Korean War ended in a stalemate, it does not count as a defeat in Canada's record.
During the First Gulf War, Canada was quick to join the US in its efforts against Iraq.
It deployed a small force to support the coalition and was placed in charge of the entire coalition's
maritime logistics efforts in the Persian Gulf.
The conflict served to further cement the American and Canadian coalition and prove
that the two nations could seamlessly unite against a common foe, with American logistic
naval assets placed under Canadian command and Canadian air assets placed under American
command.
Canada would support the US war in Afghanistan against the Taliban at the dawn of the 21st
century, but it would not support as extensively the US's war against Iraq, sending only a
few token logistics personnel to the latter conflict.
Canada would also lend its forces to the various pan-african and middle east conflicts that
arose as a result of the Arab spring and NATO actions in Iraq, such as the Libyan civil
war and the conflict against ISIS.
To this day Canada remains undefeated in war, and conflict has not touched its shores since
the 19th century.
Like many nations that were birthed as a result of colonialism, and our second country to
never lose a war also faced its share of conflicts with native populations.
We’re of course talking about - Australia.
Before true independence, Australian colonies were made responsible for their own military
defense.
Between 1870 and 1901, the British decreed that Australia was to be capable of defending
herself, with the British providing support if needed- most notably in the form of the
Royal Navy.
To fulfill this need for defense, the Australian colonial militias were created out of groups
of paid professional soldiers, paid citizen soldiers, and unpaid volunteer militiamen.
During this time the Australian military was still far too small to serve overseas, but
many individuals volunteered in British war efforts around the world.
Much like Canada, small contingents of Australian soldiers were called upon by the British empire
to aid them in various war efforts.
One of those was a conflict in Sudan in 1885, which was ultimately abandoned by the British
who didn't see the military venture as profitable.
During the Second Boers War, Australian soldiers served alongside British forces, although
the British War Office declined a measure to create a unified Australian military force.
Instead individual Australian dispatches were assigned to support British units, but not
allowed to serve together.
This was likely to prevent any fostering of thoughts of true independence.
When the Boxer Rebellion kicked off in China in 1900 in response to the exploitation of
China by colonial powers, the British asked for the aid of the Australian navy, as Australian
ground forces were still tied up in South Africa at the time.
In China, a single Australian ship lent its help in efforts to blockade Chinese ports,
while a small naval marine contingent of a few hundred men assisted an 8,000 strong multinational
force in the taking of key Chinese forts.
With the Chinese rebellion crushed, the Australian forces remained behind in support roles, something
they were less than happy about.
On January 1st, 1901, the Australian colonies joined together into the Commonwealth of Australia,
and the nation gained its pseudo-independence.
When World War I broke out, Australia immediately declared war on Germany, with Prime Minister
Joseph Cook stating, “...when the Empire is at war, so also is Australia.”
Soon 20,000 men were sent to the battlefields of Europe, and naval forces were dispatched
to neutralize German Pacific colonies.
Australian ground forces saw combat in both France and in the Middle East, fighting against
the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
When World War II broke out Australia's military was in sad shape, and took a while to mobilize.
It would eventually send military forces to take part in ground combat in Africa, the
Middle East, and Italy, and its navy assisted British efforts in the Mediterranean.
It's component of a single light cruiser and five antique destroyers was dubbed the “scrap
iron flotilla” by Nazi propaganda minister joseph Goebbels- a title that the Australians
gladly accepted as they helped crush the Italian navy.
When war against Japan broke out in 1942, Australia was ill-prepared to meet this new
threat.
It immediately recalled many of its forces from Europe, and the Australian military suffered
major defeat after major defeat.
Fearing a Japanese invasion of Australia, a large army was raised to defend their homeland,
though the Japanese opted instead to secure New Guinea and thus attempt to cut Australia
off from the United States.
With the arrival of American army and air force units to the continent, the Australian
military was put under the command of America's General Douglas MacArthur.
Australia would play a key role in the Pacific offensive, fighting side by side with their
American allies against the Japanese in the US's island hopping campaign.
The US Navy helped ensure that Australian coastal cities were well protected from Japanese
attack, though a fierce submarine war rocked the Australian coasts.
As the American presence in the Pacific increased, the Australian military's low numbers became
increasingly meaningless in the greater conflict.
This, coupled with the need to release men from active duty to bolster Australian war
time industry, resulted in Australian forces being relegated to smaller scale conflicts.
Nearly a million Australians would serve during the war, with half a million serving overseas.
During the Cold War Australia adopted a policy of multilateralism similar to Canada's, whereby
it would not wage wars on its own but rather as part of a collective lead by either Britain
or the United States.
In the case of war between east and west, Australia expected to be fighting in the Middle
East.
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, Australia initially sent a squadron of P-51 Mustangs
and a force of infantry to assist the UN task force.
It immediately took over providing most of the supply and support needed by British forces
in the peninsula, freeing up British naval and logistics assets.
Eventually its contribution would include several destroyers and an aircraft carrier,
all placed under the command of Supreme Commander General Douglas MacArthur.
Also in the 1950s, Australia supported British forces during the campaign known as the “Malayan
Emergency”.
The emergency was trigered by the murder of several estate managers by the Malayan Communist
Party, and fearing Soviet influence growing abroad, Australia quickly sent both ground
and air forces to assist the British.
Ten years later the communist presence was considered defeated, and the Malayan Emergency
came to a close.
In 1962 the Indonesia- Malaysia Confrontation sparked off between Britain and Indonesia
over the latter's protests over Britain's creation of Malaysia.
An undeclared war, the Australian government once more sent naval, air, and ground forces
to support British efforts, though the government was hesitant about committing them to actual
combat.
Thus Australian forces were largely used in a security role, and kept away from the main
fighting.
Eventually though the Australian government acquiesced to requests by the British and
Malaysians and dispatched troops to help defend Borneo.
Later a military coup in Indonesia brought the conflict to an end, and a peace treaty
was signed.
When the Vietnam War kicked off in 1962, Australia feared the spread of Communist influence across
Asia, and gladly sent military aid to South Vietnam in the form of aircraft and military
advisors.
When the US sent combat troops to the region though Australia mirrored the move, and officially
entered the ground war on South Vietnam's side.
Australian units fought side by side again with their American allies for the first time
since Korea, and Australian infantry units faced off against battalion and regimental
strength units on their own for the first time in their history.
Australian forces would make a good show for themselves despite their inexperience in large
scale conventional warfare, though by 1970 the government began the withdrawal of Australian
troops.
In the First Gulf War, Australia once more came to the aid of its American allies and
dispatched two warships, a support ship, and a special forces diving team to help clear
out sea mines and secure ports.
Ultimately though the Australians wouldn't see combat, though they played a large role
in enforcing sanctions against Iraq after the war.
Australia would continue to contribute forces to both UN and NATO peacekeeping missions
through the 1990s and into the 2000s, joining the US's coalition in its wars both in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
While their initial deployments were relatively small, Australia's military commitment would
steadily increase until several thousand Australian soldiers were serving across Iraq and Afghanistan.
Australia would also join in the effort against ISIS, deploying both ground and air forces
in the war against the terrorist extremists.
While the Australian military remains relatively small, it is considered by the United States
an indispensable ally in the Pacific, and the two nations share very close military
ties, with the US sworn to defend Australia and even protecting it from nuclear attack
by threatening to use its own nukes against an aggressor.
Despite their small size though Australian forces have proven that they are amongst the
world's best soldiers, and have been a stalwart ally in the fight against extremism and dictators
around the world.
Despite its young history, Australia has taken part in many conflicts, but has yet to militarily
lose a true war.
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