Re: Vivre la Quebec libre!! (8-) (was Re: Odd FT Idea)

On Fri, 03 Jul 1998 12:38:59 -0400, Jerry Han <jhan@idigital.net> wrote:

>Something I forgot to mention in my response to Stuart; a way to handle
>the integration would be to build large American formations (US 1st
Infantry),
>with British, Canadian and American Regiments (they'd probably have to
>back to the US Civil War for some of these; anybody remember Stonewall
>Jackson's Regiment at First Manassas?	(8-) )	(I hope I got the battle
>right; first one of the US Civil War, where Jackson get's his
nickname...)

Um, not to be pedantic or anything, but Jackson was a brigade commander
at
First Manassas, not a regimental commander. It was the 1st Brigade of
the Army
of the Shenandoah, consisting of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th and 33rd
Virginia
regiments and Pendleton's Battery. Bee, commander of the 3rd Brigade,
gave
Jackson his nickname (some have suggested that the comment, "There is
Jackson
standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will
conquer.
Follow me," was actually somewhat sarcastic...).

From a historical perspective, there was a joint US/Canada unit during
the
war, the First Special Service Force. It was trained specifically in
mountain
warfare (as well as other special forms of warfare) and was used
effectively
in Italy. It was officially within the US TO&E. 

>There's been some talk about it in Canadian PolSci and History courses,
but
>more as a 'what-if' scenario than any actual declared intent.	In other
>words, Urban Legend.  (Though Dunnigan/Bay in 'A Quick and Dirty Guide
to
>War' have what I consider a really interesting scenario for a Canadian 
>Civil War; Ontario and West stays in Canada, Quebec goes its separate 
>ways, the Maritime provinces join the US, and Newfoundland petitions
the
>UK to rejoin as a colony.  (8-) )

Another possibility is for the West to separate into a different region.
This
I think is more likely unless some fancy footwork was done. I could also
see a
divided Canada muddling through long enough for a separate Quebec to
drop to
near third-world status, economy wise with the country eventually
reforming.

Having seen Western antagonism towards the East, however, I think if
Quebec
goes it will just be a matter of time before Canada collapses into a
loose
confederation (ala the former USSR) with the smaller chunks swallowed by
the
US.

Allan Goodall	       agoodall@sympatico.ca

"We come into the world and take our chances
 Fate is just the weight of circumstances
 That's the way that Lady Luck dances
 Roll the bones." - N. Peart