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Prehistory | 2 Worlds Meet | New France | England Arrives | Clash of Empires | Revolution | British America | Reform/Revolt | Responsible Government | Confederation | Nation Building | Laurier | The Great War | Roaring 20's | Great Depression | WWII | The Peace | Cold War | Trudeau | PC's in Power | Modern Canada
English Colonies | France vs England | Fur Trade | HBC | The Mississippi | Le Petite Guerre | Containment | New France | Preparations | War | Treaty of Paris
A popular theory of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States was know as containment. It was thought to have original from George Kennan the American ambassador to the Soviet Union just after the second world war, who wrote a long message, known as the long telegram, of warning to the State Department warning that unless the Soviets were "contained", they would eventually dominate the world.
Contrary to this view were the French efforts of using this theory against the British in the 1750's. If they could hold the English Colonies to the east side of the Appalachian Mountains, and establish a military defense line along the West side of the mountains with interior lines of transportation along the Mississippi, then they could eventually occupy the rest of the vast North American continent and become the dominant military, economic and social influence in the new world.
The realization that the English were coming and belated French efforts at occupation, colonization and building alliances along the Mississippi were almost overcome by brilliant military strategy and almost finalized the defeat of English efforts to win in North America. William Pitt, the British Prime Minister realized that victory for the English over the French would come not in Europe but in the colonies around the world. He also recognized that the key to defeating the French was by using British sea power and sailing into the heart of the French Empire - Quebec City. Once that city fell, the rest of New France and the Mississippi empire would fall like dominos, another metaphor used during the Cold War in southeast Asia.
By G Scott staff writter, 2012 - Canadahistory.com - section:eras, subsection Clash of Empires
