Canada had a great big military as recently as World War II and was instrumental in winning that fight. By the war’s end, over 1 million citizens would serve in military uniform (out of a prewar population of 11 million) and Canada would possess the fourth-largest air force and third-largest naval surface fleet in the world. Around 41% of Canadian males 18–45 served in the military (25% of Quebec males, 42–48% for other provinces) during 1939–45.