And a third slice (that's how the net is working today, it seems)

1812 - I hedged on this, since I don't know much about it. "...that is at least how the war of 1812 was interpreted in the USA". The point, whatever it was about and however it started, it was a big imperial power on one side and a relatively weak country on the other. And at that time the relatively weak country was the USA and the big imperial power was not.

An Italian thinking the Soldier's Song, especially in it's abbreviated match version, was too long? Ever heard the Italian version - which is splendid, but hardly brief. (Here it is