Post on 14-Jan-2016
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• WW I Declared in Sept. 1914
• Canadians feel it will be short – adventurous, good chance for profit.
• Single, unemployed are easy to recruit.
• WW I Declared in Sept. 1914
• Canadians feel it will be short – adventurous, good chance for profit.
• Single, unemployed are easy to recruit.• Propaganda films portraying the
enemy countries backfire and fuel distrust of recent immigrant groups.
• Recent immigrants from enemy countries are interned.
• Many Canadiens reject participation – do not feel connection to England.
• Japanese and Black Canadians face discriminatory recruiting policies.
• 1/3 of able bodied First Nations people volunteer.
• Women increasingly entering factories, production, and going overseas as nurses on the front.
• Suffragists continue their push for the right to vote.
• Prohibitionists have new argument – production of alcohol robs from the war effort.
• 1915 – Sask, Alta, Man, close bars, prohibit alcohol.
• 1918 – Federal government follows suit.
• At the onset of war, Canadian troops were poorly equipped and trained.
• Colonel Sam Hughes was responsible for equipment selection and testing – he made numerous mistakes.
• The Ross Rifle – Hughes selected this weapon due to its accuracy. Its length, and habit of jamming in muddy conditions made it totally impractical in the trenches.
• Other Hughes follies included:–buying cardboard soled
boots (cheaper) –MacAdams Shovel - the
poorest trenching shovel (tended to bend)
–Buying cheaper brown horses and painting them black for night opps
–Leaky Canteens
• Axis (Purple) and Allied (Red/Orange) countries fighting in WWI.
• Canadians fought battles on the Western front, with major contributions at Ypres, Mont Sorrel, Saint-Eloi, Festubert, and Givenchy.
• Summer, 1916 – Allied troops begin stock piling weapons for a major offensive – the Somme – a 10 km strategic stretch of land.
• Lasts from July to November.
• Old tactics prove destructive – German machine guns effective – in the first 30 minutes, out of 700 Canadians, 68 are left alive and uninjured.
• 1 million men die at the Somme.• High loses, and horrific wounds
cause drastic reduction in recruiters, and increase in desertion.
• Also in 1916:– Sam Hughes fired (war not a time to
save money)– Replaced by Joseph Flavel – wants
improved quality of goods and materials, and no profits to be made on war goods.
– Women take increasing role in munitions factories.
– Canadian soldiers get the Lee Enfield Rifle.
• Canadians given assignment all others have failed.
• Can. Gen. Curry stock piles weapons, prepares relentlessly – models are built – soldiers issued maps for the first time – supply tunnels built.
• 5:30 AM, heavy guns open up, laying down a blanket of heavy artillery fire.
• Soldiers follow – protected – run for 100m, then hide for three minutes – the “Vimy Glide.”
• Canadian solders take Vimy – the greatest victory in the war, and the start of true Canadian nationalism.
• Dec. 6th 1917 – Halifax Harbor• Norwegian freighter Emmo rams
French Mont Blanc – loaded with munitions for the war.
• Biggest non-nuclear explosion created by man.
• 2000 killed, 9000 wounded – Halifax levelled
• 1917 – 400,000 Canadian men fighting – Borden promised 500,000. He also promised Canadians no conscription.
• Borden visits military hospitals at the front – horrified at the wounds.
• Makes a commitment to the troops that they will be re-enforced. “A matter of honor”
• Borden returns to Canada and announces conscription will happen.
• Canadiens/Bourassa outraged (French languages recently dropped from Ontario schools as well)
• Aug. 1917 – all men 20 to 45 years of age mandatory enrollment.
• Oct. 1917 – Borden calls election – Conscription is the only issue.
• Runs against Laurier – who is urged to fight conscription – backfires – Laurier and Canadien seen as traitors and cowards.
• Borden issues WARTIME ELECTIONS ACT – any new immigrants (15 yrs) band from the vote – women issued vote.
• Angry Canadien riot for 4 days in Montreal – Easter 1918 – army sent in – 4 civilians killed.
• Treaty of Versailles / Armistice ends war Nov. 11th – 1918
• Laurier dies 1919 – to a Canada more divided than ever before.
• Celebrations are short lived – poor global conditions lead to major outbreak of Spanish flu
• Kills 20 million – as many as the war (same ratio in Canada – 500,000 die)
• The cost of victory is high – veterans return to unemployment, or are unemployable.
• War pensions drained paying widows and disabled – First Nations excluded
•Canada’s contribution to WWI earns the country its own spot in the newly formed League of Nations – a major step forward in our own independent identity.
• Following the war, Unemployment remains high, and inflation takes hold.
• 1919 – Winnipeg metal workers demand the right to use their union to reach labor demands.
• May 1st 1919 – Metal Workers Strike. • Bad timing – 18 months after communist
take over of Russia following a general strike – many fear communism.
• June 10th – after much pressure by business leaders, police take action on strike leaders.
• Another riot follows in retaliation – NWMP charge strikers – 2 killed.
• Following the war, Canadian farmers are sick of Can. Politics – business is poor, and many are leaving to the cities.
• Farmers organize into Unions – the United Farmers of Ontario and the United Farmers of Alberta gain major support – win elections
• Leads to the creation of the Federal Progressive Party –gains official opposition status.
• Urbanization growing rapidly in Canada.• Many feel it is associated with American values.• Between 1921-1931 – 1 million Canadians move
to the US – mostly from Quebec and Maritimes.
• In an effort to stop this, Quebec Premier Taschereau attempts to gain US capital investment by selling regional natural resources.
• Bourassa critisizes.• “Better to import US Dollars than
export a Canadien worker.”
• American domination is particularly strong in the automobile market – growing very fast in Canada.
• After years of hard times, Canadians look to have fun.
• Radio hits Canada as well as silent films. Hockey Night in Canada hugely popular, but both are dominated by American media.
• The fun was short lived – October 24th, 1929 – the stock market crashes.