Canada & The Homefront

Gearing Up For War Canadian Patriotic Fund Outfitting at private expense To help families struggling to live on privates pay of $1.10 a day

Soldier boys – On the Farm Soldiers of the Soil When men went to war women were responsible to harvest crops 12,000 young boys became knows as the Soldiers of the Soil

Berlin, Ontario? “Enemy Aliens” – Canada came to hate anything German They pressured the Government to fire German and Austrian immigrants who held government jobs No Teaching German in Schools No Beethoven City of Berlin, Ontario to be renamed Kitchener (British Secretary of War)

Part of German National Anthem Germany, Germany above all, over everything in the world, When it steadfastly holds together, offensively and defensively.

$$VICTORY$$ Savings bond created by the Government Generate revenue to pay for the war effort We still have them today – “savings bonds”

Munitions – “Gotta get me a Ross Rifle!” Munitions – another significant contribution to the war effort Shipped millions of dollars worth of shells and explosives More than Canadians worked for munitions industry

Shell Committee and IMB Shell Committee set up by Minister of Militia, Sam Huges It’s job was to bid for British artillery-shell contracts and find Canadian manufacturers to fill the orders Friend’s of Huges were dishonest Borden agreed, set up the IMB (Imperial Munitions Board)

Women & WWI So many men gone to war Canada was crying for workers

What did Women do? women worked in munition factories Aircraft factories, machine shops, metal foundries, shipyards Overseas jobs – nurses Once war was over women were expected to return home to their traditional roles

Women get the vote!! 1914 women still denied the right to vote During the war Borden changed his mind At first only certain women were enfranchised

VOTE! The Wartime Elections Act of 1917 gave Canadian nurses with the armed forces and the wives, sisters, and mothers of Canadian soldiers a vote in upcoming federal election During election campaign Borden pledged to extend the vote to all women if elected After the war Borden extended the vote to women over age of 21

Military Casualties in World War I Belgium 45,550 British Empire 942,135 France 1,368,000 Greece 23,098 Italy 680,000 Japan 1,344 Montenegro 3,000 Portugal 8,145 Romania 300,000 Russia 1,700,000 Serbia 45,000 United States 116,516 Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 Bulgaria 87,495 Germany 1,935,000 Ottoman Empire 725,000

Canada Total Enlisted Total Deaths Total Non fatal Total Population7.5 million

Dulce et Decorum Est – Truly honorable to die for one’s country Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, - My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.