The First World war: Shaping Canada’s History 1914-1918 The Effects of Total war Canada Goes To War Controversies During WWI The war and Social Change in Canada Aftermath of Total War

The Effects of Total War Prior to WWI wars were limited to small armed conflicts fought by small professional armies with little civilian impact With the 20th century came nationalism and industrialization The nature of war changed to large untrained armies with great civilian impact

The Effects of Total War Advances in technology led to more powerful and easily moved weapons Merchant Marine Fleets supplies navies and transported troops and munitions to Europe By war’s end (1918) 65 million soldiers fought and 30 million people died (from fighting – half from disease) Canada sent 600 661 soldiers – over 61 000 died, 173 000 wounded

The Effects of Total War In most communities there wasn’t a family that was not affected by the loss At Home The length of the war required the entire countries participation in the war effort Women volunteered overseas as nurses and ambulance drivers, as well as wrote letters to soldiers and held fundraisers Young boys took over for the many farmers who went to fight

Canada Goes To War Most Canadians supported involvement This was due in part by British and French Canadian ties to Europe and feelings of loyalty to these countries Canada’s first active military force included only 3110 soldiers and 2 naval ships, plus 74 000 in military reserves The first sent over were under the command of the British military

Canada Goes To War Canadian troops developed a reputation for extreme bravery Canadian troops were often sent into battle as the first line of attack Many key battles earned Canadians distinction in the Allied forces The most well known is the battle of Vimy Ridge that resulted in 10 602 casualties The battle was won marking a significant step towards victory

Canada Goes To War On the sea, we began with only 2 ships By the end of the war Canada had over 100 warships with 5500 naval personnel This development of naval forces was due to the German U-boats sinking Merchant Marine vessels on the Atlantic

Canada Goes To War Canadians joined the British Royal Air Force since Canada didn’t have an air force of it’s own 40% of this force were Canadian First planes were used mainly for reconnaissance then grew into fighting aircraft To be an “Ace” – 5 kills were required 10 of the 27 top Aces of WWI were Canadian Most noted is Billy Bishop who had 72 victories and is credited with killing the Red Baron

Controversies During WWI After war broke out the Borden government passed the War Measures Act giving the government the power to enforce marshal law This Act allowed the development of internment camps holding those sympathetic to Germany (one was in Amherst) These camps held 83 000 suspected German and Austrian sympathizers who were treated like prisoners of war

Controversies During WWI The war effort refused admittance of First Nations People’s until 1916 when more soldiers were necessary 4000 Aboriginal soldiers took part African Canadians faced barriers when attempting to enlist Over 1000 served in the Canadian construction battalion and never saw combat At the end of the war the military service of marginalized groups did not improve their status in Canadian society

Controversies During WWI Prime Minister Borden promised no conscription By 1916 however, more men were needed and conscription became a central issue during the 1917 election After many political games Borden won, and passed the conscription bill This bill only gathered 60 000 men from which only 27 000 saw military service

The War and Social Change in Canada The war generated a tremendous boom in the economy and transformed Canada into a fully industrialized nation Because of a drop in the labour force, women took over many men’s jobs This gave strength to the women’s suffrage movement resulting in women winning the right to vote Unions gathered strength as well by capitalizing on the limited amount of skilled workers

The War and Social Change in Canada The government created many social agencies resulting in the Civil Service Victory Bonds were create to help finance the war effort Canada’s first tax was also introduced as a temporary measure to pay for the very expensive war – they turned out to be not so temporary

Aftermath of Total War WWI brought many significant changes to Canada as it developed as a Nation Included with all we have discussed the most important is that Canada found it’s place among the Community of Nations Canada was ultimately granted the right to make it’s own decisions in foreign affairs by British Parliament through the Statute of Westminster in 1931

Case 6 Please read chapter 4 and record vocabulary. Answer question 1 on p. 57. Only discuss as a group then prepare your own answers to hand into your folder. Do not present to the class as it states. 3) What advances in Canadian military were made and why? 4) What is the War Measures Act? Do you agree with it? 5) What difficulties did Aboriginals and African Canadians have in participating in the war? 6) What was the Conscription Crisis? 7) How did war change the face of Canada domestically (at home) and abroad?