Topic #1 Review Propaganda & The War Effort

Government Control – Propaganda Government used posters, radio ads, newspaper articles to encourage people to support the war effort; Victory Bonds, Enlistment, Sending Men, Women joining, Guarding Secrets (loose lips sink ships), Community Efforts, Fear of the Enemy, etc. – Censorship Similar to WWI, the government controlled what was published on posters, in newspapers and said on the radio to control what the public knew about the war efforts; they wanted people to believe they should support the war

Government Control cont… – Limitation of Rights & Freedoms People had to ration foods and control what basic living supplies they were using; ration booklets were handed out, extra supplies were sent overseas, people had to learn to live with less War Measures Act still in effect  could arrest and detain anyone suspected of being disloyal

Economic Expansion economy rapidly expanded once the war broke out  value of economic production increased from $5.6 billion in 1939 to $11.8 billion in 1945 (this was important because we had just gone through the Great Depression; people needed money and jobs and this was an important step towards rebuilding our world; also garnered support for the war efforts)

Economic Expansion – federal government gave money to businesses to convert their production over to munitions and military supplies Car factories  tank and military trucks Civilian Aircraft Plants  built the “Lancaster” and “Halifax” bombers Ship building yards  naval boats – Much needed job creation came out of this

Women’s Roles – many women replaced the men who had joined the forces – women took on a variety of non-traditional jobs lumberyard workers shipyards mechanics engineers – women got paid significantly less than men for doing the same jobs (about half as much) – would take over 40 years until “equal work would become equal pay” was a law

Community Efforts – Government didn't have enough money to support the war because we were just coming out of a recession; looked to citizens to help out – Fundraising: an example of a community fundraising effort, the Chinese Canadian communities raised over $5 million for the war efforts (started as money raised to help China when they went to war with Japan in 1937) – "One Percent Scheme": NFLD put in place, 1% of everyone's pay went to war efforts – Scrap drives: organized by communities, would collect old metal and rubber that could be used to build military supplies/vehicles/weapons – Victory Gardens: adults and children would grow vegetables that could be sent overseas – Packing Boxes: older people packed boxes of food and supplies – Rationing – Victory Bonds: money to support war efforts

Conscientious Objectors & Pacifists – Same religious groups that objected to WWI felt the same way during WWII Mennonites, Quakers, Hutterites, Doukhobors believed war was so wrong that Canada shouldn’t even defend itself if attacked – Pacifists were prepared to defend Canada, but believed that a peaceful solution could be found J.S. Woodsworth was only member of parliament who opposed in 1939 Others had limited influence on society

Conscription of 1943 – Volunteer rates dropped off by 1943 – PM Mackenzie King didn’t want to introduce conscription because it divided the nation in 1917  :Conscription if necessary. But not necessarily conscription” Wanted issue to just go away, but it didn’t

Conscription of 1943 – Decided to hold a plebiscite (voters asked to answer a yes or no question; government may choose to adopt of ignore the result) Country divided again; people in Quebec didn’t want to support the war But, other eight provinces voted in favour – Conscription was introduced, but as conscripts were drafted and trained, the war was winding down in Europe  never sent overseas, used for protecting Canada, limited contribution and bad feelings were left with the Nation