French-English Relations in Canada French Canadian struggle for minority rights in Canada Their goal was to protect their culture and language within a largely English-speaking majority

How did we get here? The Age of Imperialism The idea is to form an empire by establishing colonies Colonies send raw materials to fuel industrial revolution; new markets created in which to sell goods Countries competed for colonies – France and Britain, among them – leading to wars Look in Textbook, p. 8

The Seven Year’s War Officially started between France and Britain in 1756, but had actually begun two years earlier in North America Ended with the Battle on the Plains of Abraham (1759), when Wolfe defeated Montcalm The war continued in various colonies around the world and in the end the Treaty of Paris (1763) was signed France handed over New France in order to keep more lucrative colonies overseas Settlers of New France and Native allies felt betrayed by this

Colony now British Relations between French and English were difficult for many reasons French Canadians were Nationalists – wanted greater autonomy from Britain, and didn’t necessarily identify with France, either, which had negotiated them away Certainly never saw themselves as British Subjects

The Rights of French-Canadians Under the Treaty of Paris, they had been granted language, culture and Catholic religion rights under that surrender The Quebec Act of 1774 confirmed this Their minority rights to language had once again been agreed to when Canada became a nation in 1867 As time went on, these rights were not upheld

Louis Riel Executed after he led two rebellions to fight for French language and culture rights of the Métis In the first rebellion, he had executed a Protestant for uttering death threats against Riel He was charged with treason after the Northwest Rebellion and hanged Métis rights and needs ignored - this made people in Quebec very angry

Language Issue When the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba had been set up, language rights for the minority group of French-speaking settlers and the Métis had been guaranteed As the Métis and French-speaking population dropped and became more and more a minority population, the government stopped funding the Catholic, French language schools

WWI – The war to end all wars The causes are complicated – nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and alliance system In the meantime, the basics are this: –Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne is assassinated by a Serbian terrorist –Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia –Russia backs Serbia –Germany declares war on Russia –France backs Russia –Germany declares war on France –Britain declares war on Germany

Canada at war Because Britain declares war, Canada is automatically at war, too, because we are part of the British Empire We agree to send troops (volunteers) By 1917, volunteer enlistments are not keeping up with killed or wounded – more soldiers are needed Conscription (compulsory military service) was put in place

WWI – The Conscription Crisis Canada was deeply divided on compulsory military service English Canadian Perspective –Quebec not doing enough to support the war French Canadian Perspective –Many French were farmers and therefore essential; Also, they did not feel as happy to support a British war –Felt like second class citizens in Canada –Recruitment was carried out by Protestant –Training in English, not French

WW II Really started in 1936, but the actual war started with Germany’s invasion of Poland in September of 1939 France and Britain declare war on Germany Canada declares war a week later US joins on December 7 th, 1941 after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, Hawaii –US and Britain declare war on Japan, Germany then declared war on the US, US declares war on Germany

WWII - Conscription Crisis Originally, Prime Minister King convinced politicians in Quebec to support war against Germany by promising that conscription would never be required Later, he had to hold a referendum to get permission to go back on his word by holding a referendum In all provinces but Quebec, the majority voted “yes” to conscription Once again the issue divided the country

“Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary” King still did not send conscripts overseas, using them only for home defence In the 1944 invasion of Europe, Canada lost soldiers and there was now a severe shortage In the final months of the war, conscripts were sent Many across the country were angry, some refusing to go, riots in Montreal Only 2463 reach the front