1. Date: 6/10/2016

2. Trial by Fire: Canada Enters World War One
Chapter 2:
Trial by Fire: Canada Enters World War One

3. Summary
This chapter explores Canada’s participation in the First World War and how its participation influenced Canadian identity.
The chapter looks at the causes of the war and allows you to explore the concepts of imperialism and nationalism, which also influenced Canadian society in the early 1900s.
You will examine Canadians’ responses to the war and how they reflected societal attitudes and internal conflicts.
You will also explore how the government supported the war effort and what impact this had on the lives of Canadians.

4. Life in Trenches
Pg.32

5. Canadian soldiers in the trenches.

6. Soldiers ate and slept in the trenches.
The trenches were crowded and dirty, with no opportunity to wash themselves.

7. What can you tell about life in the trenches from this photograph?
page 32 Figure 2–12
What can you tell
about life in the
trenches from this
photograph?
How might these
conditions have
contributed to
psychological
problems?

8. A soldier looks out over the parapet .
Sometimes soldiers relaxed in the trenches, waiting for battle to begin.

9. The land was devastated by artillery fire.

10. Soldiers endured cold winters.

12. Water in the Trenches

14. Soldiers picking up bodies from No-Man’s Land .
How the Soldiers Died…
Falling off duckboards & into the mud
Buried alive
Suicide
Enemy snipers
Diseases
Lack of food
Trench walls collapsed
Soldiers picking up bodies from No-Man’s Land .

15. Dead soldiers on the ground.

16. Answer: the lack of sanitation, close proximity to constant danger,
lack of adequate shelter,
poor hygiene, and boredom.
All of these factors contribute to anxiety and feelings of helplessness.

17. Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where they fell
These corpses, as well as the food scraps that littered the trenches, attracted rats
Quotes from soldiers fighting in the trenches:
"The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself."
"I saw some rats running from under the dead men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat."

21. New Technology and the War
Technology turned wars into wars of attrition, where the goal was to wear down the resources of the enemy, even at the cost of large numbers of soldiers
Both sides used fast-firing field artillery & machine guns to try to wear down the other side
Machine guns were one of the biggest changes in technology in the First World War, since this invention enabled one soldier to kill enough soldiers to break up any frontal line of attack
Machine guns could fire 600 rounds (bullets) per minute
They needed 4-6 men to operate
Soldiers using machine guns did not need to be good shooters; they could just spray the area in front of them

22.
Technology in World War I |

23. Activity: Problem-based learning Explore the issues.
List "What do we know?“
List out possible solutions.

24. Homework
Pg.44
Case Study:
Questions 1,2

25. Major Canadian Battles
Battle of Ypres
In April 1915 Canadian troops were the first victims of a German mustard (chlorine) gas attack at Ypres, Flanders, in Belgium, with 6000 being killed before reinforcements arrived
French colonial soldiers (Algerians & Moroccans) ran away (perhaps wisely)
Mustard gas caused you to choke to death: your sinuses would burn & bubble & you could drown in your own blood

26. Canadian soldier, Captain Scrimger (a chemist (pharmacist) before the war), told soldiers to cover their faces with handkerchiefs soaked in urine for protection because they had no gas masks
Despite this terrible gas, the Canadian soldiers stayed in their positions & held back the Germans
One Canadian soldier, Frederick Fisher, was the first Canadian to win a Victoria Cross for his bravery by holding his position & stalling the German attack until he was killed
As a result, Canadian soldiers were later used as “shock troops” (a name given to Canadian soldiers by Germans)
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of Ontario wrote the famous poem “In Flanders Fields” after this battle in memory of a friend who was killed

27. In Flanders field in present day

28. The battle of Somme Battle of the Somme, July, 1916
Located in France, the battle of the Somme was referred to as ‘the big push’
Canadians were led by British General Haig
He ordered troops openly into no-man’s land
Soldiers were told they would be able walk across ‘no-man’s land’ & leave their rifles behind (Germans, barbed wire, & even the rats would be all destroyed)
British fired over 1.5 million shells in a week-long artillery bombardment leading up to the battle

29. The Germans were well protected in deep dugouts
When the shelling stopped the Germans came up from their dugouts & setup their machine guns to face the British advance
This was the first time tanks were used in battle
Canadians lost over 24,000 troops during this battle
Over 1 million lives were lost on both sides, making it the worst battle in modern history

30. Battle of Vimy Ridge
Easter Sunday, 9 April 1917, 3,598 Canadian troops died capturing Vimy Ridge – 1st great Allied victory of the war
Both the British & French had already failed to capture the heavily fortified hill
This was the first time Canadian soldiers fought as a single unit
This attack was planned & rehearsed for several months & carried out by Canadian troops under Canadian General Arthur Currie, who gave all the soldiers maps, not just the officers
Artillery bombed no-man’s land & the German positions for 2 weeks straight before the battle

31. At 5:30 a.m. 15,000 soldiers attacked under a cover of artillery fire known as a “creeping barrage” in which soldiers advanced in step with artillery guns
German machine gun fire cut down many Canadians but Canada was able to wipe out the enemy’s front lines
Canadian soldiers (who had experience working in mines) had dug tunnels under German trenches & blew them up when battle began
The German second lines were so surprised that they either fled or surrendered
By mid-morning, Canada had control of Vimy Ridge

33. Destroying barbed wire in No-Man’s Land, Vimy Ridge, 1917.

34. Tank and infantry at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

35. Troops move Howitzer into Position at Vimy Ridge.

36. The Canadians won the battle in only 4 days
Allied countries applauded Canada’s success
This was seen as a great victory for Canadian forces & one of the most important landmarks on the road to Canadian nationhood
Winning these battles helped Canada gain independence from Britain
This was a defining moment in Canadian independence

37. Firing a naval gun behind Canadian lines at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

38. Naval gun firing at night at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

39. Captured German machine gun emplacement at the Battle of Vimy Ridge

40. View of Village of Vimy looking over the Crest of Vimy Ridge.

41. Victorious Canadian soldiers returning from Vimy Ridge.

42. Passchendaele
In late October 1917 Canadians fought at Passchendaele, with only 4,000 of 20,000 soldiers (1/5) still alive at the end
Canadian troops were assigned this mud-filled ridge after three years of fighting here
General Currie took the operation over from General Haig & warned that there would be heavy casualties
Conditions were terrible & many lives were lost in this victory
 The land had little significance

43. Canadian 4th Division, Passchendaele, 14 November 1917.

44. Talbot Papineau, grandson of Louis Joseph Papineau, leader of the Rebellion of Lower Canada in He was killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele 30 October 1917.