Transcript Conscription Crisis

Conscription Crisis (1917)
• What is Conscription?
• Conscription. It is like the Draft. Conscription is
military service by all men of a certain age. It is
required by law.
A British Nation
• Most Canadians
felt pride in
Britain’s Imperial
accomplishments
• There was no strong feeling of
Canadian nationalism at the time
• This is not to say, however, that there
were no nationalists in the dominion
Three Key Figures
Quebec Nationalist leader
(Anti-conscription)
Wilfrid Laurier
Robert Borden
Leader of the Opposition (former
Liberal PM)
Prime Minister (Conservative)
Laurier: “Do not
choose a French
Canadian. The
situation of a French
Canadian Prime
Minister is impossible
and he can do nothing
for his people.”
Les Canadiens
• French Canadians
felt no such strong
connection to
things British
• In Francophone
Quebec there WAS a
feeling of nationalism
• Strong tensions existed between English- and French-speaking
Canadians
The “Real War” was being fought over minority rights,
not in Europe.
( Henri Bourassa)
Henri Bourassa •
Henri Bourassa - key
spokesperson for Quebec
• Resigned from Laurier’s
government over the war
• Was re-elected as an independent
party
• He spoke out against the war
and argued for a nationalist policy
for the country
At the Start… 1914
• MUCH enthusiasm
•Bourassa supports the war (referring to it as a “great national
crusade” capable of uniting Canada)
• Early in the conflict voluntary recruitment was strong and the
young men enthusiastic to fight
At the Start… 1914
• Prime Minister Borden and
army minister Sam Hughes
promised more and more men
• Wealthy men and militias were
responsible for raising, financing
and equipping battalions for
overseas service $$$
• Hughes foolishly focused on making the army an Englishlanguage institution (thus further alienating the French)
• Quebec people bought War Bonds and some enlisted
•For the most part French-Canadians in the province showed little
interest
Shift in Public Opinion
1916-1917
• HIGH casualty figures regularly
printed in the papers = public
enthusiasm for the war declined
• Now aware of the horrors of the war
• People no longer considered it a
“glorious adventure”
• Recruitment levels dropped
•Casualties GROW as Canadians engage
in key and costly battles
•AT HOME: Employment and wages were booming
•Farmers cried out for workers = Against sons leaving for war
FACTS:
• Most pro-British
already volunteered
•As talk of conscription
grew so too did
opposition for war
•Agricultural Quebec
opposed sending its farm
workers and married men
to fight
Three Years On…
1917
• Borden had earlier promised there would be no conscription
• Yet, the savage fighting (Vimy Ridge in April), lengthy war, and many deaths =
TOO MANY lost troops
• After visiting the Western Front,
Borden felt compelled to continue
Canada’s strong commitment to
the war
• Borden introduced CONSCRIPTION (the Military Service Act)
“There has not been and there will not be compulsion or conscription.
Freely and voluntarily, the manhood of Canada stands ready to fight
beyond the seas.”
( PM Robert Borden in December 1914 )
Conscription Crisis (1917)
• Military Service Act = compulsory
enlistment (conscription), even if someone
didn’t believe in the war.
• Conscription divided Canada in half:
– English for conscription, French against it
Laurier
“Ready, Aye, Ready”
• Wilfrid Laurier had
always supported the
war effort but NOT
conscription
“When Britain is at war, Canada is at war.
There is no distinction.”
Laurier
“All of my life I have fought coercion.”
Laurier
1917 Election
• Prime Minister Borden called an election,
and conscription would be the only issue, but
he changed the rules
• Military Voters Act (1917)
– Allowed men and women serving overseas to
vote
• Wartime Elections Act (1917)
– Gave the vote to all Canadian women directly
related to servicemen (wives, mothers, sisters)
– Cancelled the vote for conscientious objectors
and immigrants from enemy countries in the last
15 years
The Khaki Election…
1917
• Some Liberals desert Laurier and join
Borden in Unionist coalition
•Some independents also join the PM
• The Liberal party is split- as is the nationby the bitter debate
• Borden’s Union party wins the
“Khaki Election” (sweeping
English Canada but losing heavily in
Quebec)
The Aftermath…
1918
• Conscription effort did not go smoothly
•{only 20,000 of first 400,000 actually
reported for training }
• Borden would subsequently cancel all
exemptions (including those for farmers’ sons)
– EVERYONE MUST ENLIST!
• Conscription would lead to rioting in Quebec in 1918
•Only a small number of the conscripts actually saw action
•Conscription issue thus had only slight military benefits
•Left great and lasting political consequences
•The nation was left split between the French and the English
Conscription
FOR:
- Send more troops to the front
- Honour promises to Britain
AGAINST:
- Upset farmers losing their
sons and hired hands
- Sent those who truly didn’t
want to go
- Honour sacrifices of troops
- Fight the evil Germans
- Help speed the end of war
- Increased French/English
tensions
- Sent married men to war
(leaving their families to
struggle)
- Hurt homefront production
CLASS DEBATE
• QUESTION: Should Canada, or
any other country (Korea), be
allowed to use conscription during
wartime?
–Why or why not?
• How about during peacetime?
–Example: Russia