Transcript The First World war: Shaping Canada’s History 1914-1918

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 complete the following case study. Responses
should be of high quality. Draft quality work
will be returned unmarked.
1) Please read chapter 4 and record vocabulary
definitions in your own words. It is not
necessary to copy all vocabulary directly from
text.
2) What were Canada’s main military roles in and
contributions to the First world war?
3) In what ways did WWI create social change in
Canada?
4) How did the more controversial decisions of WWI
Case Study 6 (cont’d)
5) How did WWI shape Canada’s development as a
nation? As member of the world community?
6) What difficulties did Aboriginals and African
Canadians have in participating in the war?
7) What was the Conscription Crisis?