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Effects of WW1 on canada
The impact of the First World War on Canada
The impact of the First World War on Canada
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World War 1 began in 1914, and because Great Britain was involved, Canada found itself pulled into the war as well. At the beginning of the war, Borden promised never to force men to fight. However, by 1916 the Allies found their situation had taken a turn for the worse, and were in desperate need of new soldiers. Canada’s Prime Minister, Robert Borden, was an imperialist. He desperately wanted Canada to be seen as an equal by Great Britain, and believed that providing large numbers of Canadian troops may accomplish this. However, as word of trench conditions and number of casualties reached home, fewer and fewer men were volunteering to be sent overseas, knowing that they would likely never return home. By 1917, Borden had only one unused …show more content…
Essentially, Conscription brought more harm than good and led to a divide between French and English Canadians. As proven in the past, the 'all volunteer' military is more effective than any draft or mandatory conscription for all parties concerned. The Country gets men in the military who truly want to be there. Canada was not in danger of an attack from Germany, and therefore, there was no desperate need to force young men to serve into the army. The Russian Revolution in 1917 meant the Russians would soon quit the war and Germany would be able to bring it’s complete force to bear in the west. Conscription affected Canada’s economy, national unity and resulted in the sheer loss of …show more content…
In changing his mind, he lost many citizens’ trust in their government. The majority of those opposing Borden were French-Canadians. While Canada's involvement in WW1 was supported by the vast majority of English Canadians, the issue of conscription clearly and sharply divided the country. For some Canadians it was an important and necessary contribution for a faltering war effort. However, for others it was an oppressive act passed by a more British government than Canadian. Many francophones living in canada during World War 1 were not to fond of the idea of a draft army and were more reluctant to enlist as they felt a little attachment to Britain. They did not believe that it was their war, as a result they felt suppressed by the canadian government and that their opinion, linguistic and cultural independence was ignored. The French-Canadian’s reluctance to enlist had much to do with the fact that little accommodation was made for those soldiers that did not speak English. Francophones were expected to understand the English commands given by British officers, which they resented. Their linguistic barriers were ignored and the feel of having conscription being imposed on them led to public displays of resentment. Former Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier claimed that conscription "has in it the seeds of discord and disunion". He was correct since
”[2] Ultimately, the final decision, without any approval of Parliament[3] was to support the Imperial request. This was Canadian army’s first major overseas campaign. However, the decision to participate in Boer war resulted in a vast range of problems for a young country. First of all, the war had nothing to do with Canadians, it further increased conflicts between French-English Canadians, resulted in many other home front problems and even after all the efforts, Canadian contribution was not fully recognised.
Every 11 hour, 11 day of the 11th month we express our gratitude to those Canadian soldiers who fought courageously in the wars of World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Lest We Forget is a famous phrase that everyone has heard or seen in the month of Remembrance Day. This phrase reminds us daily about the losses of loved ones and the possibilities of declaring another conflict that could hurt millions of people. Canada's war experiences have defined its nation. Due to Canada's numerous contributions to the World War I, World War II and the Korean War, Canada has earned a reputation as an independent strong fighting force, a supportive ally and eventually as a valuable peacekeeping nation.
To answer this, one must address the severity of the crisis, as well as the degree to which the War Measures Act would alleviate the situation. This proves to be an unexpectedly difficult task, as it is impossible to accurately capture the zeitgeist of such a turbulent time period without being subject to bias. However from a purely objective standpoint, the evidence clearly identifies that there was no insurrection, nor was one likely to take place. Trudeau relied heavily on galvanizing the risk that the FLQ posed to the Canadian public. However, this came to be a detriment to his case when the supposed danger was discredited. According to most authorities, the FLQ “was a collection of scattered, radical grouplets who communicated amongst themselves with great difficulty and apprehension”(Conrad et al). It is of course, rather difficult to carry out widespread insurrection without a cohesive unit to do so. Trudeau’s speech relied heavily on the notion that the FLQ posed a greater threat than they realistically did, and by the end of the crisis it was clear that his claims were null. However, Trudeau did not operate alone in his endeavors. The crisis was rapidly escalated in scale by local and national media alike. The media “Fed the notion of a hydra head conspiracy, unknown, unknowable, but of course infinitely dangerous”, an error that almost did more to aid in the FLQ’s influence over the country, than it did to call in any sort of justifiable action (Bothwell, 447-50). This combined with rumors of Quebec dissolving their government due to the “severity” of the situation, a rumor that was initially reported to be started by Trudeau (although it was enforced by numerous parties”) in order to gain the support of the public for the actions he was preparing to take (Clement). It is generally agreed upon that War
In 1914, Australia joined the First World War. Although it was seen as a European war, the Australia government decided that Australia should support its 'Mother Country', Britain. The prime-minister at the time, Joseph Cook, stated Australia's position : "Whatever happens, Australia is a part of the Empire, right to the full. When the Empire is at war, Australia is at war." Many Australians objected to the country's involvement in the war, but the majority of the population agreed with the government's decision. Australia joined the war for many reasons, but two main reasons were :
61, 000 Canadians died during World War I and another 172, 000 were injured. World War I was supposed to be “the war to end all wars” however it did not achieve that. Another negative effect was the War Measures Act that Prime Minister Borden introduced in 1914 which gave the government undemocratic powers to deal with war and power to limit the freedom of Canadians. The act suspended habeas corpus which is recourse in law when a person can report unlawful detention or imprisonment before a court. Anyone that was thought to be an enemy alien could be imprisoned or deported, so recent immigrants from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to carry ID cards with them at all times and more than 8, 500 were held in isolation in internment camps. Another negative effect of World War I on Canada was that of conscription, which made it mandatory to enlist after Borden introduced the Military Service Act in 1917. Conscription was very controversial and emotional issue that divided English and French Canadians lasting in scars. French Canadians felt no patriotic connection to Britain or France; they saw the Military Service Act as a way of forcing them to fight in a distant war that had no connection to them. Many French Canadians felt like second class citizens of the home front; there were violent conflicts in Quebec between those
The War Measures Act was a law passed in 1914 by the Canadian Government in Canada during WWI, amongst many others that the government had passed that allowed the government to take control of communications, establish censorship of transatlantic cables, and organize the militia (Bolotta, Angelo et al. 39). The War Measures Act itself allowed the government to: censor and suppress publications, writing, maps, plans, photographs, communications, and means of communication, arrest, detain, exclude, and deport persons, control harbours, ports, and territorial waters of Canada and the movements of vessels, control the transport of persons and things by land, air, or water control trade, production, and manufacturing, and appropriate and dispose of property and of the use thereof (Bolotta, Angelo et al. 39). It gave the government emergency powers “allowing it to govern by decree” while Canada was in war (War). In World War I (1914-1920), it had been used to imprison those who were of German, Ukrainian, and Slavic decent, and was used in the same way again in WWII (1939-1945) to imprison Japanese-Canadians, and to seize all of their belongings. They were then relocated into internment camps and concentration camps (Bolotta, Angelo et al. 171). Both times, those that were persecuted did not have the right to object (War). Those these laws had been created for the purpose of protecting Canadians from threats or wars for security, defense, peace order and welfare of Canada it instead greatly limited the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens and debasing immigrants of enemy countries both in WWI and WWII (Bolotta, Angelo et. Al 39).
The introduction of conscription into Australia during the Vietnam War, caused much outrage in the Australian public. Vietnam was the first war ever to be properly televised, the public saw for the first time the true brutality of war. The public started to question Australia’s involvement in the war. Moratoriums were held around Australia in protest against conscription and Australia’s involvement in the war. Much of the protesting was done by students and the younger generations, there was still support for the war effort. This was reflected in the November 1966 elections, when there was a landslide victory for the Liberals. Conscription did have an effect on the Liberal governments popularity, a few months after a complete troop withdrawal in 1972 from Vietnam, the Whitlam Labour government replaced the McMahon Liberal government. Historically, one of the influencing factors of the Liberal’s election loss was the Governments choice to get involved in a war that had little to do with Australia.
In 1917 Robert Borden made terrible mistakes into which caused the Country separating Conscription Crisis of 1917. When Prime Minister Borden was elected he promised that there would be no obligatory conscription applied in any event. In the beginning of the war more than 400,000 soldiers volunteered for service overseas, one in 20 of them were Québécois. The low interest of the French Canadian's vividly shown they were not interested in the war at all. By 1917 there have been very high amount of causalities; more people were dying then volunteering. Rob Borden thought that conscription was indeed needed. As a result on May 18, 1917 he retreated his promise on "no obliga...
The Constitution adopted in 1789 gave Congress the "power to raise and support armies," but it neither mentioned nor prohibited conscription. The Framers left that issue to the future, although most of them believed that the United States like Britain would enlist its men rather than conscript them, and would pay for its armies through the power to tax. Not until World War I did the United States rely primarily upon conscription. The Selective Service Act of 1917 was adopted in large part because a civilian-led "preparedness" movement had persuaded many Americans that a selective national draft was the most equitable and efficient way for an industrial society to raise a wartime army. Woodrow Wilson overcame considerable opposition, particularly from agrarian isolationists in the South and West and ethnic and ideological opponents of the war in the North, to obtain the temporary wartime draft. (Berger 1981)
Ciment, James. 2007. The home front encyclopedia: United States, Britain, and Canada in World Wars I
OTTAWA—Conscription is a vital act to pass as it carries potential to end the war quicker, claim victory for the Allies, as well as demonstrate Canada’s support in the war. Supported by English-speaking Canadians and opposed by French-speaking ones, this political debate holds great influence in swaying the direction of the war.
Another one of the three most important 20th century events is the World War One Canada Conscription. This is the first time in Canadian history that the government forced men into the war. Fewer men are volunteering because of the bad stories that returned soldiers told, and Canada needed a lot more men because of the overwhelming amount of casualties, so the government approved conscription. Canada’s devotion and sacrifice to the war is another way that Canada is worthy of independence. The conscription also acquired more trade of arms and men between The Allied Powers: Britain, France, Soviet Union, and later the U.S.
During this time, Canada was still a member of the British Empire and was legally at war the minute that Britain was. Even though the Canadian government was had no control about being at war, it did have control over what role Canada would play during the war. Canada could send soldiers, food and clothing, or they could even do nothing about the war. Robert Borden, who was Prime Minister at the time, felt that Canada should send soldiers, food, and clothing to Britain. He felt that Canadian's should be proud to fight for their king and country. Wilfrid Laurier, who was leader of the Opposition at the time, was hoping that the war would be over soon, and that we should offer money and food to France and Britain. Henri Bourassa, who was the publisher of Le Devoir news paper felt that Canada should do nothing, and that Britain got into the mess by themselves, so to can they get out of the mess. After much debate, the government decided to send soldiers, and economic aid to Britain for the war.
World War 2 was a war like no other. It was a great war that changed the world and killed many people. This war changed the way the war looked at Canada, and the way Canada looked at itself. World War 1 grew Canada’s independence but world war 2 shaped Canada’s independence and gave Canada a new look. World War 2 was a completely different war, this war allowed Canada to show their independence from Great Britain. This allowed soldiers to fight for their country, and not Great Britain, showing a new side to Canada.
In a war or conflict, there is no real winner. All members involved in the conflict will face many lasting negative effects. Naturally, World War One, being the largest global conflict at the time, was no exception. Despite that the fight was in Europe, Canada, being involved in the war, was both positively and negatively affected. As a result of the war, Canada did gain a reputation, pride, and a sense of nationalism. However, this came at the price of the lives of hundred of thousands of Canadians, distrust in the government, and increased cost of living and Canadian national debt. The negative effects of World War One on Canada far outweighs the benefits that were gained.