Canada's Contribution To The Great War

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In 1867, four provinces of Canada became a dominion of Great Britain. From 1867 to 1914, before the Great War, Canada worked at achieving its national status as an autonomous country. Canada’s role and contributions to the war played a crucial part in obtaining this status. Due to Canada’s efforts during the Great Was, it received recognition at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. During this conference, Canada was viewed as an independent nation for one of the first times in history when the country was given its very own seat. Canada grew from a dominion of Great Britain to being a truly independent country in the time period from 1919–1939 because of the Chanak crisis in 1922, the Halibut Treaty in 1923 and the Statute of Westminster …show more content…

The Chanak crisis helped Canada become an autonomous because the Canadian Prime Minister during this time, William Lyon Mackenzie King was adamant about achieving his mission to help Canada become autonomous. Mackenzie King did this by refusing to provide soldiers and send them to Chanak regarding an issue that did not involve Canada. He sent a message to Britain saying the support of Canadian troops was not to be taken for granted. When the Great War began and Britain was going to fight, Canada was automatically at war with them, however, this was not the case during the Chanak crisis. Additionally, Mackenzie King’s response portrayed his desire for Canada to have its own say in their policies. Instead of going with what Britain wanted, King’s desire to debate the issue with Parliament shows his efforts and tenacity to become an autonomous country. The message King sent to Britain also stated that the king would have to deliberate with Parliament before sending Canadian troops. This showed that Canada was no longer under any obligation to act under Britain’s …show more content…

It recognized each dominion of Britain as autonomous and confirmed the independence of the Dominions. Canada was declared fully independent due to previous resolutions that concerned the dominions and their desire for autonomy. For instance, during the Imperial Conference in 1926, the Balfour Report was a document that clarified the sovereignty of each dominion. It led to the Statute of Westminster, and without it, Canada would not have gained the independence it was searching for. Not to mention, The Statute of Westminster has been incredibly successful in the movement towards autonomy. When this British law was passed, it allowed Canada to create ties with other countries by forming treaty’s. Since the passing of this law, Canada has made and modified many agreements with other countries such as Ireland, Croatia and Malta. As a result of the Statute of Westminster, these treaty’s are still in place and successful and Canada is views as an autonomous with full liberty to deal with external affairs as well as foreign policies however the government

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