Conscription In Canada Essay

Mackenzie King, Canada’s Prime Minister who served during the Second World War, once said during a speech: “Let it be remembered, too, that at a time of war, nearly everyone is under great strain.” This single comment directly reflected on Canadian experiences during the Second World War. The straining events of the war stretched to the highest rank in Canada when the Prime Minister dealt with the Conscription crisis, and even to the lowest undesirable rank in Canada’s wartime society, enemy aliens with their struggles. It was also during this global conflict that Canadians witnessed change in their ideologies and methodologies as well as new introductions in these areas. Attitudes towards women matured to higher statuses, and the high demand

for ammunition as well as warfare vehicles modernized the Canadian economy. Thus, the Second World War brought massive, and to some degrees, unprecedented effects and changes to the Canadian government, people, and economy. Canada, under the influence of World War Two, was affected politically through the dreaded Conscription crisis, socially with the evolutionary role of women as well as the negative treatment of enemy aliens, and economically via the booming wartime industry.

A main issue Canadians faced politically during the Second World War was the Conscription Crisis. Conscription, or mandatory military service, divided the nation similarly to the Conscription Crisis during the First World War and threatened the survival of political leaders. Conscious of the opposition the French-speaking Canadians had towards conscription during the First World War, Mackenzie King promised in 1939 that there would be no conscription for overseas service. However, in mid-1940, there was enormous pressure from English Canada for a mobilization of manpower, and so, King introduced the National Resources Mobilization Act in June of that year, which encouraged registration of eligible men and authorized conscription for home defense. Thus, Canadians, mainly younger males, were required to serve during the war on home defense duties. By 1942, demand and agitation for overseas conscription in the English-speaking parts of Canada led King to hold a plebiscite on releasing him from his pledge. The result was a heavy majority vote for conscription in every province except Quebec. Now, King had to perform a great political balancing act. He could not afford to anger English Canada by ignoring their call for

conscription, since many supported it, but enforcing it immediately would alienate Quebec and French Canadians completely. So, King wittingly came up with a slogan he repeated many times over: “not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary”. The plebiscite released King of his promise, and the National Resources Mobilization Act was changed to make conscription possible, but would not be invoked unless absolutely necessary. King hoped the war would end before he had to separate Canada more by making further commitments to conscription. After the Normandy landings in 1944, a shortage of reinforcements arose and Colonel J.L. Ralston, the Minister of National Defense, pushed for conscription to the Cabinet. Mackenzie King, who was convinced that there was a conspiracy in the government, dismissed Ralston and replaced him with General Andrew McNaughton. He failed to rally home defense conscripts to volunteer for overseas service, and King, who found himself pressured with resignations of pro-conscription officials, agreed to send a large group of the conscripts overseas. Roughly 13,000 men departed Canada for Europe, but only 2,463 reached the battlefields before the end of the fighting, and only 69 died in battle. The Conscription Crisis bent Canada, but it did not break. Although the war caused this political crisis, the social and political separations between English and French Canadians were able to be mended.