World War 1 Impact On Canada

“Canada emerged from the First World War a proud, victorious nation with newfound standing in the world. It also emerged grieving and divided [and] forever changed by the war’s unprecedented exertions and horrific costs.” Some of the social impacts of World War I on Canada include the fact that during the war as mentioned above, the status of women improved and resistance by men against acknowledging the abilities of women were gradually set aside. Also during the war women participated in many activities that promoted their cause for social, economic and politic equality, such as suffrage. Moreover, political impacts of the First World War on Canada involved, the suffrage political goal finally being won in 1919 when women got the right

Canada’s contribution to the war effort, especially at Vimy Ridge earned the country international respect and emerged from the war as a country more independent from Britain, to illustrate; Canada won a separate seat at the Paris Peace Conference and signed the peace treaty as a separate nation, which marked a start in Canada’s autonomy from Britain. Borden demanded Canada have its own seat because Canada had fought longer and supplied more troops than other countries, and for the first time Canada was recognized as an independent nation. Also Canada was given representation in the new League of Nations. Furthermore, in terms of economic impacts of the Great War on Canada, for one, produced a boom in Canada’s industry: steel and munitions production and manufacturing rose dramatically. During the war almost everyone could find a job. The Canadian economy relied on industry as well as agriculture, lumbering, fishing and mining. Canada had been changed from an agricultural economy into a growing industrial

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