Unit 3CanadaExternal Forces and Domestic Realities

Towards the 20th Century

•The years that followed the Riel rebellion saw Canada begin to change a great deal.

•Canada saw waves of new settlers arrive and begin to change the west

•Canada also started to define their place in the world

•As well Canada would become involved in several conflicts

•Western Canada saw things change greatly as the CPR opened up the west to settlement.

•From 1881 to 1891 the population of Western Canada more than doubled to 250,000

•The CPR owned vast tracts of land and sold it to settlers for $6.25 a hectare. They would return half of the purchase price once it was cleared and settled.

•They also advertised heavily across Europe to try and attract settlers

Laurier Comes to Power• In 1896 the Liberals of Sir Wilfrid

Laurier come to power•He appoints Clifford Siffton as his

minister in charge of immigration•Sifton believed that Canada

needed immigrants to allow the country to develop

•He believed immigrants would allow industry and manufacturing sectors to grow

•To survive in the prairies Sifton thought that the immigrants needed to be hardy peasant farmers

•So he targeted Eastern Europeans to come to the west

•This infuriated many across the country who thought that immigrants should be from the United Kingdom only

•Canada offered any immigrants to the west 160 acres and free passage to Canada

•This would led to a population explosion as by 1905 there were 1 million residents of western Canada.

•Not Everyone was welcome as the Canadian government charged a head tax on Chinese immigrants, they had to pay $500 to come to Canada

•As well Canada limited the number of Japanese immigrants to 400 per year

•They also passed the law of continuous passage which stated that you had to sail directly to Canada

•This was tested by the incident of the Komagata Maru

Klondike Gold Rush

•The Gold Rush began in 1896 with a gold strike near Dawson and saw over 40,000 people move north hoping to strike it rich

•The city of Dawson grew very quickly and experienced a lot of problems due to the transient nature of the prospectors

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The Boer War

• In 1899 the Boer War broke out in South Africa between the British and the Boers, who were white settlers of Dutch origin

•Canada was expected to send troops as they were part of the British Empire

•Over the course of the war 7000 troops and nurses were sent to fight for the British

•This was controversial as French Canada did not agree with unconditional support of British ambition

Saskatchewan & Alberta• In 1905 Canada added two new provinces in

Alberta and Saskatchewan• They were both growing rapidly as the country

expanded• With such rapid growth the residents of the

North-West Territories felt that they were ready to join Confederation as a province or provinces.

• At first Laurier attempted to keep the status quo and federal control over these areas but eventually gave in and the provinces were created.

The early 20th Century

•Much of the Laurier era was a time of prosperity

•The economy was experiencing a boom due to the massive influx of immigrants coming to Canada

•Canada was industrializing to help provide the immigrants with manufactured goods

•The country was growing and was becoming a cultural mosaic and beginning to resemble modern Canada

Nellie McClung

•Prior to 1917 an eligible voter in Canada was defined as: “a male person, including Indian and excluding a person of Mongolian or Chinese race...No Woman, idiot, lunatic or criminal shall vote”

•McClung a native Manitoban led the Suffrage movement to gain the right to vote for women

•Eventually McClung helped win the right to vote for women across the country

World War One

•The First World War had four causes, Nationalism, Militarism, Imperialism, and the Alliance system

•These combines to trigger the worst conflict in human history up to that point

War begins

•On June 28th, 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrillo Princip of the Serbian Black Hand

•This triggered the start of the war which was met with excitement across the world

•Britain declared war on the Germans on August 23rd 1914, bringing the members of the British Empire with them.

•Canada was at war

The Schlieffen Plan• The Germans launched an offensive against

France hoping to prevent fighting a war on two fronts.

• The plan was devised by General Alfred von Schliefen and was designed to try and quickly take out France by “sneaking in the backdoor”

• This involved invading through Belgium which would bring Britain into the war.

• In theory this would then allow them to defeat the French and focus on the Russians all before the British could arrive on the continent

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The Plan Fails

•The Schlieffen Plan fails and Germany is unable to quickly defeat France

•The Battle of the Marne saw both side become bogged down into a stalemate across Northern France and Belgium

•This led to a new kind of warfare known as Trench Warfare

Canada Prepares for War

•Canadians were preparing for war across the country

•Volunteers gladly signed on to join the Army

•Sam Hughes the Minister of Militia organized a camp of 30,000 recruits in Valcartier, outside of Quebec

•The troops were poorly trained and poorly equipped but were shipped out to England on Sept 23, 1914

Life in the Trenches

•The war bogged down over the next few years as the Trench system took root

•Conditions in the trenches were horrendous, bodies were left to rot in the trenches, mice, rats were common and trenches were constantly wet and sewage filled.

•Men spent on average six days on duty in the trenches before being relieved for six days

Canadians at War

•Canada served under the British High Command as part of the British Army and thus were involved in some of the worst massacres of the war.

•6000 Canadians died at Ypres when the Germans unleashed Chlorine gas

•The Battle of the Somme in 1916 saw a total of 1.25 million men killed or wounded in five months

•The war had become a stalemate

•British General Douglas Haig used outdated tactics that saw thousands slaughtered daily

•Young men from entire communities were wiped.

The War at Home

•Canadians were doing their part to help out with the war effort

•Canadians were asked to conserve, recycle and change their eating habits to help out the troops

•The 1915 Growing season had been perfect for prairie farmers and they were able to send tonnes of grain to help out the war effort

“Enemy Aliens”• A strong Anti-German sentiment also swept

through the country• It was no longer taught as a language in

schools or universities• There were approximately 500,000 German

Canadians at the start of the war• By Mid 1915 the government acted on strong

resentment towards the German Canadians but interring 8000 of them in work camps

• Though the shortage of labour led them to be released by late 1916

Munitions Industry

•The largest impact that Canada had on the war was on munitions manufacturing

•By 1917 250,000 Canadians worked manufacturing ammunition destined for German trenches

•Many women worked in the factories across the country

The Conscription Crisis of 1917

•By 1916 the initial flood of volunteers had slowed to a virtual trickle

•From July 1916 to October 1917 only 2810 men enlisted

•This was partly because so many had already enlisted but they needed more troops to replace those that were killed or severely wounded

•Enlistment was lower in Quebec and the Maritimes and

•Part of the reason for this was a lack of a French speaking unit

•French Canadians felt they were being treated as second class citizens

•Canada attempted to repair this by creating the Van Doos , the 22nd battalion as a French speaking unit

•The call came for conscription to mandate military service across the country

•Prime Minister Robert Borden knew that this would led to outcry in Quebec

•The Military Service Act was passed in June of 1917 making military service mandatory for men 18-45

•Half of Canadians were furious with this law

•Farmers were upset as they were losing their remaining labour

•Quebec leader Henri Bourassa spoke out against the bill claiming it was aimed directly at the French

•The first call of conscription saw only 20,000 of 400,000 show up for duty

•350,000 applied for exemption and many simply disappeared.

•Riots and conflicts with police sprang up in Quebec

The Halifax Explosion

•December 6th, 1917 saw the destruction of the war touch Canada’s shores

•Halifax harbour was the last stop before all ships headed to Europe in Convoys

• The Norwegian cargo ship Imo crashed into the French ship the Mount Blanc which started on fire

•The Mount Blanc was packed with 2400 tonnes of explosives

•People gathered by the water to watch the ship burning without being aware of the danger

•At 8:55am the Mount Blanc exploded, destroying much of the north part of the city, 2000 were killed and 9000 wounded (many by flying glass)

•The Explosion was the largest the world had seen to this point. The explosion was so large that part of the anchor was found near the town of Truro which is 100km away.

•Fires consumed the city for days as most people relied on wood or coal for heating

http://www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/he2_ruins/interactives/timeline.html

The Changing Face of War

•Technology had played a large role in creating the stalemate across the Western Front.

•The Machine Gun played the biggest role in forcing tactics to be changed and trenches to be dug

•Planes also were important for surveillance and bombing of trenches

•In the end the war was won by changes in tactics and the introduction of the tank

•The tank could roll over trenches and “No Man’s Land” and allowed territorial gains that had not been seen in years.

•This combined with changes in artillery saw the allies start to make headway along the Western Front

•The Stage was set for Canada to lead the last phase of the war

Vimy Ridge• Canadians had gained a reputation as tough,

dependable and courageous troops• So Canada was given the task of capturing Vimy Ridge• It was the first time that all four Canadian Divisions

had worked together on an offensive, the whole country was represented

• It was a long ridge that was 60 metres high and afforded the Germans an excellent view of all allied activity in the area and they had heavily fortified the area

• Britain and France both tried to take the ridge and failed

•They planned for the invasion for months and took many steps in preparation which were unheard of at the time

•They created a full scale model of the area with the German positions mapped out and they gave everyman involved a copy of the battle map and plans so they would know what to do at all times

•The Canadians were led by Arthur Currie and the devised a strategy called a “creeping barrage” that would help surprise the Germans

•http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/interactive/creeping-barrage

•As well every member of the Canadian Army involved in the attack was given a battle map and a copy of the orders for their unit

•The Canadians were well prepared when the invasion began at dawn on Easter Monday, April 9th,1917

•The Canadians attacked the German lines with 4 divisions in hopes of capturing the German forward trenches

•They did so by 7 am and moved on to try and capture all of their objectives

•Again they were successful but not without facing some adversity as the fourth division suffered heavy losses

•By night fall on the 9th the Germans had reorganized and were counter attacking

•By the 12th the Canadians had captured all of the high ground including hill 154 and the “pimple” which had kept them pinned down

•The Canadians had captured three kms of German territory which was significant as it forced Germany to re-evaluate their defensive strategy

• It also was a huge moment for Canada as a country

Impact of Vimy at home

•This was a defining moment in Canadian history

•Canadians from all over the country had come together and defeated the Germans when the French and British could not.

•Canadians began to see themselves as Canadians first at this point and Vimy played an important role in showing Canadians and the world that Canada was a capable nation

Passchendale•Despite the advent of new tactical

strategies, British General Douglas Haig ordered the Canadian Corps to capture the Belgium community of Passchendale

•Vimy Ridge hero Arthur Currie thought it was a foolish plan that would cost a lot of Canadian lives

•The attack began in late October and led to 16000 Canadian casualties and by the time it was all said and done the Canadians had captured 6km

Attrition•The tide of the war had turned as the Allies

had been joined by the Americans in 1918 after the sinking of the Lusitania

•Germany was starting to run out of troops to send to the front

•So they tried a last ditch offensive against the allies, they changed tactics and tried to smash through the allied lines

•The losses of troops plus the German Naval Blockade left Germany weakened

•The Allies launched an Offensive in hopes of winning the war

Canada’s Hundred Days•August 8th,1918 marked the end of the

German offensive and the beginning of the end of the war

•The allies went of the offensive and in battle after battle were led by the Canadians

•Canadian became storm troopers sent in to do what other countries could not

•As summer turned to fall the Germans began retreating from the trenches

•In early November the Germans asked for an armistice which went into effect at 11am on November 11th

The Cost of War •Canada sent 620,000 men to fight in

Europe which represented almost 10% of their population

•67,000 Canadians died on the battlefields of WWI, another 173,000 were wounded

• All told 9 million combatants died and 6 million civilians died during this conflict and much of France and Belgium were destroyed

•Canada had distinguished itself as a country separate from Britain

Paris Peace Conference•The Paris Peace Conference was held to create

a treaty to end World War I•Canada was the only commonwealth country

that was given their own seat at the negotiations

•This was a huge change from1914 when they were committed to the war without discussion by Britain

•Canada was given two seats at the negotiations but no real power but it was a victory none the less

Treaty Of Versailles•The Treaty of Versailles was signed to end

the war with Germany•Both France and Britain had opposing

goals for the treaty and in the end neither got their way

•As well some of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points were included and it saw the map of Europe redrawn

•It paved the way for Hitler to come to power and led to World War Two

Spanish Flu•As the war ended the world dealt with its

first global pandemic•The Flu started in war ravaged Europe

and was spread across the globe by troops returning home from war.

•100 million people died worldwide and Canada was not immune to the disease, thousands died across the country

Winnipeg General Strike

•Many workers had been poorly paid and severely overworked during the war

•After the war ended they thought that their employers would improved conditions

•This did not immediately occur and workers began to organize

•This all came to a head in Winnipeg in May of 1919

•Metal Trade workers went on strike for better pay and conditions

•They were joined by 30,000 workers from across the city as the strike shut down the city

•Workers from cities across the country began to strike in support and the government feared the “red menace” might be spreading in Canada

• June 21,1919 the strike turned into violence as thousands of strikers showed up to protest the Winnipeg street car operators returning to work

•Violence broke out when a streetcar was set on fire and the mayor called in the RCMP and by the end of the day two people were dead

•This led to Canadian business becoming very anti-labour and employing hired goons to break strikes

•It did not immediately change labour conditions but it did mark a change as the labour movement began to organize and eventually they became politically active

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Canada in the 20’s•The 1920’s were a time of prosperity, the

economy was booming as thousands returned from war

•This was also an era of great culture as the Group of Seven was painting landscapes of Canada. Emily Carr was painting pictures of Vancouver Island

•They became famous for the distinct style of painting

Arthur Lismer

The Depression•The Great Depression was triggered by

the Crash of the New York Stock Market on October 24th, 1929

•The American Economy collapsed and dragged down most of the world’s economies and created a global depression

•Causes included 1.) Protectionism 2.) Uneven Distribution of Wealth 3.) Overproduction 4.)Debt from WWI 5.) Stock Market

•Deflation caused prices of goods like wheat to drop which destroyed the economy of Canada

The Prairies •The Depression hit the prairie provinces

very hard wheat dropped from $1.63 a bushel in 1928 to .62 cents a bushel in 1932

•On top of the glut of wheat the farmers were hit with several years of severe drought which turned the prairies into a dust bowl.

•Because farmers were not using techniques to protect the land

Statute of Westminster 1931

•This was passed and gave Canada the right to decide on it own Foreign Policy

•This prevented Canada from being pulled into anymore wars because of British Foreign Policy