Upload
jaeden-meece
View
218
Download
3
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
CANADA ENTERS THE
WAR
When Britain declared war on August 4th, 1914, Canada and the rest of the British Empire were automatically at war too. Canada did not yet have control over its own foreign affairs.
Responses to recruitment
Sam Hughes Valcartier Ross Rifle and
MacAdam Shovel
discrimination
RESPONSES TO RECRUITMENT At first, it was easy to get
plenty of volunteers for Canada’s army, called the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Reasons included: Canada’s large, loyal British
population wanted to fight for Britain.
Recruiting posters appealed to feelings of heroism and obligation.
For the unemployed, army life gave wages and three meals a day.
People thought the war would be over quickly.
SAM HUGHES Appointed Minister of
Militia and Defense by Prime Minister Robert Borden.
Ordered to establish, organize, and train a Canadian contingent of 25,000 and send them to Europe’s Western Front (Canada only had an army of 3,000 at this time).
VALCARTIER Hughes began a
massive nation-wide recruitment, seeking single, healthy men.
Campaign was successful: men and boys flooded recruiting offices, willing to fight for $1 a day.
Established a training base at Valcartier, Quebec, which had 32,000 volunteers by September 4th, 1914.
Once troops arrived in Europe, they were put under British command and through training that would prepare them for the type of ground and trench warfare that was occurring.
By the spring of 1915, Canadian soldiers were on the ground fighting in France and Belgium.
THE DOWNFALL OF HUGHES Became the target of criticism:
not listening to the opinions of others insisting on using Canadian-made goods (even
those that didn’t work), including the Ross Rifle, unusable trench equipment, and harsh regulations on soldiers.
1. THE ROSS RIFLE One of the most hated rifles in military
history. Hughes persuaded Ottawa to equip
Canadian soldiers with the Canadian-made rifle, even though the British, US Army, and RCMP stated it was unsuitable for military service.
Was very unpopular among Canadian soldiers.
PROS/CONS OF THE ROSS RIFLE
PROS CONS
very accurate great for target
shooting and hunting
only great in clear, dry conditions
did not work well in situations where it had to be reloaded quickly
jammed and seized up when fired rapidly in muddy and rainy conditions
very long, and heavy to carry
if assembled backwards, it could be fired backwards into the soldiers face
2. RESOURCES FOR THE TROOPS Hughes tried to keep
costs down during the war, but this sometimes led to substandard equipment: Boots had poor lining and
were prone to leaking Vehicles lacked spare parts Meat was substandard Belts were irregular for
normal military usage MacAdam shovel: shovel
with a hole in it so it could also be used as a shield. The holl rendered it useless for shovelling.
DISCRIMINATION At the outset of war,
Aboriginals, black Canadians, Asians and Canadians of German, Ukraine, and Austro-Hungarian descent were not encouraged to enlist. Eventually, Aboriginals
and black Canadians were able to enlist.
Black volunteers were recruited to join a segregated, non-combat construction battalion.
French Canadian soldiers felt discriminated against: no French Canadian
units no French Canadian
soldiers were put in senior positions
led to huge resentment and protests in Quebec
WOMEN Were not
allowed to sign on as soldiers, sailors, or pilots.
More than 3000 enlisted as nurses
Approx. 1000 served as drivers (ambulances etc.)