Transcript presentation source

The Road to 1939
 The
Origins of the Second World War
–A Thirty Years’ War?
–The Rise of Fascism
–1935: Italy captures Abyssnia
–1936: Germany reoccupies the
Rhineland
–1938: Austria annexed
The Road to 1939
–The Western Response
»Appeasement (Munich,1938)
»Sudetenland occupied
»Kristallnacht, 1938
–1939: Czechoslovakia occupied
–23 August: Russian/German nonaggression pact signed
–1 September: Germany invades
Poland
Canada’s Response

The Memory of the
First World War
– 65,000 dead
– An act of nationbuilding
– Conscription: An
Act of Division
http://www.rumneyhighschool.cardiff.sch.uk/docs1/pag
Canada in 1939
Population: 11
million
 750,000
unemployed
 Largest City:
Montreal
 9 provinces; 2
territories

Prime Minister King
 64
years old
 Liberal leader since 1919
 Prime Minister 1921-1926
 1926-1930
 1935-1948
Why Does Canada Go to War
in 1939?
 An
autonomous nation
–Statute of Westminster, 1931
 No direct threat from Europe
 Insignificant armed forces
–Intended to fight . . . the
Americans?
–Intended for home defence?
»Spending priorities: Air ForceNavy-Army
The Decision
 Was
it simply because Canadians were
sympathetic to their British origins?
–“irrational, incoherent, and to most
intellectuals, unintelligent flow of
opinion.”
 Some Church leaders opposed war.
 So did CCF leader J.S. Woodsworth
But attitudes were changing . . .
 By
1938, many were determined to
stop Hitler
 “Fascism means war. It has meant
war and conquest in every land in
which it has so far reared its ugly
head. And our awakening to this state
readily cannot come a moment too
soon.”
–The New Outlook, United Church
of Canada, 22 April 1938.
King’s Decision
 “Parliament Will
 10
Decide”
September 1939
–Canada officially goes to war for the
first time independently
–But what does it reflect?
 26 August 1939: More significant?
A War of Limited Liability
 Canada’s
Home Defence is a first
priority
 Canada’s
industrial and agricultural
resources to be a measure of our
position
 British
Plan
Commonwealth Air Training
King’s Dilemma
 Maurice
Duplessis, Premier of Quebec
 Mitch Hepburn, Premier of Ontario
 Too much or too little?
King and the Premiers
 Quebec:
No conscription
 If Duplessis wins, no Quebec
representation in the Cabinet
 Ontario: Denouncing the War Effort
 King Calls an Election
British Commonwealth Air
Training Plan
 Est’d
December 1939
 “Aerodrome for Democracy”
 Would this be Canada’s main
contribution to the War?
–“A War of Limited Liability”
BCATP
131,000 pilots,
navigators, aircrew
are trained to 1945
December 1939:
The First Division Goes Overseas

The Seaforth
Highlanders
(Vancouver)
First Canadian Infantry Division
1 Canadian Infantry Division
Divisional HQ
Major-General A.G. L. McNaughton
1 Brigade
Royal Canadian Regiment (PF)
48th Highlanders of Canada(Toronto)
Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
2 Brigade
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PF)
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
The Edmonton Regiment
3 Brigade
The Royal 22nd Regiment (PF)
Carleton and York Regiment (New Brunswick)
The West Nova Scotia Regiment
The Phoney War Ends
 King
calls an election, March 1940
–a massive wartime mandate
 April: The Blitzkrieg begins in
Western Europe
–Denmark/Norway
 10 May: The low countries and
France
 10 June: Italy joins the war
 14 June: Paris falls
 17 June: France sues for peace
An End to Limited Liability
Winston Churchill,
PM “We shall
never surrender”
 http://www.bbc.co.
uk/history/war/wwt
wo/churchill_audio.
shtml
 Britain Stands
Alone (with
Canada)

An End to Limited Liability
6
June 1940: National Resources
Mobilization Act
–two Canadian armies created:
–Home Defence (conscripts)
–General Service (Overseas)