Transcript Conscription

The Conscription Crisis in
Canada During World War Two
Background Information
• By 1943, volunteer rates
had dramatically declined.
• As a result, the Canadian
government was worried
that Canada would not be
able to maintain an
effective armed forces.
• The Solution?
• You guessed it. Introduce
Conscription!
Prime Minister King’s Solution
• Prime Minister MacKenzie
King remembered his
Canadian History. He knew
that the conscription issue
had divided French and
English Canadians during
World War One.
• In addition, he knew that a
lot of his electoral success
came from Quebeckers;
specifically, French
Canadians.
• What should he do?
King Introduces a Plebiscite on
Conscription
• King’s famous line was
“conscription if necessary,
but not necessarily
conscription!” A very good
example of double talk!
• His idea was to hold a
plebiscite on the issue. A
plebiscite is a non-binding
question that asks the
electorate to vote on a
particular issue.
MacKenzie King votes in the
National Plebiscite in 1942
King Introduces a Plebiscite on
Conscription
• King’s reasoning was that a
positive result on the plebiscite
would give him a mandate to
proceed with conscription.
However, since it was a
plebiscite he would not
necessarily be forced to
introduce conscription.
Confusing? Clever? Many
historians argue about the
merits of King’s tactic. History
Professor Michael Bliss thought
it was a clever move
U of T Professor
Michael Bliss
The Result of the Plebiscite
• The Result of the
Plebiscite on
Conscription was:
73% of Quebec
voted “non”
80% of the Rest of
Canada voted “Yes”
What did King Do?
• King knew that the results of
the Plebiscite could be just as
damaging to national unity as
the original conscription crisis
of 1917 during World War
One.
• As a result, he delayed
enacting conscription until
1944. Since conscripted men
had to be trained before they
hit the battlefield, most of
them never saw combat.
The End Result
• Of the 13,000 who were sent
overseas, only 2,500
reached the battlefield.
• 69 would die in action before
the war ended (less than a
year later).
• MacKenzie King would go on
to win a majority government
in the federal election of
1945 with most of his support
from “la belle province. He
was the great compromiser
The internment of Japanese and
Italians and Germans