Transcript Unit 3 - Paynewiki

Unit 3
Canada
External 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
rou
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 NorthWest 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
6
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_r
uins/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
yl
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