Canada Identity Essay

To say Canada played an important role in World War Two would be an understatement. Canada’s significance in the war will forever be remembered as one of the greatest, and the Battle of Hong Kong is a prime example of just that. The fact that Canada provided troops even with the optional not to, and the struggles the troops endured not only on the battlefield, but as prisoners of war, and the amount of physical and moral support the Canadian soldiers gave to the British soldiers in Hong Kong is proof that Canada was a major contributor in World War Two.

Losses like the Battle of Second Ypres where 60,000 Canadians died and Battle of the Somme where 600,000 of Allied troops were wounded had a big impact on Canada. The Canadian troops had started to doubt the British leaders. Since Canada had a lack of experience with wars they didn't have many commanding roles. This began to cause resentment but changed in 1916 when Canadians were promoted.

When people look back and remember the First World War, they often remember the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand, the sinking of the Lusitania, or the Zimmerman telegram. Not often do they recall the role that Canada played in the war. However, Canadians were a significant factor of the Allies’ success. Although Canada only possessed two Navy warships at the time and was known for being a peaceful country, she supplied over 60,000,000 shells to the Allies’ troops and endured over 67,000 casualties and 173,000 men wounded across multiple battles. With that said, it could also be argued that internal political conflicts in Canada afflicted their overall contribution to the war. In fact,

"Canada entered World War I as a colony and came out a nation..." a quote from Canadian journalist Bruce Hutchison. The First World War, or more commonly known as World War I or WWI, was a war centred in Europe, which in time became global, considering all the colonized nations of Europe were expected to fight, as well. WWI gave many of these colonized nations, and their people a chance to prove their worth, by fighting for the countries that “owned” them. Thenceforth, they could finally create an identity for themselves that was separate from the rest of Europe, they were longer another colony of places such as the British Empire. Following along with that idea, Canada is one of the best examples of a country that used the war as a way to

During the course of the Second World War, Canada evolved into a powerful, resourceful nation that was needed by the Allies. Canada contributed significantly to the Allied war effort during World War II where they fought on land, water and air and assisted indirectly from the home front. On land, they fought in numerous battles and campaigns such as D-Day, Hong Kong, and the Italian campaign. However, they were also strong and resourceful when it came to air and naval forces in battle. But even outside of battle, Canada was still able to make a contribution through its civilians.

Its often said that because of the events of the Second World War that Canada grew as a country. Even noted in the London Daily Telegraph when they said “no country has grown in international stature so swiftly and markedly as Canada has done... hers has often been a lonely voice of reason,”12. This statement defines Canada's actions in its development as a middle power – the voice of reason in many international affairs. This is true especially of these two crises that Canada dealt

When Britain called on Canada to help in World War One, Canadians dutifully volunteered. Many Canadians thought that this would be a glamorous adventure that they could not miss. However, Canadians were in for a rude awakening as this glamorous adventure turned out to be more than they bargained for. This was a new kind of war, one that cost Canadians dearly.

Canada displayed their power and abilities to the rest of the world during the normandy landings on June 6, 1944 and proved themselves as a middle power. D-Day was the day Allied forces planned an invasion to push German forces back into Germany and end World War Two. Canada contributed a lot to the Allies such as materials, ammunition, ships, etc. They had the third largest navy and fourth largest air force. “The Royal Canadian Navy sent 110 ships and 10, 000 sailors, and the Royal Canadian Air Force contributed 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons. They also sent 14, 000 Canadians to fight on the beach.”(CANADA AT D-DAY, WarMuseum.ca)

One of Canada’s largest military endeavors was the battle of Vimy Ridge during World War One. It was a fierce battle between Germans and Canadians. Canada was trying to take over the German controlled ridge, which ran from northwest to southwest between Lens and Arras, France. Its highest point was 145 feet above sea level, which was exceptionally helpful in battle because of the very flat landscape. Already over 200,000 men had fallen at Vimy, all desperately trying to take or defend this important and strategic ridge. As a result of its success in taking the ridge, Canada gained a lot more than just the strategic point. Canada was united as a nation, and the victory changed the way other counties viewed them. Canadians no longer

What is Canada? What is a Canadian? Canada, to employ Voltaire's analogy, is nothing but “a few acres of snow.”. Of course, the philosopher spoke of New France, when he made that analogy. More recently, a former Prime Minister, Joe Clark, said that the country was nothing but a “community of communities”. Both these images have helped us, in one way or another, try to interpret what could define this country. On the other hand, a Canadian could be a beer, a hockey-playing beaver or even a canoe floating in a summer day's sunset. A Canadian could also be a “sovereigntyphobe”, refusing to see the liquefaction, albeit political, of the second largest country in the world.

Canada’s identity comes in many shapes and forms. Multiculturalism has been adopted and is at the forefront of Canadian identity. Following the Second World War, Canada’s multiculturalism policies became more acceptable and even successful in, not only accepting, but inviting multiple ethnic cultures in. In contrast to other countries, multiculturalism adaptation works for the Canadian culture. Canadian policies on multiculturalism have shifted over the past few decades; policies are now implemented for integration, not discrimination.

Canadian identity and history is grounded in the culture and the traditions of the Aboriginal peoples. Popularly known as being the first inhabitants of Canada, Aboriginals strive to enrich the country’s cultural mosaic through their existence and thus are an integral part of this nation. Although Aboriginals are deemed as an important part of the Canadian social fabric today, history (past and present) documents a contrasting image to this ideology where it is coloured by the economic, social, and physical hardships of Aboriginal societies in Canada. Scarred by the social and racial injustices of the past, Aboriginal education is a major continuing issue with regards to minority education in Canada. According to J. P. White and Dan Beavon (2009), “Aboriginal educational attainment lags significantly behind the Canadian population” (p. 3). Between 1981 and

During the first world war, Britain, and Canada’s allies demanded multiple resources from Canada. The allied countries were France, Serbia, and Russia. Since they were all in a coalition, they agreed to help each other, and send needed resources that would assist them in winning the war. Some common resources that were sent included food, munitions, money, and men. Since Canada during WW1 was still developing and expanding, the allies thought it was a great place to collect the necessities from, as they were in an abundance. Canadians at the commencement of the war were very eager to fight, as the war had been glorified, and made to look adventurous. So without any hesitation, Canada sent over as many resources the allies demanded. Canada then became responsible for supplying resources to the allies soldiers, and their own. Since so much effort was going towards the

The first major event that impacted Canada’s legacy, as a whole, was the sacrificial battle of Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was proven to be essential to the foundation of Canada as it signified the birth of a new nation and it was considered to be the greatest battle fought, in World War One. Firstly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge established Canada’s emergence as a newly born nation from under the shadow of Britain and gave a verification of Canada’s prominence on the international level. For instance, after successfully regaining the ridge, it displayed to the British superpower, that Canada are worthy of independence, that must be granted upon as a reward for a significant victory (Fonseca). As a result, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, marked the end of British soldiers commanding Canadian troops, as Canada showed tremendous resilience internationally, and also proved that we are independently, capable of leading a well-organized attack against other countries (Fonseca). This milestone was a huge accomplishment for Canadians, as eventually this was the catalyst for total autonomy of Britain (“History Now”). Secondly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge gave Canada justified independence on the international stage. As a result of winning the complicated battle, Canada was deservedly permitted to their own independent seat and signature at the peace talks after the war. This then allowed Canada, to participate in voicing their thoughts, and plans as a newly independent country. This was seen to be,

All because of Canada’s workers intelligence, from scratch, they created the best gear such as handguns, fighter planes, armoured personnel carriers that were to be used overseas. “Canadian industry produced more than 800,000 military transport vehicles, 50,000 tanks, 40,000 field, naval, and anti-aircraft guns, and 1,700,000 small arms”. All of these vehicles, and guns were either designed and put onto blue prints in Canada or the United Kingdom but each and every single vehicle and gun was produced in Canada’s factories. Of the eight hundred thousand military vehicles, approximately one hundred sixty eight thousand were issued to Canadian forces. This meant that our Canadian army had an approximate soldier to vehicle ratio of three soldiers to one vehicle. When the Great Britain joined into the Italian campaign, they had eighty thousand vehicles, and seventy five thousand of those were left behind in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Britain relied on Canada to almost “bail” them out with relief vehicles. Once Canada shipped in their obscene amount of vehicles across the Atlantic, the Germans would find themselves overwhelmed and were forced to retreat out of Sicily, thus proving how strong of a threat Canadians posed to the Axis powers. Not only did the contribution of land vehicles support the Allied troops, on the other hand, but the influx of antiaircraft guns help the