Conscription In Canada Essay

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.

The battle of Vimy Ridge strengthened Canada’s relationship with Britain and helped Canada become autonomous. Canada participated in WWI because they were legally forced to the moment Britain declared a war. In 1910, Sir Wilfrid Laurier said that “when Britain is at war, Canada is at war. There is no distinction.”, and most Canadians agreed with this in 1914, when Canada was a self governing dominion of the British without control of their foreign affairs, but many debated about the war efforts of Canada and its relationship with Britain (War Museum). Many people volunteered to go to war, when 25,000 men were summoned at a camp near Quebec, 33,000 men showed up, which shows how most Canadians were actively willing to help Britain (Canadian

The decision to pass the Military Service Act of 1914 by Sir Robert Borden’s Conservative Government was undemocratic and split Canada between the English and the French speaking, and the rural and city Canadians. In December 1914, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden told Canadians that “there has not been, there will not be, compulsion or conscription.” By agreeing to conscription at the Imperial War Conference in England, he not only went back on his word, but also decided without considering that many Canadians opposed conscription. This was insensitive and as a result, there were numerous protests. Farmers across Canada, who needed their sons to help on the field, held a large protest in Ottawa in the June of 1918. Likewise, French Canadians

Firstly The military service act was passed in the year 1917 by prime minister Borden, who was a great nationalist and wanted to make sure that his country was well protected. Conscription took away from french Canadian culture because many of the soldiers were mainly English speaking creating language barriers between french Canadians and English Canadians.

The source clearly communicates a perspective that is in favour of conscription. The source starts off by portraying their opinion through the key term ‘to maintain the contribution of Canada’s fighting force.’ Conscription was a way to build up a stronger force for Canada because more soldiers became involved this way. This was seen as ‘necessary’ according to the source because as stated in the beginning, “Canada would not back down from the commitment it made to Great Britain.’ The key words in the context ‘in order to protect freedom and democracy,’ are in correlation to Canada’s determination to defeat in battle and to keep their force strong. This term demonstrates that Canada’s morals were for the better of our country and how conscription

It is the factor, however, with the potential for change. The flaws are not fatal. Our story also reveals two factors that point away from war: (4) Canada’s decision to participate has often been a reluctant one. That reluctance has been expressed by national leaders, or the public, or both. (5) Our participation has been accompanied by a persistent desire to minimize losses.

In 1917 during WW1, the Canadian government justified in enacting the Military Services Act to register and conscript men for war. Almost all French Canadians opposed conscription because they felt they had no loyalty to France and Britain. Other Canadians were at ease with the conscription as they supported the British Empire. The farmers, union heads, and pacifists were all opposed of the conscription like the French Canadians. I believe the Military Services Act was not the best choice because it ripped up the relations between the English and the French Canadians, it eliminated the freedom of the people by forcing them to go to war, and caused a riot in Quebec City leading to a few deaths. The

the enemy force, Many people disagreed with the idea and it took a toll on the party in power of canada. The reasoning for the controversial topic was because word of how the gruesome trench warfare had spread throughout communities of the country and Canada had one of its “lowest volunteer rates to the armed forces ever” says the Canadian War Museum Canada had put Security over Freedoms and it was done because if not the place we call home could be much different then it is now. During the 1940’s Canada had implemented the “War Measures Act” this act permitted japanese canadians to have to live in

Since Canada became an independent country, they wanted to show off economically and socially and at the time World War II was going on. So, they joined the war, to prove themselves to Britain and the world. Since they were first recognized in 1917 when they fought the Germans in the battle of Vimy Ridge during World War I. The only issue was that their weapons were outdated and they weren’t war ready in 1939.

Canadians feared that some of them would be spies and turn on them in the battle, so they were labeled as enemy aliens. Even though they were treated really bad, 10 000 German and Ukrainian Canadians enlisted to fight for Canada, lying about their backgrounds to be accepted by military. Lastly are the Asian Canadians. The Asian Canadians faced a lot of prejudice before coming to the war. Many enlisted, of those only few were accepted.

Once the Military Service Act was put in place, the problems began that made the Conscription Crisis of 1917 so significant. Almost immediately Quebec anti-conscription riots broke out all over Montreal. The province of Quebec was totally opposing the fact of serving in World War One. The fact that forcing young men to fight and die was thought to be an outrage in Quebec. Never minding the fact that the Canadian Corps was nearly in Complete English. During the riots nearly forty percent of the Québécois conscripted men did not report for their duty in the war. The views French-Canadian's between the majorities of the English Canadian's were basically utterly opposed to each other causing the relations between the two the lowest ever within Canadian history. In both the elections of 1917 and 1921 seventy percent of the Quebec Population voted liberal for the loss of trust from the conservatives due to this event. "The 1917 Election was the most bitter in Canadian history, viciously fought on both sides"- said

”[7] The lives of British soldier’s were avoided to be on line as they could choose to use up the “free men” that they could easily get from the reliable colonies. In fact, the Britain was using Canada just for their own good. Moreover, Canada certainly had no issues with the Boers that they needed to go to war. In the past, Canadians and Boers show no major conflicts. So, Canada definitely should not go to war against Boers.

WWII was a defining moment in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the verge of global affairs into a crucial opponent in the 20th century's most tragic battle. Canada played a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany, and sacrificed thousands of lives. Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services and more than 43,000 were killed (Stacey, July 15, 2013 ). In November 1944, after extreme losses in front-line units serving in Northwest Europe and Italy, Ottawa legitimized conscription, sending out 16,000 home defence men overseas (Canadian War Museum, N/A). This implement for Conscription was necessary for Canada based on the lack of Canadian volunteers, the

War on the home front was not a shaped many Canadian negatively in WWI. The Wartime Elections Act had an effect on Canadians politically. The great influenza affected Canada socially. Lastly, propaganda and victory bonds caused Canada to fall economically. Canada’s home front during WWI had a negative impact on the Canadian people politically, socially and economically.

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