Part A. In essay format, (4-6 pages) answer the
following question. This question is worth 50% of the mark for this assignment.
(10 marks in total)
In the summer of 1914, the Archduke Francis
Ferdinand, heir to the Emperor of Austria, was murdered by Serbian nationalists
in Sarajevo. On the 28th of July the Austrians declared war on
Serbia. Alliances and international agreements clicked into gear and the
situation rapidly escalated out of control. Russia mobilized armies against
Austria-Hungary and Germany declared war on Russia and France. When the Germans
invaded Belgium, Britain rose to its defense and all members of the British
Empire, without consultation, found themselves also at war. Canadians were
informed by telegram from London at 8:55 pm of the 4th of August
1914.
Although Canada, as part of the British
Empire, automatically declared war against the German alliance in 1914, the
country was woefully unprepared for war. Yet, as Conrad, Finkle and Fyson point
out, “Canadian men enlisted in the armed forces for a variety of reasons, among
them patriotism, adventure and unemployment.”[1] At
the beginning of October, a force of 31,200 Canadian soldiers, set sail from
Quebec. These men who lined up to enlist by the thousands had no idea of the
type of war they were entering. Old romantic notions of heroic warfare were
rapidly dissipated by the reality of industrialized warfare: “machine guns that
could cut down five hundred solders in the space of two minutes; high-power,
long-range artillery whose shells burst into thousands of killing fragments;
poison gas; razor-sharp barbed wire. Each of these horrors was multiplied by
modern mass production, and poured into the battle with deadly efficiency by
railway and road system.”[2]
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians went off
to war and over 61,000 never returned home. Discuss the key battles that led to
so many Canadian casualties: Ypres, the Somme , Beaumont Hamel and Vimy Ridge
for example. What role did Canadians play on these battlefields and what, if
any, long term impacts came from the battlefields?
Part B. (25% of this assignment) In
paragraph format (following the same parameters as questions in previous assignments)
answer any 3 of the following questions:
1.
Who was Arthur Currie and what
was his contribution to the war?
2.
Who was John McCrae and how has
he become immortalized in Canadian history?
3.
Describe the events that led up
to invocation of the Military Service Act of 1917 and how did it impact an
already factionalized Canadian society?
4.
Describe the treatment meted
out to those deemed to be enemy aliens. Why was the Great War considered a
“White Man’s War”
5.
The task of bringing soldiers
back from the front was much more cumbersome and contentious than anyone had
imagined. Explain the problems of demobilization and reconstruction and what
programs and policies were intended to assist with solving the issues.
Part C. (25% of this assignment) In
paragraph format (following the same parameters as questions in previous
assignments) answer any 3 of the following questions:
1.
The end of the war, and the
subsequent Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, left many governments in complete fear
that democracy was in danger from both hidden subversives and open rebellion on
the part of their citizens. In Canada, this played out in the labour movement
and the general strikes of the time. Describe how the war led to the
development of left wing political parties and the events of the Winnipeg
General Strike in May of 1919.
2. Women were major supporters of the war effort and after war’s end
expected that their service would entitle them to some special consideration in
the area of political enfranchisement. Were their expectations met? Why or why
not?
3.
First Nations continued to express their
frustration with their dependencies upon the practices and policies of the
federal government which continued to treat them as dependents rather than
equals. Describe how First Nations attempted to build their independence and
the factors that stood in their way. What were the Numbered Treaties and what made
Treaty 11 especially significant for future land claims?
4.
Conrad et al, write that the
1920s ended as they had begun in Canada, with the country mired in economic
recession. After the Wall Street crash of October 1929, the country, along with
much of the world, entered the decade that has been characterized as the Dirty
Thirties. Explain the new economic reality for Canadians across the country as
the depression deepened. Richard B. Bennett, who became Prime Minister in 1930
after defeating the previous Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie
King, has proved to be a contentious figure in Canadian history being both
vilified for his policies of the depression period and defended for doing what
he could in a time of economic malaise that impacted the entire world economy.
Identify and explain the policies that Bennett put into place to try and
alleviate the economic and political issues facing the country during his term
in office.
5.
While the federal government debated and stalled, and as its citizens
became increasingly desperate, new political parties emerged. Discuss the
founding and goals of the CCF, the Social Credit and the Union Nationale. Other
Canadians, albeit a small but very vocal minority, embraced the fascist
policies expressed by leaders in Germany and Italy and promoted acts of racism
and hatred. Identify the key players in these movements and explain how their
beliefs played out across the country. Explain how the experience and fate of
the passengers of the St. Louis was directly related to the domestic politics
of the period.
https://www.mta.ca/library/courage/canadasroleinwwi.html
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-no-2-construction-battalion-and-the-fight-to-fight
thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/black-volunteers-in-the-canadian-expeditionary-force
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/Pages/introduction.aspx
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-was-forged-in-trenches-of-the-first-world-war/
https://www.mta.ca/library/courage/canadasroleinwwi.html
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/Pages/introduction.aspx
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-was-forged-in-trenches-of-the-first-world-war/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/military-remembrance-day-black-soldier-1.3837273
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/women
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/medicare/medic-2c01e.html
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/voyage-of-the-st-louis
https://opentextbc.ca/postconfederation/chapter/the-great-depression/
https://www65.statcan.gc.ca/acyb01/acyb01_0005-eng.htm
Great
Depression in Canada (Plain-Language Summary) | The Canadian Encyclopedia
(Glover)
[1] Conrad et al, 152.
[2] Norman Hillmer and J.L. Granatstein, Empire to Umpire,(Toronto:
Hillmer Publishing, 2000), 53.