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First World War Timeline. The First World War of 1914–1918 was the bloodiest conflict in Canadian history, taking the lives of more than 60,000 Canadians. It erased romantic notions of war, introducing slaughter on a massive scale, and instilled a fear of foreign military involvement that would last until the Second World War.
- Women's Suffrage in The West
Nellie McClung played the role of the premier, addressing a...
- First World War
Last Edited November 30, 2023. The First World War of...
- Women's Suffrage in The West
- Going to War
- War and The Economy
- Recruitment at Home
- The Canadian Expeditionary Force
- Other Canadian Efforts
- Vimy and Passchendaele
- Borden and Conscription
- The Final Phase
The Canadian Parliamentdidn't choose to go to war in 1914. The country's foreign affairs were guided in London. So when Britain's ultimatum to Germany to withdraw its army from Belgium expired on 4 August 1914, the British Empire, including Canada, was at war, allied with Serbia, Russia, and France against the German and Austro-Hungarian empires. T...
At first the war hurt a troubled economy, increasing unemployment and making it hard for Canada's new, debt-ridden transcontinental railways, the Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific, to find credit. By 1915, however, military spending equaled the entire government expenditure of 1913. Minister of Finance Thomas White opposed raising taxes...
Unemployed workers flocked to enlist in 1914–15. Recruiting, handled by prewar militia regiments and by civic organizations, cost the government nothing. By the end of 1914 the target for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was 50,000; by summer 1915 it was 150,000. During a visit to England that summer, Prime Minister Bordenwas shocked with the...
Canadians in the CEF became part of the British army. As minister of militia, Sam Hughes insisted on choosing the officers and on retaining the Canadian-made Ross rifle. Since the rifle jammed easily and since some of Hughes' choices were incompetent cronies, the Canadian military had serious deficiencies. A recruiting system based on forming hundr...
While most Canadians served with the Canadian Corps or with a separate Canadian cavalry brigade on the Western Front, Canadians could be found almost everywhere in the Allied war effort. Young Canadians had trained (initially at their own expense) to become pilots in the British flying services. In 1917 the Royal Flying Corps opened schools in Cana...
British and French strategists deplored diversions from the main effort against the bulk of the German forces on the European Western Front. It was there, they said, that war must be waged. A battle-hardened Canadian Corps was a major instrument in this war of attrition (see Canadian Command during the Great War). Its skill and training were tested...
By 1916, even the patriotic leagues had confessed the failure of voluntary recruiting. Business leaders, Protestants, and English-speaking Catholics such as Bishop Michael Fallon grew critical of French Canada. Faced with a growing demand for conscription, the Borden government compromised in August 1916 with a program of national registration. A p...
In March 1918, disaster fell upon the Allies. German armies, moved from the Eastern to the Western Front after Russia's collapse in 1917, smashed through British lines. The Fifth British Army was destroyed. In Canada, anti-conscription riots in Québec on Easter weekend left four dead. Borden's new government cancelled all exemptions. Many who had v...
t. e. The history of Canada in World War I began on August 4, 1914, when the United Kingdom entered the First World War (1914–1918) by declaring war on Germany. The British declaration of war automatically brought Canada into the war, because of Canada's legal status as a British Dominion which left foreign policy decisions in the hands of ...
- 4 August 1914: Canada at War. When Britain went to war on 4 August, all colonies and dominions of the British Empire, like Canada and Newfoundland, were automatically at war.
- 22 August 1914: War Measures Act. Canada passed the War Measures Act in order to provide the government with new and intrusive powers to prosecute the war.
- 22 April 1915: Battle of Second Ypres. In Canada’s first major battle, the outnumbered Canadian Division faced the first use of chlorine gas as a battlefield agent.
- 1 July 1916: Beaumont Hamel. The Newfoundland Regiment went into battle at Beaumont Hamel as part of a general British offensive on 1 July 1916. Due to error and miscalculation, the Regiment attacked through uncut barbed wire against heavy machine-gun fire.
3 days ago · Canada - WWI, Military, Recruitment: At the outbreak of the war, Minister of Militia and Defense Sir Samuel Hughes scrapped the carefully laid plans for a mobilization of the existing militia and instead launched a direct appeal to the men of Canada. The country was just emerging from a deep recession, and tens of thousands of British-born young men with no work and imbued with patriotism ...
History of Canada. During the world wars and interwar period, 1914–1947, Canada experienced economic gain, more freedom for women, and new technological advancements. There were severe political tensions over issues of war and ethnicity, and heavy military casualties.
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Legacy. The First World War was one of the most far-reaching and traumatic events in Canadian history. Learn about the casualty figures, Canada's greater autonomy, political and societal changes, and how the strain of war nearly shattered the country.
