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- Cooper Allen
- 'Exhaust diplomacy before you use force' Though the assassination of the archduke was the flash point that led to war, some have suggested that, given the underlying tensions that had built up in Europe over decades, war was, to some extent, inevitable.
- War is always unpredictable. It's almost hard to believe 100 years later, but many leaders at the time thought World War I would be over quickly. Few, if any, would have predicted a four-year battle of attrition that would result in millions of lost lives.
- History should be remembered. Since 1945, the major powers in the world have not gone to war with one another — even at the peak of the Cold War. "That's some kind of accomplishment," Kennedy said.
- 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...
Jul 28, 2014 · The leaders of the era were wrong about almost everything – the effectiveness of ultimatums, the value of the alliance system, the duration of the conflict, the tactics and strategy required in a new industrialized war, the social and cultural impact of mass death and the stability of empire.
Nov 9, 2018 · It was only the painful lessons learned from that retreat — the ensuing sacrifice required to defeat tyranny in World War II — that convinced Americans their entry onto the world stage in World War I needed to remain a permanent posture of global engagement.
Nov 9, 2018 · By 1916, four out of five survived. During World War One, medical professionals and army generals learned many important lessons about administering medical aid during warfare.
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Nov 8, 2018 · There were five European empires at the start of the war - in Turkey, England, Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary; at war’s end, only King George of Great Britain retained the throne. The war called into question principles of history, economics and political science and prompted scholars to re-think fundamental concepts in their disciplines.
