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Conscription and Its Negative Effects in WWI

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Conscription and Its Negative Effects in WWI
World War 1 is often known as the Great War by many people. Canada played a very big and important role in this war, supplying Britain with many weapons, aids and nurses, foods and on top of that, thousands of brave soldiers. When the war first started, many Canadian men were greatly excited about the adventures that they will experience at war and the stories they will be able to tell when they come home as heroic soldiers. This excitement led many men, even young boys to enlist and volunteer for the war. However, when this war that was supposed to end in a couple of months, led to a year and then another, the number of volunteering men started to decrease further and further. This rapid drop of soldiers led Prime Minister Borden to establish the Military Service Act, also known as the Conscription Act. This act made it mandatory for men in good condition to fight, to go to war. This conscription had a very bad impact on Canada, going against the freedom of citizens which Canada supported, having negative effects on the families and the soldiers and lastly, dividing the nation into two, the English and the French.

As a result of this Military Service Act, Prime Minister Borden did not commit to the promise he had made in the beginning of the war. He promised Canada that he would not use conscription because he felt that it would not be necessary due to the overwhelming number of volunteering men. This angered many people because not only did Prime Minister Borden break his promise but it was violating the fact that Canada is a free country that supports the liberty and the rights of its citizens. To be a free country, it means to not force or make its citizens do things against their will and this mandatory recruitment did just that. During the war, other rights of the citizens were abused. These violated rights include the freedom of voting which suspended many people from voting if they were not in favour of the war. This was made official through the War Time


Cited: aitland, Frank. Win-the-war Men now rule Canada: Conscription Chief IssueConfronting Premiere Bordens Cabinet, Believed to be Assured. The New YorkTimes 11 November, 1917. Special to The New York Times. Soldiers mobbed in Lower Canada; Anti-ConscriptionAgitation Grows and Riots Occur in Montreal and Quebec. Run The New YorkTimes 17 July, 1917. Granatstein, Richard. Conscription The Canadian Encyclopedia. Canadian ed. 2008Newman, Garfield. Canada: A Nation Unfolding, Ontario: Patty Pappas, 2000. CBC History. The Conscription Crisis. CBC History Timeline. 24 February, 2008 . Santor, D. Canadians at War: Canadiana War Scrapbook Series. Ontario: Prentice Hall of Canada Ltd., 1979. Garfield, Newman. Canada: A Nation Unfolding. Ontario: Patty Pappas, 2000. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B0CE1D7123FE433A25752C1A9679D946696D6CF&oref=sloginhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9906EEDB133AE433A25754C1A9619C946696D6CFhttp://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001859www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/8687.htmlhttp://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/staff/dehogue/FSSH/trans.htmhttp://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/staff/dehogue/FSSH/parag.htmhttp://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/paragraphs.shtmlhttp://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/transitions.htmlwww.freeessays123.com/essay6936/effectofconscriptionon.htmlhttp://history.cbc.ca/history/?MIval=EpisContent.html&series_id=1&episode_id=12&chapter_id=2&page_id=3&lang=Ehttp://ca.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question?qid=20080224150727AAStF0phttp://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001859http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_Crisis_of_1917#See_also
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