Role of Canada in the First World War

“Assess the role of Canada in the First World War.” Looking back at the First World War, people often remember the assassination of the archduke Franz- Ferdinand, the two- front war and the Schlieffen plan, and the domination of trench warfare. However, Canada was an essential factor in the war. The war showed that not only could Canada provide sufficient military support, but it also showed that Canada could become an effective military power. Based on the premise of the British North American Act (1867), Canada was a dominion, which basically meant that it had a lot of independence in terms of what happened in Canada, itself. Unfortunately, for Canada, it did not have control over its foreign policy. This meant that when the First World War started in 1914, Canada had to join because its mother country, Great Britain, had pledged to defend Belgium’s sovereignty in an alliance. This is similar to the Boer War (1899-1902) in which Canada was also dragged into conflict because the British got into a war. However, Canada did get to choose the level of participation; however, Canadians were enthusiastic about war and many people volunteered. Canada did not have an army before the outbreak of the war, and the arms race that began in Europe had no effect on America or Canada. Canada, at the time the war broke out, only had an army of “3,110 men with a few old machine-guns and artillery pieces”. (Historical Learning). The Germans assumed that the Dominions of Great Britain would not be able to play an important role in the war. However, this premise was proved false when over 500,000 Canadians volunteered to fight off the Germans and help the British. The Canadian forces were deployed on the Western Front in France and the tiny area of Belgium the allies still had. Unfortunately, the bad conditions and the large death tolls debilitated the Canadian army and the enthusiasm many people initially had. The Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden decided to impose a mandatory conscription, which sharply divided the nation. Not only did he do this, but he also imposed the War Measures Act, which gave the government a plethora of power that allowed the government to censor any information and imprison any person with dissenting opinions on the war. (add commentary) Additionally, the war helped extend civil rights to women and it also helped Canada to industrialize. The government gave the women the right to vote during the right to vote, because women were arguing that they should have a say in what happens to end the war and have a say in post war reconstruction. Ironically, when Borden’s government passed the Elections Act of September of 1917, women voted for mandatory conscription and to send more men into war. This act also extended to the men that were fighting in the trenches, as well. So it comes as no surprise that the soldiers and the family of these soldiers voted in favor of these acts because they wanted more men helping out in the war. To help with the eschatological Moreover, Canada began to shift from an agrarian based economy to a more industrialized economy. The war pushed the sciences and technology to the forefront of research because they were essential to winning the war. The war caused women to work in the factories and they had to help make artillery and arms, in general. But before the industrialization, Canada’s agrarian economy collapsed and unemployment increased exponentially. Canadian industrialists had 3 successful strategies to propel industrialization. “First, they tried to move into markets the Germans had abandoned, chiefly in the United States, without very much success. Then they tried a “Buy Canadian” campaign. The most success came only when the “Canadian government managed to convince the Imperial War Cabinet that it had the iron and steel capacity to churn out enough artillery shells to supply the entire allied force.” (Packet Source). This forced thousands of more Canadians to go into the war because of the lack of employment opportunities. Perhaps, the biggest impact the Canadian Expansionary Force had was at the Battle of Passchendaele. The generals thought that if they just sent multitudes of soldiers that they could eventually break through. In the end, the Battle of Passchendaele cost the Canadian army over 15,000 injuries with 4000 people dying in 2.5 weeks. Moreover, the battle of Vimy Ridge is another example of an influential battle for Canada. The Canadian army suffered thousands of casualties and yet, the battle did not have that much affect on World War 1, overall. So, the Canadian army did suffer many losses and they did have some triumphs, but the overall effect of all of their work itself, was very limited, but still garnered some amount of respect. Additionally, at the Paris Peace Conference, Canada was given a seat to decide what would happen to the Axis powers, more specifically, Germany. Although it can be argued that Canada was there because they played a large part in the war, others could argue that their only reason to be there was to make Great Britain look bigger and better because Great Britain had all of its dominions in play at the peace conference including New Zealand and Australia. In conclusion, Canada had many roles in the First World War, but the significance of these roles are in question. But, it is important to realize that Canada had much help in terms of the shifting of the economy to industrialization from agrarian. This heavily affected Canada’s role in the war, as did the manpower and the battles they participated in. The Paris Peace Conference can arguably show how big a role Canada played in the war as well. Overall, Canada was not an essential catalyst for the allies to winning the war, but the manpower and industrial military complex did help.

Works Cited
"Canada and World War One." Canada and World War One. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2013.

"World War I: Canada." World War I. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.