Canada & WW 1, 1914 - 1918War on the Home Front

Support for the War Effort

People on the home front were encouraged to make sacrifices to ensure victory in Europe

Victory Gardens

ate less meat, sugar, butter, bread so soldiers would have enough

Prairie students dismissed early to bring in harvests

Terror on the Home Front

Halifax Explosion Dec. 6, 1917

2000 people killed, thousands more injured and homeless

Mont Blanc (French munitions ship) collided with the Belgian ship Imo

Blast felt 320 km away

One of the worst disasters in Canadian history

Enemy Aliens

1914 – 500,000 German, Austrian & Hungarian people living in Canada

Government used War Measures Act to hold over 8597 enemy aliens in labour camps

Majority were Ukrainians

Berlin changed to Kitchener

The Changing Role of Gov’t

Hoarding by some business people led to profiteering

Government encouraged honour rationing (e.g. Meatless Mondays)

Victory Bonds needed to pay for cost of war ($1 million per day)

New Roles for WomenMen at war women worked in factories & on farms

Suffragists – voting rights for women

Wartime Elections Act – women who had male family in war could vote in 1917 election

Dominion Elections Act 1920 – all women could vote

ConscriptionConscription Crisis 1917 – men dying more than enlisting so shortage of soldiers English support / French DO NOT support conscripting men

Military Service Bill – men 20-45 yrs old had to join armed forces, but not pacifists

PM Borden won election of 1917 riots in Quebec

End of World War 1November 11, 1918 Germany surrendered after no supplies left to fight

Canada 60,661 dead / 173,000 wounded out of 8 million

Peace Treaty of Versailles – unfairly blames Germany for the war must pay for damages League of Nations useless

Canada more independent of Britain