Chapter 6 : Canada at War

Canada made a significant contribution to World War 2:  1 in 10 served in armed forces  Millions contributed on the home front

Millions of Canadians watched events unfolding in Europe and East Asia in the late 1930’s :  Japan attacked China and Manchuria 1937  Germany attacked Poland 1939

One interpretation of the causes of World War 2 puts blame on the “unfair” conditions of the Treaty of Versailles after World War 1. This treaty was the peace settlement that ended the First World War

This treaty punished Germany by taking away land, forcing them to pay huge sums of money (reparations) to the Allies and to take sole blame for the war (War Guilt Clause).

Germany’s leader, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party used German anger over the Versailles Treaty to their advantage to become popular. One of Hitler’s promises was to tear up the Versailles Treaty which made him enormously popular in Germany. Once he became leader, all other political parties were outlawed and he became dictator or sole ruler of Germany.

Hitler broke the Versailles Treaty by building up Germany’s armed forces. He also began to annex (reoccupy) land taken from Germany after WW1.

Politicians in the Allied countries tried to avoid war at all costs by allowing Hitler to do as he pleased. They knew it would be political suicide to start another world war just 20 years after WW1. Allied powers hoped that by relaxing the terms of the Versailles treaty, Germany would be satisfied and thus allow peace to prevail. This policy was called Appeasement.

The Germans attacked Poland on September of Two days later, the Allies declare war on Germany.

The Statute of Westminster, in 1931, gave Canada power over its own foreign affairs. Canada had to decide whether or not to join the Allied war effort.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mackenzie King wanted to avoid the major conscription crisis that occurred during WW1 by stating that Canada would support Britain fully by providing war materials and a small volunteer army.

Canada declared war on Germany on Sept. 10, 1939

6.2 Phases of the War  Phase 1 : Sept 1939-June 1940  Early stage of war is called phony war because very little happened after Germany invaded Poland.

The Allies =France, Britain, Commonwealth Axis Powers=Germany, Italy, Japan

Meanwhile, in Asia, Japan and China were at war since 1937

In Western Europe, The French were relying on the Maginot Line to defend against any German attack. The Maginot Line was designed to combat trench warfare as in WW1.

The Germans smashed through Belgium and Holland and avoiding the Maginot Line. This quick moving attack in powerful units using tanks, aircraft and armies were called blitzkrieg

British and French forces in Belgium were forced to retreat. The survivors were evacuated in the thousands from the beaches at Dunkirk by everything from warships to rowboats by English citizens

Canada’s Contribution  Canada’s military was reduced after WW1.  Prime Minister King’s volunteer army sailed to Britain in December of 1939.

Canada only had 38 ocean going ships in These were part of the merchant marine which transported war goods and personnel.

These ships were attacked quite often by German U-boats.

Canada began the enormous task of training Allied pilots and air crews. At this time, Canada had no training airfields or training aircraft. However, it was enormously successful.

In 1940, King was re-elected, partly because of his wartime policies. A key aim of King was to avoid the high casualties and to avoid conscription

When Germany defeated France, Britain and the Commonwealth countries were left alone in the fight against Germany. As a result, in 1940, Canada passes the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA)

All countries used various techniques to encourage public support for the war effort. One of these techniques was to use propaganda posters.

Propaganda posters encouraged Canadians to enlist, to get a war job, to contribute money to the war effort or to hate the enemy.

There were positive messages or negative messages. Positive messages encouraged people to be part of a group doing good things. Negative posters played on people’s fears and emotions and encouraged a “good guys vs bad guys” approach.

Assignment # 1 Propaganda War Poster Assignment

Phase 2 : June 1940 – July 1943  This phase started very badly for the Allies.

2 events were responsible for turning the war around for the Allies : 1.Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941) 2.Japan attacks Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941)

1.Germany invades Soviet Union -June 1941, German invasion German invasion makes the Soviet Union Britain’s new ally -Soviet Union uses “scorched earth” policy against the Nazis

-When Nazis reached Stalingrad, they are halted by fierce resistance, winter sets in and retreating Germans suffer from frostbite and starvation

-Germany’s policy of no prisoners created mass death and destruction. As the army captured through a town, they were followed by the Einsatzgruppen. This group rounded up all Jews and other undesirables and executed them.

The German defeat at Stalingrad (July 1943) was one of the major turning points in the war. Germany begins its slow retreat and decline in power in the east after this defeat.

2.Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor -Japan made a surprise attack on the U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec 7, Japan wanted to become the dominant power in Asia and needed the raw materials of southeast Asia to keep its industries at home running.

As a result, the Unites States declared war on Germany and Japan. This was a major turning point in the war as well with the abundant resources and manpower of the U.S. joining the Allies.

In June of 1942, the U.S. defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Midway. This battle destroyed much of Japan’s naval and air forces.

Shortly after this, in October of 1942, the Allies defeated the Germans at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa.

Canada experienced success and defeat in the North Atlantic. In the early stages of the war, German U- Boats were very successful in destroying Allied shipping.

The Battle of the Atlantic was fought between the German U-Boats and the Allied convoys. Convoys were ships sailing together which carried war supplies and men to Britain. These convoys were the primary targets of the U-Boats. Germany main goal was to stop supplies and men from reaching the Allies.

By mid 1943, new technologies such as radar helped the Allies track and sink U-Boats turning the tide in favor of the Allies in the Atlantic.

On land, Canada suffered 2 major defeats : 1.Hong Kong (Dec 1941) 2.Dieppe (1942)

Japan attacked Hong Kong on Dec 7, 1941 and defeated the British and Canadians defending it Canadians ( 290 killed, 1685 POW’s) Of the 1685 POW’s, 260 died in captivity.

The 2 nd Canadian defeat took place at Dieppe, France in 1942.

The Dieppe Raid was a disaster for the Canadians 900 were killed and 1900 became Prisoners of War (POW)

Phase 3 : July 1943 – June 1944  From 1943 on, The Allies were advancing on all fronts. (Front is the line of contact between enemy forces)

- The US recaptured the Philippines - Soviets were beating back the Germans - Aerial bombings of Germany dramatically increased

By 1943 Canada has its own bomber group. Canadians were actively involved in the continuous aerial bombings over Germany. They were targeting the industrial sectors to destroy Germany’s ability to wage war.

The Canadian army had increased as well from a single division to a full army. After El Alamein, they were actively involved in the invasion of Sicily, an island off the Italian coast.

After Sicily, They invaded Italy and the Italian gov’t surrendered. Germany sent reinforcements and the fighting continued.

The Italian campaign was a slow one. The Canadians distinguished themselves at Ortona in 1943 and at Cassino in spring of Canadians continued fighting until Feb 1944 when they were removed to northwest Europe.

One Canadian soldier, Sgt. Tommy Prince, was the highest decorated First Nations war hero. He won a total of 8 medals including the Military Medal and the Silver Star.

Canada’s Merchant Marine fleet grew from 38 to 403 ships. These ships supplied the Allies with vital war supplies. During the war they made 25,000 voyages losing 1600 sailors (including 8 women)

Phase 4 : June 1944 – Sept 1945  On June 6 th, 1944 the Allied invasion of Europe began. It was called “Operation Overlord”.  The landings, commonly known as D-Day, took place at Normandy, France and involved the British, American and Canadian forces.

The beaches on the coast of Normandy were : Juno Beach =Canada Gold and Sword Beaches=British Utah and Omaha Beaches=U.S.

Germany were forced to fight on two major fronts at the same time. Their resistance eventually collapsed.

The road and rail city of Caen was the Canadians 1 st objective. This took most of the summer of 1944.

Once captured, The Canadians helped the US forces capture Falaise. After this success, the Germans retreated to Belgium and the German border.

Paris was liberated and most of France was free. However, as the allied armies advanced and became bigger more supplies were needed and ports had to be opened

The Canadians had to free the Belgian port of Antwerp. Antwerp was one of the major ports in Europe.

The port was 80 km away from the city and was covered in low-lying areas behind dikes. The Germans flooded the dikes to slow down the Canadians.

The Canadians were nicknamed the “water rats” because most of the fighting here was done by the infantry since tanks and artillery were hard to use here. This became known as the Battle of the Scheldt.

Over 6000 Canadians were killed in this battle.

When the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, Canadian forces : - Duty in northern Germany - Air force helped control the skies - Navy patrolled the North Atlantic

6.3 War in the Pacific After Germany’s surrender, Canada’s war effort focused on the Japanese in the Pacific.

Over 80,000 Canadians volunteered to join the Pacific war. However, the war was over before they could take part.

Under the code name “The Manhattan Project”, the U.S. had developed a new weapon called the atomic bomb

U.S. President Harry Truman had to make the ethical decision whether or not to use the atomic bomb. If he uses it, it could end the war and save thousands of Allied lives but thousands of innocent civilians could be killed in the explosion. If he doesn’t use it, the war will drag on and many more Allied lives would be lost in the fighting.

On Aug 6 th, 1945, the 1 st atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

On Aug 9 th, 1945, the 2 nd atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

The use of atomic weapons in Japan still remains one of the most controversial decisions made during World War 2.

6.4 The Holocaust The Holocaust is known as the Nazi slaughter of over 6 million Jews during the Second World War.

The Nazi Party began their policy of anti- semitism (hatred of Jews) almost immediately after they came to power in 1933 and Hitler became dictator of Germany.

 1933 – The Nazis called on all Germans to boycott Jewish businesses  Boycott means to refuse to buy from, or use the services of a particular group

 2. Nuremberg Laws  In 1935 The Nazis introduced the Nuremberg Laws :  - banned marriages and sexual relations between Jews and non – Jews  - stopped Jews from being citizens  - stopped Jews from using public facilities

 3. Night of broken glass  On Nov 7, 1938, a German diplomat is shot dead by a Polish Jew.  Germany retaliates by destroying over 8,000 Jewish businesses and over 200 synagogues.  30,000 Jewish men arrested and sent to concentration camps ( prisons where Jews were beat and ill-treated

Resettlement  Jews were “resettled” into ghettos which were parts of a city which were walled or enclosed to keep people in.

First they gathered all the victims together. This was called the “round-up”. Jews were rounded up and forced into ghettos or sent off to the camps.

ID papers were issued to indicate when someone was Jewish. Jews had to wear yellow stars when they were in public Gov’t documents were used by local authorities as well as “denunciation” by non-Jewish citizens were ways to find all Jews in the area

Ghettos Ghettos were used by the Germans to confine the Jews. The Ghettos during World War II were used for forced labour and eventually as a concentration point for deportation to the death camps

The terrible conditions that the inmates of the Ghettos faced were common to all ghettos.

All ghettos robbed the Jews of their privacy, their identity and their lives. Many died in the ghettos due to starvation, illness and brutality. Many ghetto dwellers were forced into slave labour.

There was no “good” ghetto. Ghettos were typically located in the poorest areas of large cities near the railroad tracks. They were either sealed by walls or some other forms of barricades

In the Warsaw ghetto, more than 70,000 Jews died of exposure, disease and starvation during the first two winters alone.

Some Jews managed to escape from the ghettos to survive in the forests. Others found refuge with Christian families who accepted them and hid them.

There was resistance activity in many ghettos. While it was possible, in a number of ghettos the children were schooled, orphanages were set up and activity groups were maintained.

However, as conditions worsened and deportations began, most of these subtle forms of resistance were no longer possible

Deportation on Cattle Cars Cattle cars were used to transport most of the victims. Each car held adults, children and the elderly. There was usually one pail per car – no toilets and no water.

Transporting the Jews to feed the death camps was a major undertaking. Adolph Eichmann was the Nazi officer in charge. He went from country to country and organized the deportation of local Jews in each community to send them off to the death camps.

Many froze to death, suffocated to death or died of diseases during their “relocation” to the camps. The dead were not removed because each body had to be accounted for at destination by the bureaucracy

Concentration Camps  In 1933 the first concentration camps were established by the Nazis to imprison political opponents.  The first camp, Dachau, was built in 1933 initially for opponents of the regime. The first prisoners were Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused to swear allegiance to Hitler.  The SS managed the camps.  The system was expanded to include all of the “undesirables”: A. Jews, B. conscientious objectors like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, C. homosexuals, D. Poles, E. gypsies, and F. the opponents of Nazism such as writers and journalists.

Camps can be divided into three categories: work camps, transit camps and death camps. A)Work Camps These camps were used for slave labour: hours a day to build roads, work in quarries, manufacture weaponry, clothe the army, etc. Various German industries and manufactures used the cheap labour of the camps (Farben, Volkswagen, etc).

Inmates were herded into barracks or living quarters, given almost no food, worked often to death, subjected to torture and physical and emotional abuse. Resistance was met with death.

After the beginning of 1942, the camp system in general was lethal for Jews.

Methods of killing included :  rounding up Jews and shooting them  mobile killing vans  gas

Besides the killings, Nazi doctors performed cruel medical experiments on Jews of all ages. In most cases, these Jews died from the experimentation.

Camps housing Jews did so on a temporary basis, because the Germans had consigned all Jews to death. Only the rate of extermination, not the goal, might vary.” (Goldhagen)

Reflection How was it possible that the Jews and others went so readily into the trains? How could so many people just go “like sheep to the slaughter”? Why did they go where they were told to go? What role did deception and fear play in this process?