The War and Sovereignty Canadian History 30F

Imperial War Cabinet In return for Canada’s contributions to the war Robert Borden expected more dialogue with Great Britain In December of 1916 British PM David Lloyd George brought about major changes to British policy He felt that in order to win the war greater help was needed from the dominions He believed the dominions should “feel that they have a share in our councils as well as our burdens”

Imperial War Cabinet - continued He invited the PM’s of the various dominions to an Imperial War Cabinet to be consulted as to the progress and course of the war They first met on March 2, 1917 Borden presented Article IX, which gave the dominions recognition as autonomous nations of an Imperial Commonwealth

Empty Promises Despite the formation of the cabinet Canada still had no real say in campaigns involving its troops After the Passchendaele campaign resulted in huge Canadian deaths PM Borden stated “if ever there is a repetition of the Battle of Passchendaele, not a Canadian soldier will leave the shores of Canada so long as the Canadian people trust the government of their country to me” The war ended before Canada could gain any considerable ground in future campaigns

The Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was signed in June, 1919 The treaty was very harsh to the Germans forcing them to limit its army (100,000), give up all colonies, relinquish conquered territory, and pay reparations to the allies Canada’s sacrifice of 620,000 served and over 60,000 dead demanded a seat be given to Canada at the Paris Peace conference Borden insisted Canada sign the treaty as a separate nation despite playing little role in the negotiations

League of Nations The League of Nations was formed in 1919 with 44 nations including Canada agreeing to the principle of collective security Although the league proved ineffective Canada did sign on as a member country showing autonomy In the 1921 election Mackenzie King, a liberal, became PM and would continue to seek greater autonomy for Canada

The Chanak Affair The Chanak affair involved a call from the British empire for assistance at Chankkale, a small seaport south of Istanbul King responded that Canada would no longer automatically send troops and that is was a matter for parliament to vote on This sent a strong signal that King wanted to control foreign policy decisions

The Halibut Treaty In early 1923 Canadian and US representatives negotiated a treaty on catch limits and seasons on the Pacific Coast The British wanted to co-sign along Canada but King insisted it was of no matter to the British Despite Britain’s objection Canada signed it independent of them on March 2, 1923

The Balfour Report At the 1926 Imperial Conference, PM King continued to pursue his goal of greater autonomy The Balfour Report that concluded the conference recognized the growing political and economic autonomy of its former colonies The report also stated that the commonwealth countries were not subordinate to the empire and were equal in status

Statute of Westminster On December 11, 1931 the British parliament passed the statute The statute gave Canada the right to make its own foreign policy decisions without seeking British approval The British would still retain control of the supreme court (until 1949) and constitutional changes (until 1982)