1. 5/10/2016

2. Trial by Fire: Canada Enters World War One
Chapter 2:
Trial by Fire: Canada Enters World War One

3. Summary
This chapter explores Canada’s participation in the First World War and how its participation influenced Canadian identity.
The chapter looks at the causes of the war and allows you to explore the concepts of imperialism and nationalism, which also influenced Canadian society in the early 1900s.
You will examine Canadians’ responses to the war and how they reflected societal attitudes and internal conflicts.
You will also explore how the government supported the war effort and what impact this had on the lives of Canadians.

4. Classwork
Examine the quotation on page 28. What does this document say about the attitude of people in Canada toward Britain at this time?
How does the quotation on page 29 demonstrate a growing feeling of Canadian identity among Canadian troops?

5. Continued…
Canada’s Minister of Militia, Colonel Sam Hughes, had to mobilize a Canadian army from a small standing (regular, professional) army & a much larger militia (part-time, volunteer army)
Sam Hughes equipped Canada’s soldiers with the Canadian-made Ross rifle, which was unsuitable for trench warfare (overheated & jammed up with mud)
Hughes asked for 25,000 volunteers; he got 30,000
A training camp was set up at Valcartier, just outside of Quebec City

6. Colonel Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia, 1911-1916.

7. Valcartier Training Camp, Quebec.

13. The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) of 30,000 volunteer soldiers sailed for Britain in October 1914
Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada, but sent the Newfoundland Regiment, later the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, many of whom died in 1916 Battle of the Somme
Many Native (Indian, Métis, Inuit) soldiers also fought, although Sam Hughes did not want them
Canada’s army received 100,000 volunteers in a few months

14. Deciding how to finance war
Pg.30

15. War Measures Act
The War Measures Act was a law passed 22 August 1914 by Parliament which allowed the federal government to suspend civil liberties & bypass Parliament to do things they felt were needed
The point of the act was to help support the war effort & soldiers in war as much as possible
If you were a farmer, the government could force you to grow wheat for soldiers, or companies to solely make products like weapons to ship to the soldiers
It also allowed the government to put newly arrived immigrants in internment camps if they came from a country Canada was now at war with
The significance of this event to Canada is that it changed the lives of Canadian people both during & after the war

16.
Schlieffen Plan and the First Battle of the Marne | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy

17. The War on Land The Schlieffen Plan
The German plan to attack France through neutral Belgium, around Paris, taking France in 6 weeks, avoiding fortifications on the French line of defence (the Maginot Line – on the French-German border)
Then Germany would attack Russia (thus avoiding a war on 2 fronts, i.e. on both the western & eastern borders of Germany)
Britain had a treaty obligation to protect Belgium (in place since the 1830s) but Germany did not believe Britain would honour it – Germany was wrong

18. Why the Schlieffen Plan Failed
Belgium resisted Germany for 2 weeks (Germany thought this would only take 2 days)
British & French troops had time to meet the German advance as a result
The German advance was halted on the Marne River
Both sides “dug in” extensive trench systems protected by artillery & machine guns
The war became a war of attrition, or wearing down of the enemy, & trench warfare

19. The Schlieffen Plan Designed to prevent a war on 2 fronts
Take France in 6 weeks, by surprise by going through neutral Belgium
Once France falls, move troops east to fight Russia

21. The Allies Advance: September 1914

22. Worksheet due on 6th October