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Stock Market Crash
Despite indications that the price of wheat was falling, investors and speculators continued to pour money into the stock market. As stocks began to decrease in value, investors began to worry and lose confidence in the companies whose shares they had purchased. Many investors wanted to sell their stocks quickly before prices fell even further, and therefore, investors began to sell large volumes of stocks, which caused the values of many stocks to decrease drastically. -
On-to-Ottawa Trek
Men in relief camps realized that the relief camps did nothing to deal with the problems of the economy, and that the work they were doing was completely pointless. In April of 1935, the workers started planning a peaceful trek to Ottawa intended to present the federal government their demands for improvements in the living and working conditions in the camps. In June, 1800 men started their protest. Most of these protests were peaceful and supported by the local citizens. -
Regina Riot
Government officials became suprised by the growing number of protestors, so PM Bennett got the RCMP to stop the trekkers in Regina. The trek leaders were the only people allowed to go to talk to the Prime Minister, but they returned to Regina with no concessions. Violence broke out when the RCMP and Regina Police moved into break up a public meeting the protesters were having. After the riot, the government provided transportation back to the camps, and the conditions at the camps got better. -
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia's areas along the country's borders where there were mostly German speakers. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia. Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. Czechoslovakia felt betrayed, so Czechs and Slovaks call the Munich Agreement the Munich Dictate. -
Women in WWII
The Second World War would see Canadian women returning to serve again as Nursing Sisters.This time, approximately 4,500 nurses were attached to all three branches of Canada’s military, with more than two-thirds of them serving overseas. Second World War Nursing Sisters wore a military uniform with a traditional white veil. These young women were commissioned officers and were respectfully adressed as "sister" or "ma'am". -
Women in WWII
Canada’s military nurses were the first in any Allied country to have officer status. Canadian women would also serve in other military roles during the war, however, and some 50,000 eventually enlisted in the air force, army and navy. -
Japanese Internment
The War Measures Act gave the government the power to determine who was loyal and who was not. If you were judged as a security breach, you and your family could be sent to an internment camp. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, the RCMP went through the Japanese community in BC and started making arrests. In the months that followed, all Japanese nationals and Canadian citizens of Japanese descent were imprisoned and sent to internment camps in the interior of BC. -
D-Day
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings were conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 am. -
D-Day
The operation, planned by a team under Lieutenant-General Frederick Morgan, was the largest amphibious invasion in world history. The invasion included over 160,000 soldiers, 21,400 of which were Canadian troops. Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were also involved. This was a big milestone for Canada, and it is known as the "beginning of the end" for Germany. -
VE Day - Victory in Europe Day
After successfully invading France and Italy, the allied forces pushed the Germans back towards Germany. At the same time, the Soviets were pushing back the Germans as well. At this point, the Germans were fighting on three different fronts. As the Allies and the Soviets chased the German soldiers back to Berlin, Hitler committed suicide with his girlfriend Eva Braun, and the Germans surrendered. This day is known as VE day. -
VJ Day - Victory in Japan Day - Atomic Bomb
On august 6th 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the first ever atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima in Japan. The explosion wiped out 90% of the city and killed 80,000 people. Many more died after due to radiation exposure. Three days later, the Americans dropped another bomb on the city of Nagasaki killing around 40,000 people. On august 15th, Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender in world war II in a radio address because of "a new and most cruel bomb."
