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Unemployment
Throughout the great depression employment rates dropped tremendously. Rates dropped approximately 32% in the cities and 60% in the maritimes. People who could still work had unsafe conditions and extremely low wages. If you choose to join a union you faced unemployment. Many unemployed applied for relief to support their families, while many others refused to apply because they thought it was humiliating and made them weak. -
Stock Market Crash
The stock market crash had a huge impact on citizens. In October 1929 the stock market crashed and everyone's life was greatly affected. Banks became bankrupt and could no longer hand out money to people. When people started rushing to hand in their stocks only the first people received money, everybody else got nothing, simply because the banks had no more money. Soon enough people were living on streets and living in little boxed areas trying to survive. -
Dust Bowl
Throughout the 1930's the dust bowl was an on going issue. There was a massive drought in 1930 and it affected many people for 10 years. The drought caused wheat prices to drop causing farmers to lose money. 250,000 farmers abandoned their farms due to the climate because the Canadian West turned into a dust bowl. Many did not go on relief either because they had too much pride and wanted to take care of themselves without help. -
Regina Riot
On June 14th the protesters arrived in Regina, and the two leaders of the protest had an agreement to have a meeting in Ottawa as long as everyone else stayed in Regina. After the meeting word was sent back and the protesters in Regina heard the news. They were all dispersing when the police attacked and wanted the 8 leaders arrested. As a result the riot broke out and 1 officer was killed and 100 people were injured. -
Women in the Workforce
In 1941 for the first time ever, women were aloud to join the army (Army, Navy, Air force). They couldn't carry weapons but they could do almost anything else. They also served as nurses, drivers, machine operators, cooks and secretaries. Back at home there was also a huge loss of workers so women started being recruited to work in factories. By 1943 there were roughly 225,000 women working in munitions factories. First it was only single women but soon enough married women could work too. -
Dieppe Raid
The Dieppe Raid was a very important attack taking place because the lessons learned on this day helped with a successful attack of the allied forces later on. The forces attacked 5 different points within roughly 16 km. Four attacks were planned to happen just before dawn while the main one was to follow half an hour after on the town of Dieppe. Many valuable lessons were paid but at an extensive price, there were 3,367 casualties and 916 Canadians who lost their lives. -
D-Day at Normandy
The battle of Normandy resulted in allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi's control. It began n June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day. 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on the beaches within a 50 mile radius. Leading up to D-Day there was many false signs preparing the Germans for an attack in the wrong place. False tanks, soldiers and weapons were placed to trick the Germans. All of Northern France was liberated by August 1944 and by spring the allies had taken over. -
Juno Beach
There were many lessons learned from Dieppe so the troops had lots of time to prepare and ensure their attack was solid. They built 2 completely new harbours that they towed across from England. Early in the morning on June 6, paratroops jumped from aircrafts or landed in gilders behind German defences. They captured German headquarters, destroyed an important bridge and seized an important crossroad. As a result over 5,000 Canadians died and 210,000 were injured.
