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Canada Declares War
On this day Canada's prime minter Robert Borden declared war on Germany and it's allies. -
Enemy Aliens
There was always a lot of discrimination against Austro-Hungarians, Germans, Greeks etcetera living in Canada. They were known as the enemy aliens. In fact, Canada wanted them to leave and go back to their motherlands. Scale: -2 -
French Canadian Soldiers
French Canadian soldiers did not get promoted because they couldn't read the manuals since they were in english. Scale:0 -
Trench Warfare
In the year 1915 Canadian soldiers went through one of the most horrible experiences, the trench warfare. It was filled with disease and muddling and dirtying ditches. Worst of all, many of the men that went to fight for us had died. Scale:-2 -
Battle at Ypres Salient
At the battle Germans introduce their new weapon, poison gas. This catastrophic event left 2000 soldiers dead. Ypres is also what caused John McCrae to write In Flanders Fields. Scale: -2 -
Conscription
After the battle at Vimy Ridge the army needed reinforcements, but no one was willing to enlist because the glory of war had faded. So Borden enacted the Military Service act which forces all men aged 20 to 45 to join the army. This caused a division between Canadians and French Canadians. They argued that this wasn't their war to fight in. All which resulted in riots that would last for many days. Scale:-2 -
Halifax Harbor Blast
When a French boat carrying munitions collided with a Norwegian ship at the Halifax Harbor an explosion was caused that killed 1600 people and left over a 1000 injured. This was the biggest explosion till the atom boom in world war two. Scale:-2 -
Prohibition
Canada introduces the prohibition of liquor according to the War Measures Act. Men disagreed with this law and said that it was questioning their freedom. This also lead to the making of illegal liquor and the use of drugs. Scale:0 -
Nurses Overseas
Women were not allowed to become doctors or soldiers even though their had the same dangers. In fact Katherine MacDonald died on May 19th 1918 in an enemy air attack. Scale:-1 -
Working Women
At the time of war almost all the men went to fight. This left Canada with a very weak no labor force. So Canada decided to hire women. The women took this opportunity to fight for their rights. For example, the right to vote in the national election but they weren't able to achieve this in all the provinces nor for coloured women. When the men returned the women were no longer of use. Canada tried to convince them that if they kept working they would not be good wives and mothers. Scale:-1 -
Returning Soldiers
Now the war had come to and end, but the problems caused by it hadn't. Soldiers were staring to come back and with them they brought the Spanish influenza epidemic. About 50 000 soldiers had died because of this. Also, they needed jobs when they came back but their weren't many since the "enemy aliens" (people of different nationalities such as Germany living in Canada) were getting hired. This Caused problems such as the anti-Greek riots. Scale:-1
