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Causes of World War ll
The rise of Hitler in 1933 marked the beginning of a dark totalitarianism era. He started his regin by invading Rhineland, annexing Austria and taking over Czechoslovakia wich breached the Treaty of Verailles. Hitler signed a non-aggresion act with Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union to invade poland and the League of Nations could not do anything to stop him for they lacked the military power. They tried to negotiate with Japan and Italy to stop totalitarianism but failed miserably. -
Canada’s Response to War
Throughout the events of the 1930’s Canada had to practise isolationism for Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King did not want Canada to be within the affairs of other countries. Anti-Semitism was not restricted but rather shared through out the counry and the majority of Canada thought of Jewish refugees as a burden of the state. In 1939 Canada sent back the S.S St.Louis which carried Jewish passengers trying to escape persecution. -
The Beginning
Canada was now an autonomous country and did not have to follow Britain to war, but once Britain became involved in such a conflict, Canada would most likely have to support it. On September 8th King called for a vote for war in which Canada’s Parliament passed. Canada also hosted the BCATP in 1939 which trained the Allied air force. In April, 1940 C.D Howe was put in charge for the demands of Total War which mean using the resources of a nation for war -
Axis Advance l
The German forces surrounded the Allied troops at a French port called Dunkirk. To save the bulk of the army, Britain desperately sent all capable vessels to evacuate the Allied forces in May 26th, and like a miracle, more than 340000 soldiers were saved. In June 22, 1940 France surrendered to Germany and Hitler launched two operations against Britain called "Operation Sea Lion" and "The Blitz". Despite his genius plans, Hitler could not invade Britain and its Royal Air Force. -
War in the Pacific
Japan was suffering economically prior to World War 2 and had used imperialistic expansion as a solution to this problem. Japan’s military began occupying other nation’s colonies and planned to neutralize the threat of the U.S. by devastating their navy with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Following the Pearl Harbour attack Japan attacked Hong Kong. 17,000 Canadian’s were held as prisoners in the 15 days before Hong Kong fell, December 25, Black Christmas. -
Axis Advance ll
The Desert War a struggle for advantageous positions was happening for 3 years in the deserts of North Africa. Italy invaded Egypt for the Suez Canaal and the Strait of Gibraltar which gave the Axis arimies accesss to the Middle East. During the next 3 years neither sides had decisive victories but in 1943 May, the Allied won. Hitler also saw the Soviet Union as a source of raw materials so he launched "Operation Barbarossa". The non-aggression pact was broken and Germany invaded Russia. -
Canada’s Contributions- Emerging of a Nation
Throughout the war, Canada and the U.S. were basically Britain’s lifeline. The German’s intended to cut the lifeline and force Britain into submission. For three years, German’s destroyed North American cargo ships until the British cracked their naval code. With Canada’s new invention, the corvette, allies could track and defend themselves from enemy U-boats. More new technology introduced included the bombers/aviation unit. 215,000 Canadians signed up for the Royal Canadian Air Force. -
The Tide Turns- Beginning of the End
In an attempt to take strain off of the USSR, the allies launched a small raid on the French Port of Dieppe. The raid was a disaster, and many lost their lives. Following the Dieppe raid was the Italian Campaign, which was much more successful. Canadian’s had once again proved themselves by taking Sicily and eventually Ortona. -
The War at Home
In 1944, Canada produced 14,000 tanks and personnel carriers, more than 4,000 air craft and 16,000 artillery pieces. Women worked as welders, drillers, and punch-press or machine operators. Ilsley encouraged Canadians to buy Victory Bonds and Ilsley increased income taxes. Prime Minister Mackenzie King promised no conscription, but when he realized we needed more soldiers, he introduced the National Resources Mobilization Act; gave government emergency powers to take over resources. -
D-Day- The Invasion
“Operation Overload” was the biggest allied invasion throughout the entire war. Juno Beach was the Canadian section of the Normandy invasion and there 14,000 Canadians moved 9 km. inland by the end of that day. After five months, the Canadians cleared the Scheldt River of enemy troops and five months following that Canadians joined forces in driving the Germans back over the Khine River and out of the Netherlands. Germany surrendered to the allies and on May 7, 1945. -
Crimes against Humanity
By 1941, Nazi government adopted the final solution, the plan for genocide, and ordered all Jewish people to concentration camps. For these crimes, in 1945, the Allies established an International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, and prosecuted Nazi leaders and others for atrocities. Liberators of Japanese POW camps were also prosecuted. Altogether, this ultimately led to Universal Declaration of Human Rights. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
By mid-1945, most of Japan’s air force and navy had been destroyed, but their army remained strong. American’s continued to fire-bomb Japan, but Japan would not surrender. Meanwhile American and British scientists had been working on the Manhattan Project, developing an atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, an American bomber plane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, three days later; a second one was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan finally surrendered and the Second World War ended. -
Change in Canada
Canada had begun changing. The economy boomed and agriculture was over-taken by manufacturing. It had transformed from a rural economy to a modern industrial nation. Women were employed a great number and 48,000 war brides had emigrated from Europe along with their 21,000 children. Also, thousands of people came to Canada to start a new life. By the end of World War 2, Canada had emerged as a major player in global conflicts with one of the world’s largest navies and the fourth-largest air force
