-
Development of Alliances
Alliances were a huge, if not the biggest factor in the development of world war 1. When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia came to it's aid, which got Germany involved. Without alliances the first world war would have just been a war between two nations. -
Technology and Use of Tear Gas
World War 1 saw the development of Military technology such as important innovations in machine guns, grenades, and artillery. New weapons such as submarines(U-Boats), poison gas, warplanes and tanks were also introduced to the changing battlefield. This changed how wars were fought from then on, especially in the development of machine guns which have a significant effect of military weapons to this day. Other notable progress in the use of poison gas caused it to be banned from all warfare. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was believed to be the next in line for the throne of Austria-Hungary, at the time upheld by Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Archduke’s assassination was suspected to be carried out by political operatives from a group called young-Bosnia who wanted Serbia to form a new state called Yugoslavia. Although the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was the spark that caused Austria-Hungary to start war, all the European powers quickly defended their alliances, and preserve or expand t -
Adoption of Trench Warfare
A popular strategy used during conflict in World War 1 was trench warfare. Trench warfare is when you dig deep into soil to form fortifications or “lines: of defence against attack. Too win a battle of trenches was to attack an enemy trench and take it over. -
The First Canadian Division Arrives
The first Canadian troops arrived in France in December 1914, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. -
Victory Bonds Introduced
The bonds were a monetary loan to the government that could be redeemed with interest after a set amount of years. The longer you held your bond the more interest you would collect. Bonds were released during 5 different campaigns between 1915 and 1919. -
Period: to
The Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first major battle fought by Canadian troops in the Great War. The battle took place on the Ypres salient on the Western Front, in Belgium. It was also the first large scale use of poison gas by the Germans on the western front. More than 6,500 Canadians were killed, wounded or captured. -
Manitoba Women get to vote
Manitoba became the first province in Canada to extend voting to women in Provincial elections. This paved the way for Women who ultimately got the right to vote federally in 1918. -
Period: to
The battle of Somme
The Battle of the Somme was fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place on both sides of the upper reaches of the River Somme in France. It took 18 months of trench deadlock until the British and French achieved victory. The French and British lost approximately 620,000 men compared to the 575,000 Germany lost -
Period: to
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Vimy ridge was a strategic strong point in the north of France. It had been held by Germans from the beginning of the war. After many attempts to take the ridge, Canada's was the first successful. One of the contributing factors to Canada’s victory was the use of a military strategy called rolling artillery. Canada outnumbered the Germans approximately 3.5 to 1. -
Income Tax Introduced
In Canada, before World War I the Canadian Government only collected taxes on customs duties and revenues from postal services. The then Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden introduced the federal income tax on business profits in 1916 shortly after on personal income in 1917. The income tax was first only proposed as a temporary measure to finance war, however it was adopted into a model seen like today. -
Period: to
Battle of Passchendaele
The Battle of Passchendaele, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. After German control for most of the war the allied forces, with the help of Canada succeeded in defeating the German army. However it came at a cost, nearly 16,000 Canadains were either wounded or killed. -
Conscription
The conscription crisis was a political and military disagreement during world war 1. The root of this disagreement was the question, Should men be forced to fight in war? It also brought to light issues such as Government overreach on personal liberty and French Canadian and English Canadian tensions. -
The Khaki Election of 1917
The 1917 Canadian federal election was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the house of commons of Canada to the 13th parliament of Canada as well as to consider re-electing then Prime Minister Borden. It was dubbed the khaki election due to its nature of an election during or after a time of war. One of the most divisive issues was Conscription. The Wartime Elections Act gave the vote to a certain class of women however took it away from immigrants who had come to Canada since 1902 f -
The Russian Revolution of 1918
The Russian Revolution took place during the final phase of World War I. It removed Russia from the war. The revolution changed the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, turning Russia's traditional monarchy with the world's first Communist state. Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra and their five children were shot and bayoneted to death by Communist revolutionaries on the 16th of July, 1918. The communist state lasted until 1991. -
King Wilhelm II Exile
Despite emerging victorious over Russia and achieving significant gains in Western Europe, Germany was forced to give back all its conquests after its defeat in November 1918. Upon losing the support of the military and his subjects, Wilhelm left his throne and fled to exile in the Netherlands. King Wilhelm was the last German nobility and the legal class was abolished after his exile. -
Armistice
An armistice is an agreement of peace between two or more parties at war. It is a temporary agreement of cease fighting until a formal agreement is made. The world war two armistice was signed on November 11th, 1918 in Le Francport. We recognize Armistice day yearly on November 11th as a way to remember those who have bravely fought and died for peace.
