Birth Of A Nation Essay

After World War I the belief among Canadians and historians that Vimy Ridge and the major battles fought by Canadian troops were when Canada was truly formed as a nation. The War in general was seen as Canada rise to nation hood, and when it somewhat broke its imperialist identities and attachments and became its own individual force. Despite the war being almost 50 years after confederation, Canada was not a nation. It was merely a member of the Dominion, but after the conflict it had proved itself on an international stage. Whether the “Birth of a Nation” belief is true or not is irrelevant, what matters is that it was presented that way. What the birth of a nation belief shows is a governments attempt to take attention away from its disastrous interwar policies, and focus it on a unification of Canada. The actions taken by the Canadian government during WWI were designed to protect the security of the country, and limit enemy influence on the Canadian people. Through means of censorship and intimidation the Canadian government silenced the opinions of many Canadians. One such example was the banning of languages which were associated with axis forces. It was also made easier to deport individuals who were not citizens of the empire, mostly eastern and southern Europeans. What also should be considered is the failure of

In the lectures and readings Cooke and Moore both discuss how war is remembered. War is remembered in distinct ways by many different individuals; thus reflecting the varying attitudes of different groups. They further explore how memorialization often, despite the vast input and groups involved, depicts one dominant view. What results is a reverse prism affect of history where a range of ideas and beliefs are combined into one dominant history. This is useful for understanding how the government was able to succeed in implanting its own, narrow, view of the