How Did Canada Lead Up To World War 1

I. Canada joins the war effort.
A. Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was murdered by a Serbian nationalist and this began the chain of events leading up to World War I.
1. Austria attacked Serbia and countries began picking sides.
a. Austria was allied with Germany
b. Serbia was allied with Russia. France and Britain were allied with Russia.
2. Britain had promised to defend the neutrality of Belgium. When German forces invaded Belgium to attack France, Britain declared war.
B. Canada supported Britain in her action. Prime Minister Robert Borden passed the War Measures Act in 1914.
C. The Canadian Expeditionary Force
1. Militarily Canada was not ready for war.
a. The army numbered 3,000 with 60,000 volunteer militia.

They resented their sons being taken off the farms. ii. They did not want to contribute grain to the war effort.
b. Workers
i. They felt that they would be forced to remain at one job throughout the duration of the war. ii. They called this compulsory industrial service.
c. Quakers and Mennonites
i. They had been promised military exemption upon arriving in Canada. ii. The opposed the war as inherently evil and immoral. iii. They were often harassed by pro-conscriptionists as “slackers.”
D. PM Borden passed two bills to insure a victory in the polls and therefore insure the passing of the conscription bill.
1. The Wartime Elections Act—gave the vote to Canadian women who were related to servicemen.
2. The Military Voters Act—allowed all members of the armed forces to voted regardless of the length of their stay in Canada.

III. The War Ends and the Advance of Nationhood
A. In November of 1917, the Bolshevik revolution occurred on the other side of the world.
1. This caused the Germans to shift their troops to the Eastern front.
2. In the spring of 1918, the Allies attacked again.
3. The tide turned for the Germans in August of 1918 after the last decisive hundred days.
4. On November 11, 1918, the Germans surrendered, and the war was

The first outbreak occurred in September of 1918 in Quebec.
2. In the fall of 1919, the federal government established the Department of Health.
3. Approximately 50,000 people died from this silent enemy as opposed to 40,000 in the war.
B. The Winnipeg General Strike
1. Workers were upset with postwar inflation and responded with a series of national strikes in 1918 and 1919.
2. On May 1, 1919, metal workers and builder union workers went on strike to press for better wages and improved working conditions.
3. On May 15th, they were joined by police officers, fire fighters, telephone and telegraph operators, and delivery men virtually closing down the city.
4. Fearing that the strike would spread to other cities, the federal government intervened.
5. Arthur Meighen, Minister of Justice was sent to review the situation. He permitted the RCMP to arrest ten of the strike leaders on June 16th.
6. In protest, a silent parade marched down Main Street to city hall on June 21st. Violence erupted between the strikers and the RCMP. One man was killed and another wounded. This outbreak was called “Bloody Saturday.”
7. The government established military control of the city.
8. On June 26th, the strike was called