How Did The Battle Of Vimy Ridge Promote Canadian Nationalism

Throughout World War I a sense of Canadian nationalism on the battlefield was born. Many successes and sacrifices led to this new patriotic consciousness. When World War I started, although Canada was a separate country, Britain still controlled Canada’s foreign policy so when Britain entered the war so did Canada. Unlike previous wars where Canada fought under the British command, World War I was the first war where Canadians fought together as a separate unit. The Canadians were involved in several bloody skirmishes where they distinguished themselves on the battlefield. This went a long way to creating nationalistic feelings.

In the second Battle of Ypres, for example, the Germans tested their new weapon – chlorine gas. The French retreated once the gas was released and this left a huge hole in the Allied line. The Canadians moved to close the hole and defended the line for three days. During this time, the chlorine gas hit them, but unlike the French, they did

Over a four month period, both sides suffered huge losses, including almost 25,000 Canadians. The Battle of Vimy Ridge also played a very important role in generating Canadian nationalism. Vimy Ridge is a seven-kilometre ridge of land in northern France. In 1917, the Canadian Corps was ordered to capture this ridge. When the battle began, thousands of Canadians came out of the trenches and advanced towards the German line. Thousands more Canadians followed after the first contingent. The Canadians captured the ridge after three horrific days of fighting. Almost 3600 Canadians died and over 7000 were wounded in this battle. This victory was an especially important one for Canada because it was the first time Canadians from all over Canada had fought together as a country in time of war and they achieved victory. For the first time, Canadians had fought side by side one another as Canadians, and not as a British