How Did Ww1 Affect Canada

On August 4, 1914 Britain declared war on Germany and the Canadians entered World War One. When news of Canada joining in the war hit the papers, citizens were eager to enlist. They had the chance to serve their country overseas, which was seen as a great honour. It was originally thought that the war would be short lived but the tensions in Europe proved they would take longer to settle. The length of the war contributed to the severe number of casualties and mass destruction that gives it the title we all know today, “The Great War”. Canada played a major role in the war and the tragedies the country endured were proof of this. At the end of the war, the Canadian death toll was more than 61,000 and carried a debt of around 2 billion dollars

During the war, women were forced to become more than just homemakers, but also to carry jobs outside the home. While the men were away at war, women were needed to take over the jobs in factories and farms to support the economy and the war efforts. Their contributions led to the belief that women should have more control over society and the right to vote was seen as their way of doing so. This right came in three steps. The first was in 1917, when nurses and women in the armed service were permitted to vote. Later that same year, the Wartime Election Act allowed any woman with male relatives fighting in the war to vote and also finally in 1919 all women over twenty one years of age could vote in federal elections (Dunn, W. & West, L., 2011). Other groups of people, such as the First Nations and African Americans, also began to gain the attention of the government officials. At the beginning of the war, these groups were not allowed to fight for Canada, because the government stated it was white man's war, but by the end in desperate need for more men, they allowed other groups to fight (Wilson, 1951, p.61). Although minority groups and non-male adults are still not equal, World War I made great advancements and pushed people to begin the fight for race and gender

This larger workforce also began to demand more rights because the war had revealed the importance of labourers in supporting society (Canadian Culture, p 2 of 5). Canada started manufacturing lumber, nickel, copper, military gear, etc, which created many jobs for all Canadians, while the men were in the trenches (Smith, 2014). The manufacturers also began to produce ammunition, which gave Canada another resource to export, both to Britain and the United States (Desmond, 2014). Another thing that affected both labourers and the economy was the introduction of the income tax. It was initially created as a way to aid funding of the war, but was kept in place to help repay war debts. The economy of Canada benefited after the war because, as an independent nation, they now had control over their trade. They had now begun to establishing trade alliances with the United States who has become a major influence on the Canadian