Canada's Level Of Unity In 1918

In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. Since Britain had control over Canada under the British North American Act, Canada was included in the battle. Before WWI and due to the Canadian history, there were political disagreements within and out of the nation. During the war, victories like Vimy Ridge were events that united Canadians. However, decisions like conscription split the country. Canadians became an independent nation in 1918; however, they were not much more united than they were in 1914.

One of the events that brought Canadians together was the battle at Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was a piece of land covered in trenches and machine guns, which were occupied by the Germans. Canadians soldiers went under special training weeks before

Hundreds of thousands of men have volunteered to fight in WWI; however, not all were eligible and most were English-Canadians. As the war dragged on, the amount of volunteers diminished, and soon there were not a sufficient amount of volunteers to supply the war. Previous promises to Britain were made by the Prime Minister that 500,000 men would be sent into action to support the Allies. However, propaganda and posters were not enough to grab the men’s attention. This resulted in the Prime Minister breaking one of his only promises to the citizens of Canada; enabling conscription. This enraged the Canadians, especially the French-Canadians; they were against the conscription. They did not want to feel compelled to fight for Britain because they felt that they did not have enough representation. They felt that they did not have the same rights as the English-Canadians. The French-Canadian’s rights were restricted due to their spoken language. The French language was not taught in the schools and their language was not used during the war. They did not feel the need to fight for a country that denied their rights. On the other hand, English Canadians were pro-conscription. One of the reasons why the English-Canadians wanted to fight was to protect and support their homeland. However, the French-Canadians did not feel the same way. They did not have

One of the main reasons is the army needed sturdy men to take up arms, but the farms required their sons to harvest their food. This would affect the farmer and the family’s lifestyle. They would be a missing pair of hands around the farm and there was not a guarantee that they would return. Also, the farmers feared and anticipated the price drop in wheat. At first they depended on the Wheat Board, which assure the farmers the set prices of wheat. When this was abolished in 1919, the prices of wheat fell from $2.20 per bushel to $1.10. This drop impacted the farmers significantly. The farmers also felt that the government favored the big industries rather the people who supplied the country’s food. It was much harder to receive a loan as a farmer than it was for a business. This led to the farmers creating their own political party; the Progressive Party. The formation of a new political party was to fight for their well-earned benefits. If farmers had to create a political party because the government did not support them, then it is hard to believe that Canada is starting to unite. Unity is the coming together as one from many groups of people. This means that they can come to agree on set terms. However, this did not happen due to the fact a group of people had to break off into a new political party because they felt they were not being supported enough by the