Vimy Ridge Significance

Vimy Ridge was considered Canada’s greatest victories. This is the time when the country came out from Britain’s shadow and was capable of doing great things as their own country. Canadian soldiers earned respect and a reputation of effectiveness and a tough army. On April 9th 1917 the Canadian army were ordered to attack Vimy Ridge which was located in Northern France in the pas-de-Calais region. Near the border of Belgium, is a village called Vimy which was equipped with Barbed wires and machine guns. To attack this difficult position, Canadian troops had to carefully plan and practice their attack on France. In order to provide a wide range of firepower in the war they were given specialist roles as machine gunners, and grenade-throwers.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a very successful battle not only for the Allies but, for the Canadian army. The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place in April 1917 in France. The battlefield gave Germany the upper hand as their trenches were located on a hill. Therefore giving Germany a commanding view of the British trenches and troops. Britain and France had tried on countless occasions to capture the area, however they were forced back by German artillery. Thus, leaving the capture in the hands of the Canadian troops. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first battle that was fought by all four Canadian Corps division and was led by British general Julian Byng and under his command was Canadian general Arthur Currie. This attack on Vimy Ridge was very

As the American Revolution was in full swing, soldiers were being recruited and fighting for their freedom from the British. However, the fight for freedom took more than just fighting skills. The men fighting had to endure the harsh conditions and the little help and supplies they received. The American army went to Valley Forge in hopes of spying on the British army. However, the winter at Valley Forge was harsh with the cold seeping into their poorly built shelters and the little amount of supplies they had was not enough to keep everyone alive and healthy. Much of the time, soldiers were dying not from the honor of fighting, but by choosing to remain fighting after their enlistment and dying from illnesses. The soldiers at Valley Forge

World War 1 was a historic event which began in 1914 and ended in 1918. This bloody conflict took the lives of more than 17 million people who were fighting for their countries. Being a British colony at the time, Canada was dragged into the war that did not impact the country in any way, yet thousands of Canadians volunteered to devote their lives for their nation. The first World War had the greatest impact on Canadian history during the 20th century, as this event helped Canada gain more independence from Britain, it helped introduce women in the workforce, and also introduced non-white Canadians in the army.

Canadian individual identity is questioned often because it is so diverse and means something different to each person in Canada. Although there is not a set identity there are many values and beliefs that are owned by all Canadians. To find out what Canadians identity is, one has to take into account what has affected it. The United States is the biggest influence on Canadian identity. The U.S. culture is very similar to Canadians as we are exposed to it all the time in media sources. The events in American history have also affected Canada from a political perspective, which lead to the Democracy that is present today. Another way the U.S. has affected Canada is from a military perspective because Americans are quick to jump to war and Canada has had to help control them which lead to them being peacekeepers. The United States helped mold the Canadian identity by being both a threat and support to the nation; this will continue into the 21st century but Canada will keep it’s unique identity.

At Vimy Ridge Canadians proved themselves to be capable fighters, created a Canadian nationalism that had been lacking before, and showed the world that Canada was nation independent from Britain. The global recognition that Canada received for the work of the C.E.F. at Vimy Ridge also changed Canada’s role in the international political community. Due to Canada’s initial role in the world as part of the British Empire, Canada was an ally of Britain from the start and would remain allied with Britain even to today. So, what changed in the relationship between Britain and Canada? Canada had now proved itself to be capable of operating independently. As a result of the successful offensive at Vimy Ridge, other Allied nations now saw Canada as their equal in terms of military skill. The Canadians had demonstrated immense militaristic skill at Vimy Ridge, which is a major part of foreign affairs as a country must be able to defend itself, which gave Canada grounds to argue for more power. Though Canada would not gain control of her foreign policy until the Statute of Westminster, Canada would now be able to negotiate for more power

The first point of proof of this is how the Canadians helped with Somme. This battle is remembered because of the over 2.2 million soldiers killed, wounded, or missing over the full 2 battles (Christie, 1). Canadians (and Newfoundlanders) usually fought alongside the British and they helped take this land with their courage. This lasted from July 1st to November 18th (Gootz, 7-8). Canadians also played a big part in taking Ypres. This was the first ever battle where gas was introduced. It was brought by the Germans and swept the French trenches (Christie, 9). The French retreated and the Canadians had to hold down the trenches. Germans attacked when the gas cleared and the position was held by The Royal Highlanders from Montréal. Because of Canada’s selfishness, they helped win this battle. “We have shown that even in trench warfare it is possible to mystify and mislead the enemy.” -Sir Arthur Currie (World War 1). The most vital and important battle that gained Canada respect was The Battle of Vimy Ridge. Canada played the biggest part in taking this area since they fought alone. The British and French had already attempted to take this area, and although it was valiant they still lost. This put weight on Canada’s soldiers. On April 9th, 1917, 1000 guns opened fire on German positions. 15000 Canadians attacked the Germans and after four days and 10000 casualties, Canada single handedly took Vimy Ridge (Vimy Ridge, 1). This victory gained the nation immense respect from the rest of the world. All of these battles were greatly impacted by the Canadians and without some of them (Vimy Ridge in particular) Canada may not have gained any respect from other

Although many soldiers held their head high in victory and praise just a year later, in present day Canada, our nation has started to feel the grief and dark path

The impact of WW2 played a major role in helping Canada become a more strong, united nation, with equality, respect, and human rights. To begin with, before WWII there was lots of discrimination shown towards minority groups and many other cultures in Canada and because of this Canada created some inhumane mistakes. Canada allowed internment, allowed residential schools, and violation of human rights. When the Holocaust started it was like an eye opener for Canadians because they started to experience what the Holocaust underwent. This made Canadians realize that what they had done was wrong. As stated by Margaret Hoogeveen and Sarah Murdoch in the book Creating Canada “During WW2 Canadians experienced the worst violence that war can

The British lost an estimated 275,000 casualties at Passchendaele to the German’s 220,000, making it one of the war’s most costly battles of attrition. The more populous Allies could better afford the losses, especially with the recent entry of the United States on their side, but the battle had delivered a blow to the collective morale of the British Expeditionary Force. Passchendaele, often remembered as the low point of the British war effort, remains synonymous with the terrible and costly fighting on the Western

When the war ends, the fallout of the conscription issue would continue long after. For many years the Conservative Party, which had brought in conscription, will find it hard to get votes in Quebec.

It was freezing, feet and hands numb, stomach growling at me like a bear. I needed to leave. It was 1777, George Washington and his troops arrived at Valley Forge. It was “1 mile away from Pennsylvania” (Background Essay) and nowhere to really go, and no one really wanted to go. If you were a soldier would you stay or would you leave? I would not reenlist to the army because of the sickness and diseases, terrible and harsh conditions, and being overworked and freezing.

Source III portrays that Canadian nationalism was created by the victory of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and how the battle unified and strengthened Canada as a nation. The source embraces civic nationalism and illustrates how a strong sense of patriotism for one’s country can be founded and can further inspire and establish nationalism. For example, the Canadian soldiers that fought at Vimy Ridge were patriotic and fought for Canada, and the results and rewards of the battle were significant to the war. At the time, German leaders and soldiers that fought at Vimy Ridge would disagree with the source, as they believed the Battle of Vimy Ridge did not considerably influence the outcome of the war. They would argue that although the location and

Its Wednesday, March 29, 1780, General Sir Henry Clinton has decided it is time to take over the south for the British,and his first target;Charleston,South Carolina. In the book,The American Revolution, author David F Burg states,“Charleston’s fall was the greatest defeat of the revolutionary war and left South Carolina open to British conquest.”(pg.273)This great defeat involved many causes,effects,events,and leaders that all contributed to this British win.

Ever since 9/11, Americans have felt vulnerable to another 9/11-type attack. Even today, all that is on the news are terror groups wreaking havoc all over the world. Susan Faludi wrote The Terror Dream that outlined how America came to the impression that manly men are needed to protect our nation/women. After 9/11, America needed heroes, someone to look to for inspiration. As 9/11 played over and over on television for weeks after, America found that the first responders were the heroes they were looking for. This “strong” men who risked their lives to save others was where Americans placed their admiration. However, in order to think of these men as “heroes”, Americans had to forget that many of them died on that day as well as thousands