 Munitions
factories
started building
ships and airplanes
in addition to shells
 Canadian goods
(lumber, copper,
wheat) in high
demand overseas
 Led to scarcity
within Canada,
which led to
inflation
 Allowed
federal government more power than
ever before
 Imposed regulations limiting freedom of
Canadians
 Immigrants from Germany and AustroHungarian Empire treated harshly
 New
tech and a large
number of troops
made WWI very
expensive
 Canadians urged to
buy Victory Bonds;
could cash them in,
with interest, after
the war
 Income
tax introduced to help pay country’s
debts: 3% from the wealthy, 4% from
businesses (too low?)
 Still not gathering enough money, forced to
loan money from other countries (especially
USA)
 More
on this tomorrow!
 Mont
Blanc, a French ship transporting 2500
tonnes of dynamite, accidentally collided
with another ship
 Resulting explosion devastated Halifax’s
harbour and much of the city
 2000-3000 people killed, 10 000+ injured
 Many
thousands of Canadian men killed and
seriously injured
 PM Borden made enlistment compulsory
(Military Service Act)
• Not enough men voluntarily signing up to fight
• Realized Allies needed many more men to win war
• Some exemptions: disabled, clergy, those with
essential jobs/skills, conscientious objectors
 Controversial
issue
which divided Frenchand English-Canadians
 French saw Military
Service Act as forcing
them to fight war that
they didn’t feel was
theirs
 QC nationalist Henri
Bourassa very outspoken
about his disagreement
 Farmers also opposed
 PM
Borden called election over issue
 Prior to election, passes two new bills to help
him win:
• Military Voters Act (allowed men and women
overseas to vote)
• Wartime Elections Act (gave vote to all Canadian
women directly related to servicemen)
 Cancelled
vote for conscientious objectors +
immigrants from enemy countries
 Borden
invited opposition Liberals in favour
of conscription to form wartime Union
Government
 Laurier, Liberal leader, opposed to
conscription
 Union Gov’t won election (with much support
from armed forces + related women)
 Quebec still against
 404
000 men called up
 380 500 applied for exemptions (medical or
otherwise)
 130 000 enlisted
 25 000 reached France before end of war
 Overall:
65 000
 Battle of the Somme: 24 029 (+ 2000 from
Newfoundland)
 Vimy Ridge: 10 602 casualties (3598 killed, 7004
wounded)
 Paris
Peace Conference is next