HIST 3040/4100Y: Canada and the World since 1900
DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM History
TRENT UNIVERSITY
2011S12: Summer 2011
Instructor: Kirk Niergarth
Office Location: Traill College
Kerr House 202*
Email: kirkniergarth@trentu.ca
Office Hours: Thursdays, 1-4
or by appointment
Telephone:748 1011
ext. 6034
Aministrator: Patricia Heffernan
Email: pheffernan@trentu.ca
Office Location: LEC S101.3
Telephone: (705) 748-1011 ext.
7706
*Please note: My office is only accessible by stairs. Please contact me if this poses an accessibility problem
and we will work out appropriate accommodations
Course Format:
Type
Lecture
Seminar
Day
Monday and Wednesday
Monday and Wednesday
Time
Location
5pm – 6:50pm
DNA B104
50 min. as scheduled
Course Description: This course focuses on Canada’s international relations in the 20th century.
These relations have been economic (e.g. trade), political (e.g. diplomacy), military, and social (e.g.
immigration/emigration). Many historians of Canadian international relations, including the authors
of the course textbooks, focus on elite figures and decision makers – politicians, diplomats, and
bureaucrats. This is part, no doubt, of the story of Canada and the world, but it is not the whole
story. This course will also examine the social forces that spurred the actions of Canadian leaders on
the world stage and the effects these actions had on ordinary Canadian men and women. How did
Canadians see themselves and their country in the world and how did these visions align with reality?
Course Objectives: In this course, students will:
- Gain good general knowledge of the history of Canadian international
relations in the 20th century.
- Be able to locate and analyze primary and secondary sources to study
topics in Canadian international relations in depth.
- Demonstrate the ability to identify and critically assess the arguments of
scholarly books and articles.
- Demonstrate strong communications skills, both oral and written.
- Demonstrate the ability to lead a group in scholarly discussion.
- Make positive contributions to group discussions and assist peers, where
possible, in grappling with course material and assignments. In short,
become a contributing member of our community of scholars.
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Required Texts:
Available in the bookstore:
Norman Hillmer and J.L. Granatstein, Empire to Umpire: Canada and the World into the Twenty-First
Century 2nd Edition (Toronto: Thomson-Nelson, 2008).
Robert Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion: Canada and the World, 1945-1984 (Vancouver: UBC Press,
2007).
Additional readings available through Bata Library, online or on reserve.
3040 vs. 4100 distinctions:
Trent university fourth-year history courses normally demand approximately 100 pages of assigned
readings per seminar meeting and 40 pages of written work for a full-credit class. Third-year
courses, by comparison, demand 80 pages of assigned reading and 30 pages of written work. In this
class, readings are, in general, common for all students with a few exceptions indicated on the class
schedule below. Assignments vary principally in length. Third-year students will write between 18
and 24 pages, plus the final exam. Fourth year students will write between 26 and 32 pages, plus the
exam.
Assessment (Summary):
Tutorial leadership: 2 X 5% = 10%
Tutorial participation: 15%
Short Essay 1: Secondary Sources 15% (Due 6 June)
Short Essay 2: Primary Sources 15% (Due 27 June)
Research Essay: 20%
Exam: 25%
Tutorial Leadership (2 X 5%)
Twice during the course, a student or pair of students will be responsible for leading a part of the
seminar discussion. Students are expected to lead a discussion or activity of approximately 30
minutes duration that engages all members of the seminar and helps foster clearer understanding of
the assigned reading(s). Feel free to be inventive! Seminar leadership will be assessed on the level of
engagement with the themes and ideas of the readings and the level of interaction and participation
of all the members of the seminar.
Tutorial Participation (15%)
Students are expected to attend all tutorials and to arrive prepared to participate actively. Students
will be evaluated on the basis of their preparedness, thoughtfulness, and level of engagement. Each
absence without official documentation will result in a 10% deduction from the earned
participation grade.
For each seminar every student will prepare and submit a written question pertaining to one of the
assigned readings and a few point-form notes about probable answers. There are many ways to
write a good question, but here are two rules: 1. The question cannot be answered satisfactorily
with “yes” or “no.” 2. The question refers to a theme or issue raised by the reading, but not to a
specific detail in the reading. Your submitted questions will be returned to you in the last seminar of
the term and you will select two for grading, two others will be randomly selected. The grade on
these four questions will be worth 30% of your tutorial participation grade.
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Short Essay: How is history written? (15%)
Due: 6 June Third year = 1500-2000 words + 1 page Bibliography.
Fourth year = 2000-2500 + 1 page Bibliography.
Using Trent library, find scholarly articles or books (Third year: 2 articles or an article and a book;
Fourth year: 3 articles or an article and a book) that directly relate to the same topic, a topic covered
in lectures or readings for Canada and the World since 1900. One of your sources may be an
assigned reading (excluding the course text books). Then write an essay that compares the
arguments and evidence of your scholarly sources. Your essay should, in general, contain the
following (please note, this is not a mandatory outline for your essay!):
 An introduction describing the topic and organization of your essay (hint: avoid using the
words “this essay” in the first sentence of your essay).
 A brief summary of your book(s)/article(s) and an explanation of the main thesis of each.
 Explain the sources that inform the book(s)/article(s): What are the main secondary
sources to which the authors refer? What are the primary sources the authors use to
support their arguments?
 Compare the book(s)/article(s): What are the differences in the perspective and
interpretation between them?
 Explain the significance of the book(s)/article(s): Why do the authors think their research is
important?
 List the book(s)/article(s) in proper bibliographical format.
* Peer-editing bonus! Add up to 5% to your essay grade by editing a classmate’s essay using the
skills developed in the 1 June Academic Skills Workshop.
Short Essay: Becoming a historian (15%)
Due: 27 June
Third year = 1500-2000 words + 1 page Bibliography.
Fourth year = 2000-2500 + 1 page Bibliography.
Choose either one of the assigned course readings or an article or book you used in your first essay.
Then, as will be discussed at greater length in class, find primary sources (two for third-year,
three for fouth-year) that are directly related to the topic of your chosen reading [primary sources
are created at the time an event happens and include: newspaper articles, personal letters or diaries,
government documents (parliamentary debates, trade agreements, statutes, the census, Royal
Commission reports and more), legal records, etc]. Your essay will discuss your primary sources in
relation to your chosen reading (please note, this is not a mandatory outline for your essay!):
 Briefly summarize the topic (event, person, or theme) of your essay. Describe the time
period and what happened. Explain why the topic is historically significant.
 Describe each of your primary sources. What is it? Who created it? Why is it relevant?
 Compare your primary sources to the findings presented in your chosen secondary
source. What are the differences between the documents created at the time and the
historian’s interpretation? Does hindsight provide a different analysis and/or a deeper
understanding? This is the major part of the assignment. What information would not be
available to the writers who described the event in their own time? Are there parts of the
story that the historian chooses not to focus on?
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Research Essay: Writing History
Due: 27 July
Third year = 2000-2500 words + 1 page Bibliography.
Fourth year = 2500-3000 + 1 page Bibliography
Write an essay on a topic of your choice relevant to Canada and the World since 1900. Support your
arguments with both secondary and primary sources (Third year: minimum two secondary, two
primary; Four year: minimum three secondary, three primary). 20 minute meetings with Professor
Niergarth will be scheduled to discuss your choice of topic and appropriate sources.
*Time Management Bonus! Add 2% to your final essay score by electronically submitting a
complete draft before noon on 26 July.
Final Exam (25%)
Scheduled in the August examination period.
Grades
As outlined in the academic calendar, the numerical equivalent of letter grades are as follows:
A+ 90 – 100
B+ 77 – 79 C+ 67 – 69 D+ 57 – 59 F 0 – 49
A
85 – 89
B 73 – 76 C 63 – 66 D 53 – 56
A- 80 – 84
B- 70 – 72 C- 60 – 62 D- 50 – 52
Assignment Submission/Late Policy
Print copies of assignments must be submitted in class on the due date. After class on the due date,
late assignments will be accepted via e-mail for date of completion verification, but please submit a
print copy as soon as possible. Late assignments will be penalized at a rate of 3% per day.
Extensions will be granted in the case of physical, mental, or emotional affliction certified by a
recognized professional.
University Policies
Academic Integrity:
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic
offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set
out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself –
unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic
Integrity website to learn more: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
Access to Instruction:
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a disability
and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed in this
course, the student should contact the Disability Services Office BL 109, 748-1281,
disabilityservices@trentu.ca, as soon as possible. Complete text can be found under Access to
Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
Please see the Trent University academic calendar for University Diary dates, Academic
Information and Regulations, and University and departmental degree requirements. The
last date to withdraw from Fall courses without academic penalty is 27 June 2011.
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Class and Reading Schedule:
[NB: This reading list is subject to minor revision at the discretion of Professor Niergarth]
Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are available electronically through Trent University Library.
Readings marked with a number sign (#) are optional for third-year students.
May 9 “The Twentieth Century Belongs to Canada”: Course Overview
Unit 1: Ready, Aye, Ready – Canada and the British World
May 11 Imperial Warriors, part I: The South African War, 1899-1902
Readings:
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 1-10
Paula Hasting, “’Our Glorious Anglo-Saxon Race Shall Ever Fill Earth’s Highest Place’: The
Anglo-Saxon and the Construction of Identity in Late-Nineteenth Century Canada,” and
Patricia Dirks, “Canada’s Boys – An Imperial or National Asset? Responses to BadenPowell’s Boy Scout Movement in Pre-War Canada,” in Canada and the British World: Culture,
Migration, and Identity, Phillip Buckner and R.Douglas Francis, eds. (Vancouver: UBC Press,
2006): 92-110, 111-128.*
May 16 The North Atlantic Triangle at the turn of the Century: Canada and the AngloAmerican rapprochement
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 11-46.
Edward P. Kohn, This Kindred People: Canadian American Relations and the Anglo-Saxon Idea,
1895-1903 (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s, 2004) Chapter 5: 167-195.*
May 18 Immigrant Nation: Canada’s immigration policies to 1914
Ninette Kelly and M.J. Trebilcock, The Making of the Mosaic (1998), Chapter 4: 111-163.*
W. Peter Ward, White Canada Forever: Popular Attitudes and Public Policy Toward Orientals in
British Columbia 3rd Edition (Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002): 53-93.*
Kirk Niergarth, “‘This continent must belong to the white races’: William Lyon Mackenzie
King, Canadian diplomacy and immigration law, 1908.” International History Review 32.4
(December 2010) 599-617.*#
May 23-Holiday
May 25 Imperial Warriors, part II: Canada and the First World War, 1914-1918
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 47-65.
Tim Cook, “The Madman and the Butcher: Sir Sam Hughes, Sir Arthur Currie, and Their
War of Reputations,” The Canadian Historical Review 85, 4, December 2004: 693-719.*
Tim Cook, “Documenting War and Forging Reputations: Sir Max Aitken and the CWRO in
the First World War,” War in History 2003 10 (3): 265–295.*
May 30: No class.
June 1: Academic Skills Workshop
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June 6 – A fractious peace: 1919
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 65-74.
Ben Isitt, “Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, 1918,” The Canadian Historical Review 87.2
(June 2006): 223-264.*
Tom Mitchell, “’Repressive Measures': A. J. Andrews, the Committee of 1000 and the
Campaign Against Revolution After the Winnipeg General Strike" Left History (1995-1996
Fall/Spring): 133-167.*
ESSAY 1: DUE
Unit 2: Make This Your Canada – Independence, Depression, and War
June 8 Canada First in the 1920s
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 75-99.
Rebecca Mancuso, "For Purity or Prosperity: Competing Nationalist Visions and Canadian
Immigration Policy, 1919-30." British Journal of Canadian Studies 23, no. 1 (January 1, 2010): 123.*
June 13 A Low Dishonest Decade, I: Bennett and the Empire
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 101-118.
Anthony O’Brien and Judith McDonald, “Retreat from Protectionism: R. B. Bennett
and the Movement to Freer Trade in Canada, 1930–1935,” Journal of Policy History 21.4
(2009).*
James Eayrs, “A Low Dishonest Decade”: Aspects of Canadian External Policy, 1931-1939”
Readings in Canadian History: Post-Confederation 5th edition, Douglas Francis and Donald Smith,
eds. (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1998): 347-362.
June 15 A Low Dishonest Decade, II: The Gathering Storm
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 118-136.
Irving Abella and Harold Troper, None is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948
3rd Edition (Toronto: Key Porter, 2000): 1-66.*
June 20 Canada and the Second World War, I.
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 137-160.
Patricia Roy, The triumph of citizenship : the Japanese and Chinese in Canada, 1941-67 (Vancouver:
UBC Press, 2007): 16-111.*#
June 22: Canada, reconstruction, and the rights revolution.
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 10-40
Christopher MacLennan, Towards the Charter: Canadians and the Demand for a National Bill of
Rights (McGill Queen’s, 2003): 33-82.*
Unit 3: Cold War Canada
June 27 Gouzenko and the dawn of the Cold War
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 41-72
Mark Kristmanson, Plateaus of Freedom (Don Mills: Oxford,2003): 137-180.
Essay 2: Due
6
June 29 Middle Power in a Super Powers’ World: Canada from Korea to Suez
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 73-133
Hector Mackenzie, “Golden Decade(s)? Reappraising Canada’s International
Relations in the 1940s and 1950s,” British Journal of Canadian Studies 23.2 (2010): 179-206.*
July 4 Ambivalent Ally: Diefenbaker’s Canada and the United States
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 134-178
Bryan Palmer, Canada’s 1960s: The Ironies of Identity in a Rebellious Era (Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 2009): 49-73.
July 6: Ambivalent Ally, part II: Pearson’s Canada and the United States
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 179-236
David Churchill, “SUPA, Selma, and Stevenson: The Politics of Solidarity in mid-1960s
Toronto” Journal of Canadian Studies 44.2 (Spring 2010): 32-69.*
July 11: Expo ’67, Trudeaumania and the reinvention of Canada
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 237-294
Myra Rutherdale and Jim Miller, “It’s our country: First Nations’ Participation in the Indian
Pavilion at Expo ’67,” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 17, no. 2 (July 2006): 148173.*
Unit 4: Life in the Global Village
July 13: The Just Society? 1971-1984
Bothwell, Alliance and Illusion, 295-370
Thomas S. Axworthy, “’To Stand Not So High Perhaps but Always Alone’: The Foreign
Policy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau,” Towards a Just Society, Axworthy and Trudeau eds.
(Markham: Viking, 1990): 12-48.#
July 18: Irish Eyes are Smiling: Mulroney, Reagan and the new North America
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 273-302.
Nelson Michaud and Kim Richard Nossal, Diplomatic Departures: The Conservative Era in
Canadian Foreign Policy (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2001): 25-58.*
Jeffrey Ayres, “Political Economy, Civil Society, and the Deep Integration Debate in
Canada,” American Review of Canadian Studies (Winter 2004): 621-647.*#
July 20: Team Canada: Canada in the World from Chretien to Martin
Hillmer and Granatstein, Empire to Umpire, 303-342.
Sherene Razack, “From the 'Clean Snows of Petawawa': The Violence of Canadian
Peacekeepers in Somalia,”Cultural Anthropology 15.1 (February 2000):127-164.*
Donald Barry, “Chretien, Bush, and the War in Iraq,” The American Review of Canadian Studies
(Summer 2005): 215-245.*#
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July 25: From Peace Keepers to Warrior Nation: Canada and the Challenges of the 21st
Century
Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf
Adam Chapnick, “A ‘Conservative’ National Story? The Evolution of Citizenship and
Immigration Canada’s Discover Canada,” The American Review of Canadian Studies 41.1 (March
2011): 20-36.*
Michael Goldfield and Bryan D, Palmer, “Canada's Workers Movement: Uneven
Developments,” Labour/Le Travail, 59 (Spring 2007), 149-177.*#
July 27: Exam Review.
Essay 3 Due
Exam August 2-3
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