The War at Home
The War on the Home Front
 What the war looked like in Canada
Sacrifice
Halifax Explosion
Enemy Aliens
Role of Government
The Economy
Conscription
New Roles of Women
Propaganda
Sacrifice
 To finance the war, Canada introduced
many cost-cutting measures.
 Canadians were faced with food rations
and mandatory waste reduction
 Daylight savings time was introduced to
reduce energy use
 Communities had fundraisers to help send
money and materials to the troops
Sacrifice
Halifax Explosion, 1917
 The Halifax Explosion brought the
bloodshed of Europe to Canada
 A French munitions ship carrying
explosives crashed into another ship in
the Halifax harbour
Halifax Explosion, 1917
 Flattened large area of Halifax
 Fires went through the city
 Huge tidal wave tossed ships onto the
land
 Killed over 2,000 people
Halifax Explosion, 1917
 Over $30 million dollars was donated
from around the world to help Halifax
rebuild the city.
Enemy Aliens
 Residents of Canada who were born in
the countries that Canada was at war
with were known as enemy aliens
 500,000 enemy aliens were living in
Canada
 Fears of sabotage and spying
Enemy Aliens
 Canada used the War Measures Act
to place restrictions on enemy aliens.
 Enemy aliens could be arrested or
searched at any time.
 Were sent to remote internment camps
Enemy Aliens – Internment
Camps
Enemy Aliens
 Under the War Measures Act the
government introduced censorship
 Banned the publication of books and
magazines in enemy languages.
Enemy Aliens – Internment
Camps
Censorship
 Censorship was introduced because the government did
not want the people to know what it was really like in the
war.
 They needed people to join
 The government started to publish newspapers
 Letters sent by soldiers were censored (examined)
before being delivered to make sure they were not
complaining about the war life
Role of the Government
 During the war, food and fuel became
limited and prices soared
 Winter of 1918 schools and factories
closed because they had no heating.
Role of the Government
 Honour Rationing was introduced
 Citizens limited themselves to a certain
amount of food.
 Ex. Two pounds of sugar a month
 Prohibition – the ban on the sale of alcohol
Role of the Government
 The war cost the government over $1 million
dollars a day
 Government encouraged Canadians to buy
victory bonds.
 People bought bonds, which was lending the
government money to be used to help the
war.
 After the war the bonds could be cashed for a
profit.
Victory Bonds
Role of the Government
 1917 income tax was introduced to
help pay for the war.
 Was intended to be a temporary tax.
 But still paid today
The Economy
 During the war, Canadian debt increased
dramatically to finance the war.
 After war was declared, factories started to
produce much more to supply the war.
 Farmers were encouraged to produce as
much as they could to help the war effort
 As a result Canada’s economy boomed until
the end of the war.
Conscription
 By 1917 volunteer enlistments were not
keeping up with the number of men
being killed or wounded
 Conscription was proposed
 Conscription is compulsory military
service
Conscription
 Canadians were divided on the topic of
conscription
 English speakers felt the French
speakers were not helping out enough
Conscription
French Canadien View of
Conscription
 French speakers did not feel like they
had to help Britain in the war
 Canada’s French population felt no
connection to France
 French felt like second class citizens in
Canada because their language was
no longer taught in many provinces
French Canadian View of
Conscription
 Were also angered by the Minister of
Militia, Sam Hughes, having the training
programs all completed in English in
Valcartier, Quebec.
Military Service Bill
 Prime Minister Borden introduced the
Military Service Bill in 1917
 Made conscription compulsory for
males between 20 and 35
 Only men who were sick or
conscientous objectors/pacifists
were not forced to join
Conscientous
objectors/pacifists
 Those people that believed fighting
was against their religious beliefs
Conscription
 Many people believed it was a moral
duty
 People were very angry at pacifists
(against the war due to religion) who
did not participate in the war
Conscription
 Affected Canadian politics
 Prime Minister Borden (conservatives) wanted
Wilfred Laurier (liberals) to form a Union
Government (a joint government) to show
Canada’s commitment to the war
 Laurier refused to join the conservatives since
they opposed conscription
Conscription
 1917 election was fought mostly on the issue
of conscription
 French-Canadien nationalist Henri Bourassa
led a campaign against conscription
 Union Government (Conservatives with a
few English speaking Liberals) won the most
seats
Conscription
 Conscription made the relations
between French Canadiens and
English Canadians even worse then it
already was
New Roles for Women
 During WW1 hundreds of women volunteered
overseas as nurses and ambulance drivers
 At home the number of women employed in
industry, banks, and police forces greatly
increased.
 These jobs were considered unsuitable for
women before 1914
New Roles for Women
New Roles for Women
 Since women were helping out with the
war they started to demand the right to
vote
 Members of this movement were called
suffragettes
New Roles for Women
 1916 women granted the right to vote in
most provinces.
 1917 the Wartime Elections Act granted
the federal right to vote to the mothers,
sisters, and wives of soldiers
 By the end of the war almost all women over
the age of 21 had the right to vote federally
Voting
 Still did not have the right to vote federally
Aboriginal women
Most aboriginal men
Asians
Other minority groups
Propaganda
 Propaganda is any strategy used to
persuade people to believe in a certain
idea
 During WW1 propaganda was used to
persuade people to join the Armed
Forces and to influence how people felt
about the war
Propaganda
 Enlistment posters encouraged people
to vote for a union government in 1917
election
 TV was not invented yet, and radios
were rare. Newspapers and posters
were the best way of communication
Propaganda
 Government did not want people to find
out how terrible the war was
so the government controlled what was
printed.
 Prevented the Canadian population
from reading about the truth
Propaganda
Total War
 All of the resources of a nation are
organized for one purpose - to win the
war.
 War Front - where armies fought
 Home Front - production, enlisting
troops, financing, and organizing
Total War
 Most countries introduced conscription
Why?
 War bonds were introduced and sold to the public
 Income tax introduced
 Women took non-traditional jobs
 Children were even used to collect materials
 Industries were changed to mass produce war
materials