Canada & WW 1, 1914 1918
War on the Home Front
Support for the War Effort
People on the home front
were encouraged to make
sacrifices to ensure victory in
Europe
Victory Gardens
ate less meat, sugar, butter,
bread so soldiers would have
enough
Prairie students dismissed
early to bring in harvests
Terror on the Home Front
Halifax Explosion Dec. 6, 1917
2000 people killed, thousands
more injured and homeless
Mont Blanc (French munitions
ship) collided with the Belgian
ship Imo
Blast felt 320 km away
One of the worst disasters in
Canadian history
Enemy Aliens
1914 – 500,000 German,
Austrian & Hungarian
people living in Canada
Government used War
Measures Act to hold over
8597 enemy aliens in labour
camps
Majority were Ukrainians
Berlin changed to Kitchener
The Changing Role of Gov’t
Hoarding by some
business people led to
profiteering
Government encouraged
honour rationing (e.g.
Meatless Mondays)
Victory Bonds needed to
pay for cost of war ($1
million per day)
New Roles for Women
Men at war  women worked in factories & on farms
Suffragists – voting rights for women
Wartime Elections Act – women who had male family in war
could vote in 1917 election
Dominion Elections Act 1920 – all women could vote
Conscription
Conscription Crisis 1917 – men dying more than enlisting so
shortage of soldiers  English support / French DO NOT
support conscripting men
Military Service Bill – men 20-45 yrs old had to join armed
forces, but not pacifists
PM Borden won election of 1917  riots in Quebec
End of World War 1
November 11, 1918 Germany surrendered after no supplies left
to fight
Canada  60,661 dead / 173,000 wounded out of 8 million
Peace Treaty of Versailles – unfairly blames Germany for the war
 must pay for damages  League of Nations useless
Canada more independent of Britain