Political Problems
Sam Hughes was the minister of Militia and was responsible for war supplies and Basic training for Canadian troops which was poorly organized.
Sam Hughes was a poor man who made financial deals and accepted bribes from his friends for their advantage.
($170 million dollars was given away and only $5.5 million dollars used for shell production)
Some of Sam Hughes decisions were so terrible they caused countless amounts of deaths and injuries
(trench toe, Ross rifle)
War Purchasing Commission
Sam Hughes was eventually fired Due to his terrible contributions, which ultimately spared Canada's troops.
The new PM Borden employed Joseph Flavelle who was wealthy enough to not accept bribes.
Economic Issues
The War Measures Act
Introduced by Robert Borden in 1914
Before the War Canada faced a recession
and 1000's of Canadians were out of a job
The War Measures act allowed the Prime Minister to go over the heads of the cabinets and do anything he deemed necessary for the security of Canada which angered countless amounts of people.
The country faced a drought which caused
farmer's to lose more crops and money then they expected
Immigrants from Germany and Austrian-Hungarian were considered "Enemy Aliens" and forced into
internment camps
A majority of the jobs lost came from the railway
industry because of the sizable debt Canada
accrued in the building of the railroad
Expansion
The outbreak of war was our economy's
saving grace
The introduction of the Shell Committee
created many new jobs in Canada and by
1917 Canada was manufacturing 1/3 of the
shells used by British Forces
War Bonds
The government also issued war bonds to help alleviate the nation's debt
Government bonds were aimed at investors
with deep pockets while Victory bonds were
aimed at the General public
The Victory bonds were extremely successful
and by the end of 1915 over a hundred
million dollars worth of them were sold
Canada lost millions of dollars in revenue when the ships were sunk
Income "War" Tax
Started to raise money for War
Collected 3% of your total income
Was supposed to be temporary, but
still exists to this day
To combat this Convoys were made to safely escort our ships to Britain
Canadian Merchants
Canada was a part of the Merchant Navy and we were responsible for the transport of cargo from Canadian factories to
the front lines
This helped our economy greatly but the Germans soon put a stop to that with the introduction of U-boats that sunk many of the ships destined for Britain
Conscription
Prime minister Borden introduced the Military Service Bill. This forced men aged 19-45 to get shipped off and fight for Canada.
The Military service Bill angered people in Montreal and Quebec which led to riots in the streets against it
404,000 men were called upon with over
300,000 applying for exemptions for medical
issues.
Social Change
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Split between the English and French
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was dubbed "Canada's birth as a Nation" for good reason, Canada succeeded were nations more powerful than it failed
PM Borden caused rift to from
between Francophone and the
English with Conscription
Because of his victory Canada gained international respect as we finally made our mark in the war and were finally not seen as Britain's "little brother" anymore
Francophones were against the war
while the English supported it
Because of their different outlooks on
the war both sides grew apart
Women During The War
Women were first treated poorly and could not participate the war even if they wanted to.
(Women were thought to be only "Housewives")
While men fought during the war, women worked in manual labour jobs outside their homes.
(Sent mail and knitted)
Women after the War
Eventually new roles were available to women such as field nurses, drivers and some were also hired to make weapons in factories.
Women no longer seen as just housewives and used this to bring about the suffrage movement
Many women were persecuted for this but in the end they got what they wanted
Government had no excuse to deny women
right to vote as they paid taxes now because of their
jobs
Propaganda
Propaganda used to gather support for
the War effort
Encouraged people to join the army or give the Government money