It was 96 years ago, on August 4, 1914, when the First World War began and Canada, then part of the British Empire, was automatically at war.
The war had a profound effect on our young country which had been a dominion for less than 50 years. At the start of World War I, we had a regular army of just 3,110 men and a fledgling navy. By the end of the war, from a population of 8 million, nearly 620,000 had served in the Canadian Forces. About 66,000, or one in ten, were killed. Another 172,000 were wounded.
Canada's sacrifices in the war brought more autonomy from Great Britain, and Canada independently signed the Treaty of Versailles and took a role in the League of Nations.
There were huge social changes because of the war too. Government had become involved in the lives of Canadians, beginning what eventually became a system of social welfare. The war also left Canada with a debt of $2-billion and high unemployment. And it opened up new differences between Canadians - over conscription, labour issues and agriculture policy.
Photo: Canadian Wounded at Battle of Vimy Ridge
W.I. Castle / Canada. Dept. of National Defence /
Library and Archives Canada / PA-001125
More on Canada in World War I
In Flanders Fields
Pictures of the Battle of Vimy Ridge
Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Canada in World War I
Comments
If Canada had made such a sacrifice, what did Canada sacrifice, as Canada is nothing more than a comany named ‘Canada Incorporated’. The resources they tapped was not of their own. The resources they tapped into is in the legal ownership of the Aboriginal Peoples. Although the Aboriginal Peoples were not required to fight in any war aboriginal men and women had joined, fought, and died, but were never mentioned until they had to release information on the fact that the use of Code Talkers were used to communicate over the radio waves, thus winning the wars. The point being that Canada is not a member of the United Nations as Canada does not have a land base. Any land that Canada claims still belongs to the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada. All the land is in the ownership of the Aboriginal Peoples. Canada only assumes to own the land by putting its name on it, but there is not one treaty agreed to to back up that assumption. Canada steals land long enough to extract the resources from the land then leaves behind poisons to flow in the streams without the intention of ever cleaning up after itself. Mainly because Canada allows foreign entities to come in and steal the resources from stolen land and reap the benefits for the foreign entities and Canada, not one cent goes to the benefit of the Aboriginal Peoples, thus that is theft. Then to charge taxes on a resource they don’t even own is criminal and those responsible are not prosecuted. Those 1% who are suppose to have all the money in the worls will have to be paced in jail for the crimes against humanity. The sooner the better for us all.
It was their choice to join in the war was it not? You can not blame an intire country for something that has happened. This is about what we did in the war not who fought. We have done many things for the Aboriginals