World War I (1914–1918)

The military history of Canada during World War I began on August 4, 1914, when the United
Kingdom entered the First World War (1914–1918) by declaring war on Germany. The British
declaration of war automatically brought Canada into the war, because it was part of the
Commonwealth, but the government could still determine exactly how involved the country would
be in the war. On August 4, 1914, the Governor General declared a war between Canada and
Germany. The Militia was not mobilized and instead an independent Canadian Expeditionary Force
was raised.
Canada's sacrifices and contributions to the Great War changed its history and enabled it to become
more independent, while also opening a deep rift between the French and English speaking
populations. For the first time in Canadian military history, Canadian forces fought as a distinct unit,
first under a British commander but ultimately under a Canadian-born commander.

AFTER WWI
First, there was the military aspect. In 1914, Canada had a tiny standing army, a two-ship navy and
no air force. By the end of the war, 620,000 men and women had put on a uniform, an extraordinary
effort from a population of just eight million. The war’s impact on the relatives of those serving at
the front was incalculable. The Canadian Patriotic Fund raised money to help families whose
breadwinner was overseas, but nothing could compensate for the war’s losses.

In economic terms, the impact of the war was more measurable. As the war went on, munitions and
other war-related factories sprang up across the country. The need for uniforms and soldiers’
equipment was huge, and initially patronage and shoddy work determined almost everything. The
Imperial Munitions Board, founded in November 1915 with financial magnate Joseph Flavelle in
command, soon had more than 600 factories churning out vast quantities of artillery shells, fuses
and explosives, and building aircraft and naval vessels. Flavelle’s factories, spread across the country
but concentrated in Quebec and Ontario, employed 250,000 men and 30,000 women. The
workshops attracted rural laborers into the cities, creating a housing crisis and putting agricultural
production, as essential for the war effort as munitions, in great difficulty.

The Canadian Council of Agriculture, formed in 1909, represented provincial agricultural

organizations, and the war increased its political activity. The war dramatically changed old party
politics, too. Conscription, or compulsory military service, was the dominating issue in the 1917
election, the Borden government using it as a club to break the Liberal Party into pro- and anti-
conscription wings.

Then there was inflation and the rising cost of living. The federal government had not really tried to
control prices, and wartime shortages and rationing—introduced late in the war—drove up the costs
of food and almost everything else. The rich never did pay, and profiteering was rife.

The war touched everything, even the ties that bound Canada to the Empire. The government had
begun the war with the idea that it was business as usual and that Great Britain would pay the costs
incurred by Canada. Neither idea lasted very long in what quickly became a total war. Soon, Britain
was so strapped that it could not even lend money to Ottawa, and the government felt forced to
seek a loan of $40 million in New York, a first for the Dominion. More loans would follow, and
Ottawa had to beg and borrow for relief, as Britain by 1917 had become unable to pay for wartime
shipments from Canada, and the war hugely increased imports of specialized metals and machinery
needed for munitions production from the United States.

How the First World War changed Canada (macleans.ca)

The First World War further industrialized Canada. Munition factories were built in many cities. This,
in turn, contributed to urbanization. Women had more opportunities because of the war. Many
women worked in munitions factories. Women who had a husband, brother or son in the military
could vote in federal elections. Women serving in the military could also vote. The war gave the
state a large role in the Canadian economy. The state planned what would be produced and the
prices of products. Before the war, the state played a small role in the economy.

The war made many Canadians prouder of being a Canadian than ever before. Thanks to the war,
Canada became more independent from Britain than ever before as well. The war also set a
precedent when it came to the loss of rights and freedoms. Canadians lost these rights and freedoms
when the government invoked the War Measures Act. It would do so again during the Second World
War. Lastly, the war left a tragic legacy for families across Canada. Tens of thousands of soldiers
never returned home.

World War II (10 SEPTEMBER 1939–15 AUGUST 1945)

Slide 1
Historical overview: Under Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist (Nazi) party, Germany wanted to
expand its territory and conquer Europe. Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. France and
Britain went to war, with Canada standing by the allies when it declared war separately on 10
September 1939. The conflict would expand into the Second World War—the deadliest war the
world has ever known.
The Second World War was a total war involving most elements of society. Canadians contributed in
many ways, fighting overseas, defending the country at home, and producing the weapons of war
and food for Allied Nations. With massive support and incredible exertions demanded of most
Canadians, few were left untouched by the war.
Slide 2
The 1931 Statute of Westminster gave Canada autonomy in foreign policy. When Britain entered
World War II in September 1939, some experts suggested that Canada was still bound by Britain's
declaration of war because it had been made in the name of their common monarch, but Prime
Minister King again said that "Parliament will decide." It had been clear that Canada would elect to
participate in the war before the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939.
Four days after the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September 1939, Parliament was called in
special session and both King and Manion stated their support for Canada following Britain, but did
not declare war immediately, partly to show that Canada was joining out of her own initiative and
was not obligated to go to war. Canada's armed forces were small, poorly equipped, and for the
most part unprepared for war in 1939.
On 10 Sep 1939, Canada produced a declaration of war for the approval of King George VI of the
United Kingdom, which was approved immediately. In the ten days since Germany's invasion of
Poland, Canada purchased US$20,000,000 worth of arms from the United States in preparation for
war.
Slide 3
The Canadian Army was the largest branch of the Canadian military at the start of the European
War; it had 4,261 officers and men in the permanent army and 51,000 in the reserves. That number
grew dramatically during the course of the war.
By mid-1942, the size of the Canadian Army increased to over 400,000, and
by the end of the war, over 730,000 men and women. Initially lacking properly equipment and
weapons, the Allied war effort quickly remedied that problem.

On the industrial front, Canadian factories built more than 800,000 trucks for the Allied war effort.
Many historians, including those who wrote the British Official History, cited Canada's truck
production being Canada's greatest contribution to the eventual Allied victory. Soldiers of the
Canadian Army fought in the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941, the Dieppe Raid in 1942, the invasion of
Sicily and then Italy in 1943, the Normandy landings in 1944, the liberation of the Netherlands, and
the advance into the heart of Germany that ended in 1945.The Royal Canadian Navy boasted only a
small fleet of 15 ships, but the mere 1,800 officers in active service were very well trained, thanks to
exchange programs with the British Royal Navy.

In Sep 1939, the Royal Canadian Air Force had 4,061 personnel, only 235 of which were pilots. Out of
the 275 aircraft available, only 19 were considered modern. The RCAF was the weakest of Canada's
military branches, but that did not diminish Canada's contribution to the Allied war effort in the air
at the start. During WW2, Canada ran the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan; they played a
part in the Allied advance across Western Europe, among other successful campaigns. In addition,
thousands of Canadians fought under the banner of the British Royal Air Force. On the civilian front,
Canada produced more than 16,000 aircraft of various types. President of the United States Franklin
Roosevelt praised Canada as the "aerodrome of democracy". During the war, Canada supplied 40%
of the Allies' total aluminum production. The number for nickel was even higher at 95%. Wheat
production was also increased dramatically, along with other civilian products that aided the war
effort. Canadians defended the east and the west coasts and fought in a series of long and difficult
campaigns — on land, at sea and in the air — to defeat the German, Italian and Japanese forces.

AFTER WWII
The Second World War brought many changes to Canada; Canada had an economic boom, the
government was necessarily more centralized during the war, and it remained so afterwards.The
economy had prospered because of the war, and in Alberta, there was an economic boom due to
the discovery of new oil fields in 1947.
But the human devastation of the Second World War is difficult to comprehend. More than 1.1
million Canadian men and women served in the armed forces. The home front was largely directed
to winning the war. The cost of victory was high with almost 42,000 Canadians killed before
Germany was defeated in May 1945 and Japan in August of the same year.
Canada contributed significantly to the Allied victory in this war. As well as many other countries
involved, Canada was transformed. More than a million veterans came home to lead Canada into the
prosperous second half of the twentieth century. There was increased urbanization,
industrialization, state intervention in the lives of Canadians, interconnected trade with the United
States, and a widespread desire for greater commitment in world affairs.
https://www.warmuseum.ca/learn/canada-and-the-second-world-war/