Notes On Canada’s Involvement In The War

- While Italy and Germany were doing their thing, Canada did not really care and did not pay
attention.
- Canadians were unprepared for war when war was declared in 1939 because:
- Memories of ww1→ they did not want another conflict
- Pacifism
- There were alot of people in Canada who thought that war and violence were
unjustifiable and promoted peace. (The Women’s International League for Peace)
- Great Depression
- Canada was in it’s 10th year of the depression and therefore there were still over a million
people in relief camps
- Foreign politics seemed irrelevant when Canadians had issues about clothing, food, jobs,
shelter.
- Isolationism
- Canada, like the US, followed isolationism during the 1930's.
- Joined the League of Nations but wasn’t involved because they wanted to avoid conflicts
at all cost.
- Many politicians believed that Canadians lived in a fireproof house because they lived so
far away from Europe's conflicts and hatreads.
- Others thought that Canada's population was too small to have a major impact in work
resolutions.
- Political leadership
- PM King was mainly still looking after Canada's foreign affairs.
- With only 7 diplomatic missions abroad, Canada did not have much contact.
- King’s concern was towards Canada's unity because he didn’t want a divide similar to the
one in 1914-1918.
- He also wanted to protect the autonomy (independence) of Canada because he didn't want
Canada to get involved and dragged into British imperial conflicts like in the past.
- Appeasement
- King had highly supported the policy of appeasement in the Munich Agreement of 1938.
- King, like many other leaders had misjudged the Fascist threat and Hitlers character in
general.
- King really liked hitler and thought that he was not a serious threat
- Those famous quotes about his eyes etc

CANADA DECLARES WAR

- 1939, 7 days after Britain declared war, Canada declares war on 10 September 1939
- Canadians were shocked. There was no enthusiasm. (few if anything, few parades)
- 1939 Canada had to enter the war because they were no longer a colony bound to britain.
- This was momentous because this was the first time Canada declared war by itself.
- Declared it on GERMANY
- The USA did not declare war against hitler at this time.
- Britain was still Canada’s greatest ally.
 - Recent visit by Royal family had increased canadian support for Britain
- Few voices protested towards the declaration of war.
- Only JS Woodsworth voted against.
- The war had come to canada on 3rd sept 1939 a week before canada declared war when the
passengers on the Athenia was taken by german submarine. 200 of 1500 were canadian. Helped
people see that Nazi’s were a threat and encouraged the war effort.

Canadian Preparations
- At first there were only 10,000 soldiers in the armed forces.
- Because of the great depression, there was lack of budget only 35mil
- Very little tanks, atilerary, guns, vessels, and air power.
- Canada was quick to respond but didn’t want to give too much help (limited)
- Sending 40,000 troops and acting mainly as a supplier of food, and war materials.
- WANTED TO AVOID CONSCRIPTION AT ALL COSTS
- War measures act enlisted, and started making things for war
- Producing aircraft
- Flying bases
- Bombing ranges
- To help fund, war taxes were announced on 12 sept 1939.
- End of September, 58,000 people had enlisted in Canada.
- Many were unemployed men who were grateful to get a new pair of boots
- Base pay of $1.30
- Everyone volunteered
- Over 5 years, the numbers increased drastically
- More flying schools, and participation by canada
- First convoy left on 16 sept for England.
- In Jan 1040, 23,000 were in britain (most were untrained however)
- The hope was that the war would be done quickly, and easily.

AT WAR:
- In 1940, hitlers army crushed polish defenses because of technology.
- Germany took over denmark, netherlands, belgium, norway.
- After, Hitler went after france because that was his plan to get control of the world
- For the 2nd time in 25 years, german troops went over the french border
- Thousands of British troops had rushed across the English channel to help france. But the British
didn’t send a crazy amount though.
- General McNaughton insisted on kieeping Canadian troops together to fight as a unit.
- The germans advanced rapidly into france, and used a method called blitzkrieg and circling to
back up most if not all of the troops in one area of france near the english channel and known as
the seaport of Dunkirk.
- Canadians helped in the evacuation of Dunkirk on the French coast.
- 300,000 soldiers were rescued.
- FRANCE FELL IN 6 WEEKS
 - Germany let France have some area (southern france) but it was still ‘captured’ land
- This made the allies think that France was on their side.
- Almost all of Europe was dominated by the Axis powers.
- King wanted a short war, but that wasn’t the case because now Britain was on its own and was
very dependent on Canada’s help for materials and men.
- Britain was being bombed day and night by germans and Britain needed food and supplies.
Canada was reluctant but moved to center stage in the war.

Definitions Chart:
“master race” - Aryan race ~ Germans and Caucasian people (no jews) that had blue eyes, were tall,
Racially pure.
anti-Semitism - Against Jews (prejudice/hate against jews)
Dictator - someone who lead a fascist type government (total power)
Nuremberg Laws - The Nuremberg Race Laws were legislative acts, and case law in the gradual process
by which the Nazi leadership moved Germany from a democracy to a dictatorship. Jews were a race
defined by birth and by blood.
- It made it illegal to marry a jew for the Protection of German Blood
- Made it true that jews were not considered German because of their blood.
Kristallnacht - The night of broken glass ~ Nazi officials disguised the organized nature of the pogroms
& violence against the Reich’s Jews
Fascism - Type of leadership where one government (person even) is leading the nation
- Extreme nationalism & militarism
St. Louis - A boat where 900 jewish people came and asked for Canada and other nations (USA) to take
in them to seek refuge but Canada said no to all.
- Went back and many died.
Munich Agreement - Formalised appeasement between germany and the allied forces so that germany
can take a small part of czechoslovakia but then germany broke that promise.
Axis Powers - opposite of the Allies & consisted mainly of Germany, Japan and Italy.
Dunkirk - Port channel of France where the French and British were cornered to.

2. Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false and explain why.
a) A dictator depends on force to stay in power.
Yes, true. This is true because not everyone will agree with facism therefore without power this
will fail
b) France, Britain, and Canada gave in to Hitler with appeasement because Germany had promised to pay
reparations.
True, but it was also because Britain did not want to go into another war.
c) Canada, Britain, and France approved of Hitler’s actions when he seized other countries.
False, when Germany took Poland, Britain and France declared war.
d) France and Britain declared war on Germany when Austria was taken over.
False, France and Britain declared war when Poland was taken.
e) When Britain declared war on Germany, Canada was also automatically at war.
False, Canada declared war independently, and chose to go to war but mainly on the homefront
by supplying the countries with equipment and some equipment 7 days later.
f) Canada was a refuge for Jews fleeing Europe
False, when the boat came, Canada turned around 900 jews away.

3. Decide whether each of the following statements is fact or opinion. Explain.

a) Hitler caused World War 2
Opinion because there were many factors into Germany declaring war. And not just one man can
declare war, there needs to be an army, and people that are willing to help support an ideology.
b) Inflation and unemployment were serious problems in Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
This is a fact, as there is much proof of this. For instance, Germany had to create a new currency
to help combat the struggles of inflation and needed to get help from the USA as well.

c) Prime Minister Mackenzie King should not have agreed to the appeasement of Germany.
This is clearly an opinion because some agree with this statement and some disagree. King had 2
options and there was no right answer at that time because no one could know what Hitler would do.

d) Canada was not ready to enter a war with Germany in 1939.

This is a fact because Canada’s men were in Depression, and the economy was struggling.

e) Fascism had no appeal to Canadians.

This is an opinion because some Canadians were for Fascism.

4. a) Provide evidence that anti-Semitism existed in Canada in the 1930s.

There were many groups formed in agreement with what hitler was doing, and knowing he was an
anti-semite, these groups were also anti-semits. In addition, Canada had to create a law during the
beginning of WW2 to abolish these groups, and send the leaders to jail.
b) Provide evidence that not all Canadians supported anti-Semitism.
Many Canadians were fighting for democracy, hence why there was no retaliation against the war efforts
beginning. This was also seen in Spain as Canadians still went despite Canada’s rules of not applying
themselves in foreign affairs.

5. a) Define racism and explain why the Nazi actions were racist.
Racism is when there is a prejudice based on solely how someone looks, particularly their skin. The
actions of the Nazi were racist because they marginalized the Jews based on their blood, even though they
were born in germany. His idea of having the master race was also racist because it allowed for some
people to be higher that oters just beca
b) What fundamental human and civil rights were denied the Jewish people and other non-Aryans in Nazi
Germany?
There are many rights that the Nazi’s took away from jews including the right for free speech, the right to
vote, the right to be who they are in public, the right to own businesses and more. After the
institutionalization of concentration camps, there were more rights that were taken including when they
could eat, what they could eat, who they could hang out with, what they could wear and more.

Notes on Canada and the MS Louis

The St. Louis was a German ocean liner that set sail from Hamburg, Germany, in May 1939.

● The ship carried more than 900 Jewish passengers, most of whom were refugees fleeing Nazi
persecution.
● The passengers had valid visas for entry to Cuba and hoped to eventually reach safety in the
United States.
● However, when the ship arrived in Cuba, the Cuban government invalidated their visas and
denied them entry.
● Desperate for help, the passengers sent pleas for asylum to various countries, including the United
States and Canada.
● Despite the desperate situation of the Jewish refugees, both the United States and Canada refused
to accept them.
● The Canadian government, led by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, upheld strict immigration
policies and cited concerns about economic conditions and unemployment as reasons for turning
away the refugees.
● The St. Louis was forced to return to Europe, with some passengers eventually finding refuge in
the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium.
● Tragically, many of the passengers who were returned to mainland Europe later fell victim to the
Holocaust.
● The story of St. Louis is often cited as an example of a missed opportunity for countries,
including Canada, to provide sanctuary for Jewish refugees during a time of great need.