Lesson 14 — Activity 2: Canada's Experience in the War


Warm Up


Once Canada had declared war, the national interest focused on the war effort.

In this activity, you will learn about Canada's participation in the Second World War.


canadian farewell

Many Canadians enlisted voluntarily, but it became apparent that Germany could invade Britain unless more troops were ready to stop Hitler. This led Canada to increase its war effort. The process of relying on volunteers to enlist did not go quickly enough to meet the needs of this increased military commitment. Again, conscription became an issue.

At first, remembering how this issue had split the country during World War I, Prime Minister Mackenzie King had pledged not to use conscription. However, he eventually decided to ask Canadians to give the government permission to break its promise.

anti conscription parade
Unknown author / Public domain
Anti conscription parade - Montreal


Again, the issue divided Francophone and Anglophone Canadians. Most citizens in Quebec (73%) voted against this request. In English-speaking provinces, almost 80% voted to let the promise be broken.

As a compromise, the government decided that conscripted servicemen would do their military service in Canada. This was not the end of the issue. As casualties rose, Mackenzie King had to resort to sending conscripts overseas. By that point, the war was almost over, so only 12,908 conscripted servicemen went to Europe.

Again, the differing opinions of French- speaking and English-speaking Canadians on this issue were divided.


The leaders of Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union felt that conscription was in the national interest. They needed a strong military to secure their own borders and to invade other countries. In dictatorships, it was not hard to force people to become soldiers.



Propaganda and Censorship

Now that war was declared, the tone of the language used to describe Canada’s involvement in it changed. The government began suggesting that Germany was the evil enemy, and Canadians were told that they were fighting for "the freedom of mankind." They were also told they were fighting for their own personal security, which depended on the security of the country as a whole.

Propaganda campaigns were launched both to recruit soldiers and to persuade Canadians to invest in war bonds. These bonds helped to finance the war effort.


 
This poster warns about giving away information.
@gettyimages.ca



Official censorship was also introduced. This was to ensure that no essential information fell into the hands of the enemy. Canadians were told to watch what they said to others. Censors working for the government approved every speech broadcast on the CBC and looked at stories published in both newspapers and magazines. Military censors read all letters from members of the armed forces, as well as letters sent to soldiers in enemy prisoner-of-war camps. Anything that revealed too much information was blacked out by the censors.

Overseas on the battle front, just as Canadians had earned the respect of other nations in World War I, our troops proved themselves once again. Along with troops from the United States and Great Britain, Canadian troops played a major role in the D-Day invasion.