3.3 Canada’s Legacy of Imperialism and War

3.3 Canada's Legacy of Imperialism and War

One of the legacies of imperialism was the loss of sovereignty, or the ability to govern your own country. This was true for Indigenous people around the world, but also applied to the colony itself. As a result, sometimes the relationships between colony and mother country could be tense. Colonies often sought to achieve some form of independence.

Canada was still a colony of Great Britain when World War I began. It was not a sovereign nation. Therefore, when Great Britain declared war, Canada was automatically at war as a British dependent. Many Canadians had recently arrived in Canada from England, and they flocked to recruitment centers to volunteer. As British citizens, they were strongly motivated to defend their homeland. Other Canadians also signed up because they felt a duty to their new homeland—Canada. By the end of the war, over 630,000 Canadians had signed up for service in the Canadian armed forces.
Initially, Canadian soldiers were assigned to British battalions and fought as British soldiers. Gradually, however, they sought recognition to fight as Canadians. The Canadian prime minister at the time, Sir Robert Borden, supported this idea and hoped that the efforts of Canadian soldiers would win the recognition for Canada as a nation by the British.

Over the course of the war at places like Ypres, where Canadians experienced and stood fast in the face of the first gas attacks, and later in the Somme River Valley offensive, they gained a reputation for bravery. Finally, Canadians won the right to fight as a Canadian Army at Vimy Ridge, where their innovation and success gave many Canadians a new sense of nation and pride. By the end of the war, Canadian achievements succeeded in gaining recognition  by Britain and an invitation to be present at the peace talks for the Treaty of Versailles. World War I gave Canada another step to sovereignty.