How did WW1 affect Canada negatively? It’s not hard to answer this question. After all, any war has detrimental economical and political effects on participating countries. But there were also positive effects of WW1 on Canada: for example, it helped the country to become independent. Read this free sample essay to learn more!
Positive and Negative Effects of WW1 on Canada
The participation of Canada in World War I had significant impacts on Canadian society, as well as it’s status as a country. The First World War had negative impacts and some positive impacts on Canada (Kinsella 109-118). The question that remains is: Does the negative effects of World War I outweigh the positive effects on Canada?
The positive impacts encompass Canada becoming united and the development of the rights of women. Nonetheless, the war led to great negative impacts such as loss of lives, economic downtrend, and the generation of tensions involving the Francophones and Anglophones who disagreed after the emergence of the notion of conscription. Though the First World War had some positive impacts on Canada, the negative impacts were much greater.
Positive Effects of WW1 on Canada
Rights of Women
In 1914, women in Canada were deemed decrepit and emotional (Braybon 23-25). As Cranny affirms, “Women were not considered persons under the law —unless they committed a crime. Even a woman’s salary was legally the property of her husband” (6). Justice as well as fairness were blind at that time. Attributable to the extant unfairness, women were not given some rights that were given to men, for example, the right to vote (Brown 40-46).
When the Prime Minister tried to enact the Military Service Act that would institute conscription, some people were against this notion; nevertheless, women promised to support conscription on condition that he would give them the right to vote. In that case, Robert Borden accepted the offer, and for the first time in the history of Canada, women were offered the right to vote (just the family members of soldiers) (Quinn and Ascroft 6).
However, the right to vote given to women and their support of conscription just worked to disturb the peaceful coexistence in the country as it created conflicts between the Francophones and Anglophones. Similarly, the gaining of the right to vote by women just gave a false representation of the way life was actually like for the majority of women.
Despite the right to vote, life persisted as before, it was full of discrimination, unfairness, and injustice against women. Women were considered inferior to men, and they engaged in tasks that would not essentially be valued as high-ranking occupations (for instance, nurses and teachers).
United the Country
In the course of the period before the war, the dealings with Britain existed with Canada being a territory of Great Britain. The then Prime Minister, Robert Borden, decided to show that Canada was as powerful as Britain and not just a colony. Thus, Canada ventured into the war in favour of Britain (Cook 5). The majority of Canadian citizens wanted to establish their identity instead of being recognized as a colony.
Amazingly, the war did not weaken the identity of Canada but strengthened the unity of the people. Canada had ventured into the war as different, small, and disunited communities but through the war, the communities merged to attain a common objective. Nevertheless, though Canada had seemed united, it was not the case as the conflicts regarding the issue of conscription divided the people and created hostility.
How Did WW1 Affect Canada Negatively
Conflicts Involving the Francophones and Anglophones
With the support of conscription by the majority, the affiliations involving the English (Anglophones) and French (Francophones) Canadians started deteriorating. The emergence of conscription acted as a hostile wave, as with the issue of conscription, the residents of Canada encountered many crises like the surfacing of conflicts. The Francophones had the conviction that they had a different culture that did not have many connections with that of Anglophones.
They felt no link with Anglophones, thus chose to speak out in opposition to conscription. In this regard, the Francophones were considered disloyal and cowardly by the majority of Anglophones. The violent controversy isolated many Francophones from the federal government, which had gone against its pledge of not supporting conscription. Cranny affirms “The issue of conscription and the bitterness of the debate between Anglophones and Francophones have never been completely forgotten” (55).
Loss of Lives
The loss of lives in Canada in the course of the First World War was incredible (Vance 45-48). About 60,000 citizens of Canada lost their lives, and more than 170,000 other Canadians were physically and psychologically wounded (Cranny 55). In this regard, a number of historians, such as Jonathan Vance, challenge the conviction that World War I was a mark of Canada coming of age.
The historians are convinced that a war that led to the death of tens of thousands and wounding of hundreds of thousands cannot be taken as a positive force in the history of Canada.
They believe that Canadian citizens suffered greatly in the First World War, and a greater significance ought to be attached to this experience. In their opinion, the coming of age acted as a myth in the course of 1920s, as well as 1930s, to alter the pain from the war into a more encouraging occurrence. The myth was intended to assist to repair the nation since believing in it could signify that losses in the war had served a worthy function for Canada.
Economic Downtrend
The economic costs of World War I, in devastation and lost productiveness, were massive (Henderson and Keshen 283-290). Canada’s debt started before World War I and swiftly shot up due to the warfare. For instance, from 1914 to 1915, about 50,000 jobs for Canadian railway employees were lost because of Canada’s railway debts.
Moreover, the Business Profits War Act was enacted in 1916 where every Canadian company that generated at least 50,000 dollars was to file an annual tax return to assist in the recovery of the country’s debt predicament.
After the end of the war, the economy of the nation did not promptly recuperate. Attributable to the war, Canada had to spend more than 164 million dollars every year on payment of its debt, which led to the initiation of income tax (Shaw 398-406). The full amount of debt had escalated to 1.7 billion dollars due to the First World War.
Positive & Negative Impacts of WW1 on Canada
World War 1 had enormous negative impacts and some positive impacts on Canada. The positive impacts include Canada turning into a united nation and the establishment of the right to vote for women.
The negative impacts of the war on Canada encompass resentment between the Anglophones and Francophones due to the issue of conscription, loss of lives, and economic downtrend. Therefore, it is evident that although the First World War had some constructive impacts on Canada, the harmful impacts outweigh the positive ones. Hence, World War I had a negative effect on Canada.
Works Cited
Braybon, Gail. Women workers in the First World War. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Brown, Lorne. “Canada’s legacy in World War I: The great war: A crime against humanity.” Canadian Dimension 48.6 (2014): 40-46. Print.
Cook, Tim, and Kathryn Lyons. “Canada and the First World War: A Canadian war museum internet exhibition.” Canadian Military History 17.3 (2012): 5. Print.
Cranny, Michael. Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian issues. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Canada Inc., 2010. Print.
Henderson, Jarett, and Jeff Keshen. “Introduction: Canadian perspectives on the First World War.” Histoire sociale/Social history 47.94 (2014): 283-290. Print.
Kinsella, Noël, and Charles Robert. “Britain, Canada, and Scotland: Some reflections on the history and practical nature of accommodation.” Britain & the World 7.1 (2014): 109-118. Print.
Quinn, Carolyn, and Sheila Ascroft. “Canada’s armouries: Commemorating the centenary of the First World War.” Heritage 17.2 (2014): 6. Print.
Shaw, Amy. “Expanding the narrative: A First World War with women, children, and grief.” Canadian Historical Review 95.3 (2014): 398-406. Print.
Vance, Jonathan. Death so noble: Memory, meaning, and the First World War. Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press, 2011. Print.