suggestion as to the events which would take place in the years to come. Furthermore, not
only once, but twice in the 20th century conscription destroyed Canada’s national unity.
Twice in Canada’s history conscription proved to be an ill fated plague that ate against
all of the compromises that both the French and the English Canadians struggled for
years to come to terms with. Canada and the Conscription crisis is the defining event of
the 20th century on account of the Conscription of 1917 and the Conscription of 1939
to 1945, the confederation, and how conscription helped cause the depression.
Conscription of 1917 was one of the biggest issues to date to waver the Canadian
Political structure. Some people argue that conscription permitted Canada to help Britain
and France defeat Germany and therefore gave Canada its national unity. However, many
other people argue that conscription was pointless because it unnecessarily divided the
country and caused a complete and entire breakdown on everything the French and the
English Canadians had struggled to achieve. Undoubtedly, Conscription did allow
Canada to prove its patriotic ties to Britain, but without a doubt ruined all ties between
French and English Canadians. Conscription forced the French Canadians to battle for a
country they did not feel loyal to. Ultimately conscription did not bring unity to our
young country, instead it brought the war directly inside Canada, and yet there would be
no real victor in this war. Yet again, it was not always like this. At the beginning of
World War 1 everyone welcomed it with enthusiasm in Canada. The War would be short
and glorious, and jam-packed with adventure. Sure, there might be a few casualties, but
the war was only going to last a few short months, at least that’s what the people thought.
All around Canada men were rushing around for positions in the war. But, sooner or later
the horrors of trench warfare changed this. In April 1917 Canadians fought at Vimy
Ridge. In that month alone, more than 10000 Canadians died. Less than 5000 volunteered
to join the army. The volunteer system was not recruiting enough soldiers to replace the
losses. Even though Prime Minister Borden had promised not to introduce conscription,
he felt he had no other choice other than to force men into joining the army. The
enthusiasm over “Britain’s War” was not shared by the French and they felt that they had
no duty supporting them. The once optimistic outlooks that filled streets of Montreal in
August of 1914 had quickly been replaced by “ it’s not Canada’s war, Canada owes
nothing to Britain and even less to France”. This proves that conscription was the major
Canadian event of the 20th century because we can still see that today, the turmoil
between the English and the French, and it is over 80 years later. While the actual event
of conscription was very important, another very important topic as to why conscription
made the changes it did is Confederation.
Secondly, the French response to conscription was one of negative attitudes.
There was no love for Britain nor for France. To try and find the answer as to why there
was such resentment towards Britain, it is necessary to go back and look at the roots of
the problem : confederation. Confederation was another one of the things that was not
living up to the expectations of the French Canadians. For people living in Quebec,
confederation was not supposed to have been a coming together of the provinces, rather
it was supposed to be a breaking apart of the strict rule of Canada, a freeing of the
provinces so that Quebec could be in control of its own destiny, in the areas that they
deemed important. Contrary to the Quebecker’s beliefs, they soon found out that
their destiny was entirely in the hands of the English Canadian government. Really, the
war that was going on on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean was of absolutely no
concern to the French. For the French, Canada was a country of two peoples, each with
equal rights. Even so, their rights were seized, taken away when conscription was set in
place. It was this, the problem between Quebec and conscription that laid the
foundation for national crisis. To the French Canadians, was meant a large army, and
having a large army meant the threat of conscription, and conscription meant being
forced by the English-Canadian majority to fight a war for Britain, the conqueror of
new France. Conscription meant that young men of French Canada would be torn from
their families to fight in a war they did not even approve of to begin with. This relates to
the fact that conscription was the major Canadian even of the 20th century because we
took advantage of the people living in Quebec, so in a way it is our fault that we stand the
way we do in the eyes of the Quebeckers. Also, if Confederation would have delivered
what the Quebeckers had originally thought, maybe we wouldn’t have so many troubles
nowadays. Another thing that made Conscription the biggest event of the 20th century is
how it aided the development of the depression.
Thirdly, conscription left farmers with huge amounts of work, and there was little hired
help because all of the able bodied men were at war. Borden’s goal was to conscript
100,000 on top of the 85,000 men that were already serving the Canadian Corps;
however only 2400 were at the front when the war ended. With all the men gone, wages
dropped and thus creating the beginning of the depression. Possibly, these hard times
could have been avoided if the government would have realized that the French were not
interested in fighting in the war ; a type of program where the French Canadians could
have participated at home by helping in farming and would have been better than having
conscription. The French Canadians were not prepared to fight. They doubted the English
ways and had many good reasons to. So, finally, the issue of the depression because of
conscription could have possibly been avoided and both the French and the English
Canadians could have possibly been happier if the French could have stayed home and
helped there, and possibly the depression could have been minimized. This also proves
that conscription was the defining Canadian moment of the 20th century.
In Conclusion, the conscription of Canada created more problems then it really
benefited us. Because of the Conscription of 1917, the confederation and the
depression, all of these important events caused by conscription, the relations between
the French and English speaking Canadians may be forever terminated. Whether we like
it or not, it was a defining Canadian moment of the 20th century, and whether or not is
was worth the loss is in the hands of the beholder.