The Home Front

1. The Home Front WWI in Canada

2. Total War • World War I is considered a total war. This means that it required not only the efforts of soldiers on the front line, but the effort of everyday civilians back home. • Countries gathered up all their resources and geared industry towards the war. Essentially, the war affected the lives of everyone.

3. Support for the War Effort • Patriotic community groups, government campaigns, and posters suggested that no sacrifice should be spared to ensure victory in Europe.

4. Cutting Back • People reduced the amount of food they ate and tried to waste as little as possible. • Reduced intake of meat, butter, sugar, and bread so that more of it could be sent overseas. • The voluntary reduction of how much food people ate was called “honour rationing”. • Although it was voluntary, people caught hoarding food could be fined or put in jail.

5. Lend a Buck! Victory Bonds • The government urged people to buy Victory Bonds. • People who bought the bonds were lending money to the government. • When the war was over, bonds could be cashed in at a profit. • The war was costing Canada $1 million a day!

6. Lend a Buck! • Children bought thrift stamps. • Each stamp cost 25¢ and was stuck on a card. • When $4.00 worth of stamps were bought, the child received a War Savings Stamp. • This stamp could be cashed in for $5.00 in 1924.

7. Income Tax • Income tax was introduced in WWI. • The first tax in the country on money people made. • It was supposed to be temporary.

8. Soldiers of the Soil • The government urged farmers to produce as much as they could. • By 1917, Canadian farmers supplied most of the bread consumed by Allied soldiers. • When men went off to war, boys 15-19 were encouraged by the government to become “soldiers of the soil”. • They were given an official uniform and a medal in recognition for their service.

9. Factories • When war was declared, factories were quickly reorganized to produce war supplies • Plants producing airplanes, shells, and ships sprang up across the country. • By 1918, 300 000 Canadians were employed in these factories and 1/3 of the shells fired by the armies of the British Empire were made in Canada.

10. Women’s Contributions • Women worked in industries to replace them men off fighting. • 30000 women worked in munitions factories. • Women also drove buses and streetcars, worked in banks, and on police forces. • Women worked on the farms to bring in the harvest • Groups of women met regularly to organize community fundraisers, knit socks and roll bandages for the troops. The most popular organizations was the Canadian Red Cross.

11. Propaganda • One way for government to encourage support during the war was through a massive poster campaign. • Propaganda: the systematic spreading of ideas influencing people to support a particular cause or point of view. • Since television had not yet been invented and not everyone owned a radio, posters were the most effective means of getting a message across. • The posters were part of a major propaganda campaign to back the war effort and promote the allied cause.

12. Propaganda • What major issue is used in this poster? • Summarize the message of the poster in a sentence. • a. what reasons does the poster suggest for supporting the war effort? b. does the poster show a bias? • How successful do you think this poster would be? Why?