Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden

1. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden • Was Prime Minister from 1911 to 1920. He was elected in 1911 and reelected in 1917. • Was a member of the Conservative party and firm supporter of the British Empire. • Before he was reelected in 1917, Borden pushed the Wartime Elections Act & conscription through parliament leading to riots in French-speaking Quebec. • Introduced Income Tax in 1917 to help with the war effort. • Borden’s government passed Prohibition into law in 1918 to help with the war effort.

2. Sir Sam Hughes 1853-1921. Was the Minister of Militia and Defence from 1911 to 1916 when he was fired by Prime Minster Robert Borden. He was very pro British Empire and created a large Canadian military very quickly however he was not well liked by French Canadians because the official language of the military was English and promotions were mostly given to English Canadians.

3. Sir Sam HughesContinued • Hughes forced the military to buy the Ross rifle even though early accounts stated that the rifle would easily jam especially in the muddy surroundings of the trench. This cost many Canadians their lives. Eventually the Ross rifle was replaced with the better Lee Enfield rifle. • Hughes was also criticized for rushing the production of soldier’s equipment such as leaky boots and poor trenching materials.

4. General Sir Arthur Currie 1875-1933. First Commander of the Canadian Corps. Planned the attack at Vimy Ridge. Used new battlefield tactics in World War I.

5. Tommy Ricketts • From Middle Arm, Newfoundland. • 1901-1967. • Lied about his age and enlisted for battle at age 14 in 1914. • He was wounded in 1917. • At 17, Ricketts was the youngest winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery at the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel. • In 1918, Ricketts raced unarmed across no man’s land to gather ammunition for his unit. He then led an attack against a German battery with no artillery support.

6. Billy Bishop • 1894-1956 • With 72 kills Bishop was Canada’s greatest flying hero in WWI and the greatest ace in the British Empire. • He earned the Victoria Cross for attacking a blimp solo killing 3 Germans. • The lifespan of a rookie pilot was 11 days. • He helped train pilots in WWII.

7. Letters From The Trenches Letters written by soldiers for friends and family back home had to be proof read by members of the military leadership and were edited or censored to hide the horrible truths and events that were taking place. This was done so that soldiers would continue to volunteer to fight and to keep moral high.

8. Newspapers in World War I • During the war the Canadian government and the military censored newspapers. • Why would they censor the media?

9. Pacifists in World War I • Some Canadian’s were “pacifists” during the war. That means they did not want to kill and wanted the war to end. • The movement picked up support after the horrors of the war were revealed.

10. Women on the Homefront Men were overseas fighting so women had to fill the gap in factories. Before the war women could only work at “unskilled” positions however once the war started women took over the “skilled” jobs. Over 20, 000 women were employed in factories at “skilled” jobs to make ammunition, guns ,shells and aircraft.

11. Women on the HomefrontContinued • Women also worked as streetcar drivers, secretaries and office managers. In addition, women worked on farms to help plant and harvest crops. • Women without paying jobs knitted socks for soldiers, sent letters and care packages and visited the families of men who had been killed.

12. Women and the Army Medical Corps Over 3000 women became army nurses and ambulance drivers. They were known as “Bluebirds” because they wore blue cloaks. Served in dangerous positions especially when the Germans started to target field hospitals as the war progressed. 46 Bluebirds lost their lives in the war.

13. The Wartime Elections Act • This act passed in 1917 took the vote away from citizens who had emigrated from enemy countries. • In addition, the act only gave army nurses and close relatives of soldiers the vote. • In 1918, all women were given the right to vote but they could still not be elected to Parliament. That was not a right until 1920. In 1921, Agnes Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons.

14. Propaganda and Victory Bonds The war was becoming very expensive so the government started selling war bonds to help pay for the war. After the war Canadians could cash in their war bonds with interest. Posters like the example above were used as propaganda tools to help sell the public on the idea.

15. Russia Out And The United States In • On the Eastern Front Russians revolted against Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 and eventually executed the entire royal family. • Russia signed a separate peace treaty with Germany in March 1918 called the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This allowed Germany the opportunity to turn all of their forces to the Western Front. • A new type of government and political party took over called Communist/Communism. Eventually Russia changed their name and was called the USSR/Soviet Union.

16. Russia Out And The United States In (Continued) • When Germany announced unrestricted warfare against neutral shipping in April 1917 the United States entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente. to

17. Canada's "Hundred Days" • Canada’s Hundred Days was a series attacks made along the Western Front by the Canadian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I from August – November 1918. • Reference to this period as Canada's Hundred Days is due to the substantial role the Canadian Corps of the British First Army played in causing the defeat and/or retreat of the German Army in a series of major battles from Amiens to Mons which along with other Allied offensives ultimately led to Germany's final defeat and surrender

18. Canada's "Hundred Days"Continued

19. Canada's "Hundred Days"Continued • During this time, the Canadian Corps fought at Amiens, Arras, the Hindenburg Line, the Canal du Nord, Bourlon Wood, Cambrai, Denain, Valenciennes and finally at Mons, on the final day of the First World War. Canadian troops in Arras in September ,1918.

20. Canadians Shot At Dawn • 23 Canadian soldiers were deliberately executed because Canada followed the British army’s tradition of executing deserters by firing squad of their peers. • Many of these 23 were only teenagers with little combat experience. • They were executed for cowardice, throwing away their weapons or falling asleep on duty. • In 2001, the Canadian government issued an apology and added the names to the Book of Remembrance on Parliament Hill. Some people continue to ask for a Royal pardon.

21. The War Effort By Visual Minorities • Canada’s visible minorities volunteered for battle out of a sense of patriotism and a yearning for adventure. They thought their participation would improve their status in society. • In 1917, the Canadian military called for an all Black labour battalion. In all, more than 1000 African Canadians served in the Canadian forces. • However there was still a lot of prejudice involved as the visible minorities were segregated (separated) from whites on ships, camps and entertainment halls.

22. N0. 2 Construction Battalion Was an all Black Construction Battalion which provided lumber to maintain trenches on the front lines. Some went on to serve in combat units.

23. The Spanish Flu Epidemic • In 1918 – 1919, a form of influenza killed between 20 and 40 million people around the world. That is twice as many as the number of soldiers who died in WWI. • Many soldiers who had survived years of trench warfare died from this silent killer. • It was spread by unclean conditions on ships travelling from Europe back to their home nations.

24. The Spanish Flu EpidemicContinued • The flu infected 2 of every 9 Canadians. It killed 1000 Canadians a day and 50 000 overall. • People were quarantined sick people in schools, churches, hospitals, theatres, art galleries and dance hall. Even the Stanley Cup playoffs were cancelled in 1918.