Unit IV Forces of Nationalism

1. Unit IVForces of Nationalism

2. WWII • The Peace of Paris did not provide the lasting peace that it was designed to maintain. • By 1939 the World was on the verge of war • Hitler had risen to power in Germany and was trying to take over all of Europe • In the east Stalin was preparing for war • The English and the French were not interested in fighting another war and were using appeasement to deal with Hitler’s aggression • In the Far East the Japanese were trying to establish an empire

3. War Begins • September 1st, 1939 the war begins with the invasion of Poland by the Nazis and the Soviets. • Britain declares war immediately but Canada pauses to discuss whether or not they should declare war in support of Britain • In the end only a few members (2 from Quebec and an independent who was a pacifist) of parliament vote against declaring war and Canada officially enters the war. • This marks an important shift in Canada controlling their own Foreign Policy. In WWI we had not had a choice and were pulled into the war because we were members of the commonwealth

4. Canada’s Role in the War • The Canadians mobilized and were sent to Britain. Many of them remained in camps in Britain until 1944 • They prepared for invasion and for the possibility of defending Britain from the Nazis who were storming across Europe. • The Japanese attack on Hong Kong on December 7th of 1941 also saw Canadians involved in the War in the Pacific. • After the invasion and Canada’s declaration of war against Japan we sent a regiment (The Royal Rifles) to help defend the English colony. • They arrived just in time to surrender and many spent the rest of the war in POW camps, many did not come home at all

5. Dieppe • August of 1942, 5000 Canadian troops are tasked with capturing the French port city of Dieppe which was in German hands. • This was not a full scale invasion but instead a test to see what defenses were like for a full scale invasion of France • The attack was poorly planned as they had picked a very well defended port. • The Germans controlled the high ground and were able to pick off the Canadians as they tried to make their way onshore.

6. Of the 10000 Canadian soldiers who sailed for Dieppe almost 1000 of them died and 2000 were captured by the Germans • The Canadian population was again unhappy with the Allied generals for again putting Canadians in harms way • Canadian newspapers labelled it “another Passchendale”, the WWI battle which was still fresh in the mind of Canadians • It did provide Allied Generals with information on how Germany would defend Europe.

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9. Canadians in Italy • By the summer of 1943 the Allies were trying to open second front to help relieve the pressure on the Russians. • To do this the Allies tried to attack the “soft underbelly of Europe”, hoping to move up the boot of Italy. So many Canadian troops saw their first action of the war in Sicily. • The Canadians then moved on to attempt to drive the Nazis out of Italy • The mountainous terrain of Italy proved to be very difficult for allied troops to conquer • By Christmas of 1943 the Canadians found that their route to Rome was blocked at the city of Ortona

10. Ortona • Ortona is a small town situated on a cliff above the Adriatic Sea • The Germans had blown up all the bridges in the area and the steep countryside in the area provided the Germans a huge advantage. • In addition the Nazis had been reinforced by the 90th Light Panzer Division which was one of their best Tank Regiments • Two days after Christmas the town fell to a Regiment from Edmonton

11. D-Day • At Dawn of June 6th, 1944 Canadians joined Americans and British Forces to carry out the largest planned invasion in history • The allies attacked five beaches simultaneously, the beaches were nicknamed, Juno, Sword, Gold, Utah and Omaha • More than 30,000 Canadian troops were ready to attack Juno beach • This attack would allow the Allies to get a foothold on the European continent • The attack started with a barrage of artillery and then the dropping of US airborne troops.

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14. Falaise Pocket • After D-Day Canadians helped the Allies secure Normandy and breakout of France • This was intense combat as Canadians played an important role in clearing the Germans out of France before turning North • Meanwhile the Americans were pushing south towards Brittany in hopes of clearing France of Germans • Hitler ordered a counter attack and the Canadians and British were forced to turn back the Germans • They surrounded the Germans in the Falaise Pocket and it was a matter of time before they surrendered

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16. Towards Berlin • After securing France the Allies pushed north towards Germany • The Americans headed into Southern Germany in an attempt to secure the industrial areas • The Canadians and British headed north to liberate Holland and Belgium • Canadians were welcomed as heroes by the Dutch

17. War at home • Much like in WWI the start of the war saw Canada’s economy change again to begin produce the material for war. • Canada was responsible for helping to supply Britain in addition to their own army • Prime Minister William Mackenzie King encouraged the citizens of Canada to commit to “Total War” which meant that they would pour every available resource into defeating the Nazi’s • Canada also started manufacturing things that they normally had to import. • C.D. Howe was the minister in charge of industry and supplying the army and he commented that the Canada would never be dependent on imports again

18. British Commonwealth Air Training Plan • Many Canadian communities served as training centres for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan • These communities helped train pilots for the RAF • Airports and hangars were built to accommodate the need for trained combat pilots, including the one built in Yorkton which housed a BCATP facility

19. Internment of the Japanese • By 1940 there were 22000 Japanese citizens living in British Columbia • Many worked as fisherman or running small businesses, in general, they worked hard and their hard work was paying off • Even prior to the war there was a strong Anti-Asian sentiment in Vancouver • In 1938 The RCMP had secretly done an assessment of the Japanese Canadian and had determined that they were loyal to Canada • Yet when war broke out in 1941 there were immediate calls to inter the Japanese Canadians

20. On its own the King government likely would not have interned the Japanese • But the combination of the Anti-Asian sentiment in BC, the fear of invasion and increased public pressure led to the government opening camps • At first it was just Japanese males who had to report to camps but eventually all of the Japanese Canadians were placed in camps • Camps opened in the interior of BC, on sugar beet farms in Alberta and as far east as Ontario • In the camps the Japanese Canadians were put to work

21. They remained in these camps until the end of the war • Even the end of the war did not end the torment of the Japanese • 4000 Japanese Canadians were deported to Japan and were not allowed to return until 1947 when the law was changed • They lost their homes, possessions and businesses • In 1988 they finally received some compensation as every survivor was given 20000$

22. Conscription Crisis • The battle of conscription in World War I had torn the country apart and at the outset of the war Mackenzie King was determined that there would be no forced military service • However as Hitler rolled across Europe, English Canada started to put pressure on King to put conscription into place • So King put the National Resource Mobilization Act in place, this called up all men of age for military service and trained them • However, they would only have to serve as home defence, those soldiers were called “Zombies”

23. The issue of conscription became a contentious political debate • English Canada was falsely under the belief that the French Canadians were not volunteering to serve • King could not put in conscription into action without going back on his own word • So he found a way to get around it by calling for a National Referendum on the issue • So in April of 1942 Canadians went to the polls where the issue of conscription passed easily • King did not put conscription into action until 1944 when Canada was in dire need of replacements in the infantry

24. End of the War • The war in Europe ended on May 8th, 1945 when the Germans surrendered • The war in Japan ended August 15th, 1945 after the Americans dropped two nuclear bombs • By the time WWII was over 50-70 million people worldwide had been killed • The post war world had been divided into two camps poised to potentially start a global nuclear conflict

25. The Post War World • Canada took an active role in the post war world joining in and taking a lead role in the United Nations • Canada emerged as a middle power which meant that it was not one of the five “Superpowers” but was an important player in the countries that were just below them • Canada and other middle powers played an important role in the UN making sure that countries other than the big five would have a voice • Canada also cemented there relations with the Americans and Western Europe by joining North Atlantic Treaty Organization

26. The Cold War • The world was divided into two camps, the Communists or the Capitalists • By the early 1950’s the Soviets also had Nuclear weapons and the threat of global annihilation was very real • The peace was kept by the theory of M.A.D (Mutual Assured Destruction) which was an unwritten rule which basically explained the fact that there was no war because there could be no winner • Canada was firmly in the camp of the Americans and got pulled into a war because of it

27. The Korean War • Korea had been divided into two after the war with the Soviets looking after the north and the Americans aiding the south • Without warning the North invaded the South in June 0f 1950 with 100,000 troops pouring across the border at the 38thparalell • The United States was worried about the Domino Theory coming into play so they sent in troops stationed in Japan • The UN also approved taking military action so troops from Canada and Britain and eleven other countries sent troops into Korea

28. Over three years over 22000 Canadians saw active combat in the Korean War, Canada fought with distinction • The fighting ended on July 27th of 1953, however the war has never officially ended and Korea remains divided

29. Suez Crisis • Canada’s finest hour in the post war era occurred during the Suez crisis of 1956 • The Israelis had invaded Egypt with the support of France and Britain in response to Egypt nationalizing the Suez Canal • The rest of the world was not happy about the aggression and the Soviet backed Egyptians were threatening to escalate the conflict • Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson proposed a solution to the problem • Canadians would serve as peacekeepers and allow both sides to withdraw while still saving face and preventing the conflict from growing • Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts

30. Avro Arrow • Canada’s relations with the Americans was strained in the mid 1950’s over the issue of the Avro Arrow • Canada had designed, tested and built a fighter interceptor which they hoped to sell globally • The Americans were not happy with the presence of a state of the art fighter being in Canada also they had hoped to sell us their own fighters • So they pressured Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to kill the project which he eventually did, killing our high tech aviation industry in the process • The five planes that had been completed were destroyed and so there are no planes remaining.

31. The Quiet Revolution

32. 1972 Summit Series