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Various reactions to minority groups in WW1. Canadian sentiment. Most Canadians were ready to do their part and help Empire and King: Men enlisted in the Canadian Corps Men/women joined church groups and formed charities to help the families of men who had left
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Canadian sentiment • Most Canadians were ready to do their part and help Empire and King: • Men enlisted in the Canadian Corps • Men/women joined church groups and formed charities to help the families of men who had left • Women’s societies sent people for medical purposes • Everyone adopted a policy of rationing and conserving – Soldiers of the Soil – farming to serve troops overseas
Canadian Patriotic Fund • Created by parliament • Collected money for families affected by the war until 1916, when the government took over the responsibility • Coop stores were set up where families could buy cheap products
`Danger to the war effort` • Pacifists: those who opposed the war • Mennonites • Hutterites Education rights, rights to vote were taken away Those who refused to fight due to religious rights had to face discrimination and aggression
German Canadians: Targeted by Canadians as being unsupportive to the war effort and anti patriotic Often led to hatred of all things German and Austrian • Kitchener, Ont. – formerly named Berlin, with a large German population. Germans living there faced discrimination
Enemy Aliens Ukrainian immigrants who were suspected of sympathizing with the enemy If they weren`t yet Canadian citizens, and therefore a citizen of a foreign country, they were seen as enemy aliens, because they often came from A-H • Internment camps: forced labour, harsh living conditions, government confiscated property
No. 2 Construction Battalion • At the start of the war in 1914, Canadians of all colors rushed to enlist – many were originally sent away • Upon hearing that Black Canadians were eager to join, the military attempted to incorporate them into a segregated work battalion
Chief of the General Staff13 April 1916 – letter excerpts • General belief of the Canadian military: • 1. Nothing is to be gained by blinking facts. The civilized negro is vain and imitative; in Canada he is not being impelled to enlist by a high sense of duty; in the trenches he is not likely to make a good fighter; and the average white man will not associate with him on terms of equality.
2. In France, in the firing line, there is no place for a black battalion, C.E.F. It would be eyed askance; it would crowd out a white battalion; and it would be difficult to re-enforce. • 3. Nor could it be left in England and used as a draft-giving depot; for there would be trouble if negroes were sent to the front for the purpose of reinforcing white battalions; and, if they are any good at all, they would resent being kept in Canada for the purpose of finding guards, etc.
4. It seems, therefore, that [these] courses are practicable: • (a) As at present, to allow Negroes to enlist, individually, into white battalions at the discretion of commanding officers. (b) To allow them to form one or more labour battalions. Negroes from Nova Scotia, for example, would not be unsuitable for the purpose.
The decision of the Canadian officials was that most Black Canadians were placed in labour battalions, where they: • Dug trenches • Built bridges • defused landmines
Some Black Canadians did get to see front line action and were quite successful • Jeremiah Jones – served on front lines during Battle of Vimy Ridge (1917) • Crossed the battlefield and single handed killed 7 Germans with 1 hand grenade • Marched 6 Germans back to front lines as POW’s • Recommended for a Distinguished Conduct Medal - he never received it
