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Canada After WW1

Canada After WW1. The Soldiers Return. More than 170000 soldiers returned to Canada with injuries and disabilities. Those who were unable to work received government pensions; some went to school, and many received free land and money to start farms through the SOLDIER SETTLEMENT ACT.

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Canada After WW1

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  1. Canada After WW1

  2. The Soldiers Return... • More than 170000 soldiers returned to Canada with injuries and disabilities. • Those who were unable to work received government pensions; some went to school, and many received free land and money to start farms through the SOLDIER SETTLEMENT ACT. • these benefits did not extend to Aboriginal soldiers

  3. Times of Turmoil • The years following WWI were a period of turmoil and unrest for Canada.

  4. 1. Disease: The Spanish Flu I had a little bird, Its name was Enza. I opened the window, And in-flu-enza. • In 1918-1919, a deadly flu hit the world (called the Spanish flu) • It had more victims than WW1, killing at least 20 million people; • Soldiers brought it home with them from Europe Did you know... The Stanley Cup has only ever been cancelled 2 times – in 2005 because of the strike, and in 1918 because of the flu.

  5. WAR INJURIES – were physical and mental • Many soldiers suffered – lost limbs; lungs were destroyed by gas attacks. Many suffered severe emotional trauma (shell shock) on their return.

  6. 2. Prohibition • Definition: A complete ban on the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol; • Women’s Temperance Movement campaigning to ban sale of alcohol since turn of century • Production of alcohol took away from war effort – misuse of wheat and manpower • During war every province except Quebec banned the sale of alcohol • 1918 federal government introduces prohibition

  7. Positive Social Effects of Prohibition • Crime rate drops • Fewer arrests for drunkenness • More workers take pay cheque home instead of to the tavern • Industrial efficiency improves – fewer work days missed

  8. Prohibition in the USA • USA was also officially “dry” from 1919-1933 • Canadians make fortune smuggling liquor to USA • Rum runners use horse-drawn sleighs and snowshoes to get booze across the Quebec border into Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont • Also used boats to run alcohol across Lake Erie and Ontario and into the USA • Believed that close to $1 million dollars in alcohol per month was moved across the Windsor-Detroit border

  9. Rise in “the mob” or organized crime (i.e. Al Capone, Franky Fingers) • By the 1920s, prohibition became impossible to enforce; • Was a loss of revenue for the provincial governments and unpopular with most citizens, so slowly, across Canada, it ended (although it remained in the U.S.)

  10. End of Prohibition • Too hard to enforce • Bootleggers making millions • Provincial governments losing millions of dollars in liquor taxes • Unpopular with many citizens • Provinces begin to reinstate sale of liquor during 1920s – PEI last province to end prohibition in 1948

  11. 3. The Economy • Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia • experienced good economic times throughout most of the 1920s; • The Prairies • in the early 1920s, things were very difficult: • Wheat prices dropped 60%; • Farmers who had gone into debt to purchase new tractors, harvesters and trucks for efficiency had difficulty paying their bills; • The Maritimes • prices for fish, lumber, coal and iron fell, creating hight unemployment rates and economic uncertainty; • high freight rates made it more expensive to ship their products to Central Canada, so there were fewer buyers for their products.

  12. 4. TREATMENT OF MINORITY GROUPS • WOMEN • Had the right to vote, however were not considered "persons", and were not allowed to run for office; • Many lost their jobs when the soldiers returned home; • Were viewed as inferior to men; • If they worked, they had low-paying, low-status jobs, i.e. nurses, secretaries, domestics, clerks, or factory workers; • Received less pay then men for equal work; • In 1921, a federal statute (law) was passed requiring that all female civil servants (those who worked for any level of government) quit working when they got married – it was assumed that if they got married the income was no longer needed and their jobs should be given to men who had families to support.

  13. ABORIGINALS • Returning soldiers were not eligible for any pension – were not treated the same as "white" Canadian soldiers; • The government still forced them to assimilate into Canadian society; • In 1920, all children of aboriginal nations between the ages of 7 and 15 were required to go to residential schools. Many were abused mentally, physically, and sexually, and most were informed that their families had died in small pox epidemics so that they wouldn't try to escape and accept assimilation. • They were forced to live on reserves, where their quality of life was very poor – high alcohol consumption, high suicide rates, and high disease rates, as well as inferior housing, no running water, and no indoor plumbing, were a fact of life for many. • Thos who lived off reserve faced severe discrimination and prejudice; many faced poverty and despair.

  14. IMMIGRANTS • During the war, many Canadians had become more suspicious and less tolerant of "foreigners" (non-British) and ethnic minorities; • Feelings of xenophobia (an intense dislike of foreigners) were on the rise; • In 1919, the Immigration Act was changed to require all immigrants pass an English literacy test; additionally, an Order-in-Council was passed which barred all Mennonites, Doukhobors, and Hutterites from coming to Canada; • A lot of discrimination was directed at Asians (Chinese, Japanese and Indians); • July 1, 1923 – the government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning all Chinese immigrants except students, merchants, and diplomats (only 8 Chinese immigrants were admitted between 1923 and 1947); • In 1928, the number of Japanese immigrants allowed to enter was reduced to 150/year; • In 1921, you could only immigrate to Canada if you came directly from your home country, without stopping anywhere else. This made it virtually impossible for anyone from India to come to Canada, as there were no direct routes.

  15. 5. DISCONTENT AND LABOUR UNREST • When soldiers returned home they were paid lower wages; • Unemployment was on the rise as munitions factories closed because they were no longer needed. • Women were sent back home and out of the workforce. Though granted the right to vote, they were still not legally recognized as “persons” – they were considered possessions, and striving for equal status as men. • The cost of living increased, but the wages didn’t keep up with the pace. • Workers united and formed UNIONS in an attempt to fight for their rights.

  16. Assignment Read pages 66-69 • Answer Checkpoint Questions 1 – 3 on p. 67. • Answer Checkpoint Questions 1 – 4 p. 69

  17. The Winnipeg General Strike • Click on the following link to complete The Winnipeg General Strike webquest. • You may print off the worksheet which can be found in the same folder as you found this powepoint, or open it and answer the questions directly using a wordprocessor. • WEBQUEST: WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE

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