Unit 3

1. Unit 3 Canada in the 1920’s

2. Economic Changes After the War • The boom that Canada's economy experienced as a result of wartime spending vanished as soon as the war ended. • Over 300,000 workers who were employed in the manufacturing of munitions for example, were now unemployed along with all those involved in the manufacture of military equipment and supplies

3. Economic Changes After WWI • There were crowds of soldiers returning from Europe, expecting to enter what they understood was a vibrant economy. • They resented those who had profited from the War while they who had sacrificed so much on the battlefield had difficulty finding work

4. Economic Changes After WWI • Those who did have jobs were burdened by a sharp increase in inflation. • What is inflation? • Prices skyrocketed as wages remained the same. • Workers across the country were forced to strike in an effort to gain wages that matched the cost of living.

5. Disillusioned Canadian soldiers were marching in protest(Toronto).

6. Winnipeg General Strike • The largest strike took place in Winnipeg where almost all workers effectively shut down the city. • Some officials thought the strike was the start of a communist revolution • The police were brought into break up the strike, shots were fired and one striker was killed.

7. Winnipeg General Strike • Following the strike a commission was set up to investigate the causes of the strike • It was determined that it was the high cost of living, poor working conditions and low wages that had driven the people to such desperation

9. Eventually the Mounted Police moved into to break up the strike

10. Economy • Within a few years the economy returned to peacetime production • Primary industries still maintained their importance. Ex. Forestry, farming (wheat production) p. 110 • Secondary industries started to increase in productivity p.110 • This lead to mass consumer culture

11. Economy The radio was a new invention during the 1920’s and many families enjoyed time listening to programs and music.

12. Culture and Society in the 1920’s The dramatic cultural upheaval of the Twenties was due in large part to three influences of WWI: 1. WWI had created an industrial base in Canada that generated unprecedented economic prosperity 2. technological advances in the mass production of radios and automobiles gave Canadians access to a wider world than they had been used to 3. the roles played by women in the war had given them a newfound confidence and spirit as well as a sense of independence

13. New inventions like the radio, “talking” films, mass produced automobiles and air travel meant that people in remote areas of the country were no longer completely isolated

14. Social Changes After the War • Canada and the United States were under prohibition (although it was stricter in the US) • Prohibition refers to the forbidding of the traffic of alcohol • It was brought about in large part by the Temperance Movement • It was generally accepted during the war as one of the sacrifices that had to be made

15. Social Changes After the War • Under law, it was a provincial decision if they wanted to eliminate the sale of alcoholic beverages for anything other than medical purposes • Canadian provinces still permitted the production of alcohol • In the USA, the Volstead Act of 1920 not only prohibited the traffic of alcohol, but its production as well

16. Social Changes After the War • Organized crime boomed in the United States as gangsters smuggled rum produced in Canada across the border • Newfoundlanders took advantage of American prohibition to smuggle rum from St. Pierre and Miquelon down to the United States • The Volstead Act or the 18th amendment to the American Constitution was repealed (overturned) in 1933

18. Canada’s Independence Canada continued taking a more independent voice internationally. • In 1921 Prime Minister Arthur Meighen opposed an alliance between Britain and Japan. • Chanak Crisis- In 1922 Canada decided not to help Britain in their dispute with Turkey over rights to the Dardenelles and access to the Black Sea

19. Canada’s Independence Halibut Treaty (1923) • The Canadian Fisheries Minister signed a treaty with the U.S governing fishing rights. • This was the first time a Canadian, not a British official signed an international agreement.

20. King- Byng Crisis A 1926 Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred when the Governor General of Canada Lord Byng of Vimy, refused a request by the Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, to dissolve parliament and call a general election. • Significance - the first time that the Governor General had refused to the request of a PM to dissolve the parliament

21. King- Byng Crisis Came to redefine the role of Governor General not only in Canada but throughout the Dominions. It was also a major impetus in negotiations at Imperial Conferences held in the late 1920s that led to the Statute of Westminster 1931.

22. Canada’s Independence Imperial Conference of 1926 King’s pressuring led to the Balfour Declaration of 1926. • Commonwealth Governors General ceased to be the agents of the Imperial or British government in each dominion — this role was to be assumed by a British High Commissioner, whose duties were soon recognized to be virtually identical to those of an ambassador.

23. Canada’s Independence The Statue of Westminster: • This recognized the Balfour Reports formally in British Law. • Established a status of legislative equality between the self governing dominions of the British Empire and the United Kingdom • Canada is now autonomous in the British Commonwealth of Nations, independent from its colonial power.