2. DISCUSSION
• What would it take for you to jump into a fight?
• Is it okay to jump into somebody else’s fight if
you have nothing to do with it?
• What if it was to take down a bully? What if it
was the WORST bully your school has ever
seen?
• Does jumping into a fight prove your strength
or does it make you weak?
3. CANADA JOINS THE WAR
• Canada practised • Sept 8th King called a
isolationism: Keeping meeting to decide
out of affairs outside of whether Canada would
its borders. join the war
• In WWI, Canada was • King gave a strong
forced to join because of speech in favour of the
Britain war and made voters
• WWII was a choice feel that going to war
was necessary
• Conscription was not
enforced this time • Parliament voted in
favor of war
5. IS CANADA PREPARED TO GO TO WAR?
• Canadian army only had 4300 troops, a few light tanks
and no modern artillery
• Small air force and navy
• Sep. 1939: 58,000 people volunteered for service
• Aboriginal people volunteered at a higher percentage
than any other group in Canada
• Many people felt strong ties to Britain and volunteered
from a sense of duty
• First Canadian troops sailed from Halifax on Dec. 3rd
1939
7. CANADA’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WAR EFFORT
• Dec. 1939, Canada hosted BCATP (British Common
Wealth Air Training Plan)
• Pilots and other flight personnel from all over the
common wealth came to Canada to train with British
instructors.
• Program was a major contribution to the war effort
• More than 130,000 pilots, navigators, flight engineers
and ground crew were trained.
• Total cost was more than $2 billion, more than 70%
of which Canada paid.
8. CANADA’S COMMITMENT TO TOTAL WAR
• April 1940, Department of
Munitions & Supply was
created
• Industrialist C.D. Howe
was put in charge
• Vancouver was building
ships for the navy
• Montreal was making new
planes and bombers
9. CANADA’S COMMITMENT TO TOTAL WAR CONT’D
• Canada’s car industries were producing military
vehicles and tanks
• Ontario & Quebec opened munitions factories
• Farmers were told to produce more
wheat, beef, dairy products and other foods
• Howe was called the “Minister of Everything”
10.
11. THE WAR AND CANADA’S ECONOMY
• Canada supplied Britain with weapons and resources to
resist Germany
• Canada provided major military and economic support to
Allies
• Value of goods Canada produced rose from $5.6 billion in
1939 to $11.8 billion in 1945
• Canada gave the Allies billions of dollars in financial aid
• The economy boomed in almost every respect
• Wave of exploration led to discoveries of new oil fields in
Alberta
• Many jobs were created
12. SOCIETAL CHANGES
• Women were • After the
employed in great war, Canada
numbers loosened some
• Significant wave of of its
immigration immigration
restrictions to
• Thousands of allow more
people were people to come
displaced after the to Canada
war and came to
Canada
14. WWII AND CANADIAN IDENTITY CONT’D
• By the end of WWII Canada had become a major player
in global conflict
• Canada had one of the world’s largest navies and
fourth-largest Allied air force
• Participation of minority groups, such as
Asians, Aboriginals and African Canadians helped
further civil rights for all Canadians
• WWII became a defining event that shaped Canada’s
identity
Editor's Notes
Scenario: A friend of yours is expected to fight the biggest bully your school has ever seen.Now this friend is one of your good friends. However, your friend is a little bossy and expects you to do whatever he or she says. Over the last few years, you have become incredibly sick of constantly being in the shadow of this friend. You want to be your own person and make your own decisions. Senior year comes and finally, you have broken away from your friend and have become your own person with your own friends and your own life and you’re doing quite well without this friend constantly breathing on your neck. However, you remain on good terms with this friend and still communicate with him/her every so often. Now, this bully that your friend is expected to fight is so horrible and everyone at the school is afraid of this bully, even the teachers and the principals are afraid of him/her. This bully is starting to take over the school and people are miserable because of this bully. Everyone at your school seems to be supporting this fight and many people have agreed to help your friend take down this bully. If you join this fight, are you showing that although you have become your own person and are no longer in the shadow of your good friend, you are still obliged to this friend and will do whatever he/she needs you to do? Are you a sell out?
Isolationism: Keeping out of affairs outside of its borders. Since Canada was so far away and isolated from Europe, involvement was not necessary. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King did not want Canada to be a part of another war because Canada was just starting to come out of the depression and the economy was slowly improving. King did not want Canada to go back into debt. King knew that if Britain joined the war, Canada would too but the decision had to be taken to parliamentSept 8th: King called a meeting to decide whether Canada would join the war. He gave a strong speech in favor of declaring war and gov’t stressed that conscription would not happen this timeHis speech made voters feel that going to war was necessary
Flying Officer Frank Rowan (left) was captured as a prisoner of war (POW) by the Germans after they shot down his plane over Nuremburg in 1945. Along with about 200 other POWs, he was made to endure a grueling march eastward. Feet torn, starving and forced to pile together bodies of his comrades who had died along the seemingly endless road, Rowan's one concern was to get home in one piece.
Canadian army initially rejected African-Canadians because of racist attitudesAs the war continued, however African Canadians were encouraged to join the regular army and officer corps. One of Canada’s most decorated soldiers was Aboriginal, Thomas Prince, he received 10 medals.Some Canadians were driven by a new sense of pride while others were attracted to a steady income
The first Canadians set sail for Europe, like their fathers before them, in December 1939. Canada sent two fighter squadrons to Britain before the end of 1940, with many more to follow, and the Royal Canadian Navy was at Britain's disposal.
How was given authority to do whatever it took to meet war time demandsHe told industries what to produce and how to produce themBusiness leaders manufactured goods they never made before
Gov’t ran telephone companies, refined fuel, stock piled silk for parachutes, mined uranium and controlled food production
Private F.J. Dunn resting on his ambulance jeep while evacuating casualties south of Bad Zwischenahn, Germany, 29 April 1945.
There was a rapid increase in production of aluminum which was used to build aircraftWood and paper production roseGreat increases in demand for petroleum for fuel tanks, trucks and airplanesAgriculture was overtaken by manufacturingCanadian cities became much more important contributors to the economy after the warDuring 1939-1949, Canada transformed from a rural economy to a modern industrial nation
About 48,000 war brides and approximately 21,000 children arrived from Europe to join their soldier-husbands after the warGov’t encouraged war brides to come to Canada by paying for their tripMany of these people faced challenges adapting to a new culture and societyThere was a growing demand for labour after the war and so Canada encouraged immigrationHowever, for the mostpart, immigration policy allowed mainly immigrants form preferred countries from Europe to enter Canada
Canadian troops had proven themselves on the battlefields and were recognized for their contributions to the Allied victoryThe efforts of Aboriginal, Asian and African-Canadian soldiers as well as from other minority groups helped further civil rights for all Canadians
