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Home Front
Battles
Conscription Crisis
End of the War and Peace

An act to confer
certain powers upon
the Governor in
Council and to amend
the immigration act
An act to confer
certain powers upon
the Governor in
Council and to amend
the immigration act .
Acts of the Parliament
of the Dominion of
Canada
War measures act,
1914

http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/archres/wwi-intro/canada.html
This photo is a picture of immigrants being forced to do work at the Petawawa Internment Camp
during WWI. Many labor bosses in Canada laid off immigrant workers and hired Canadian born
workers in an attempt to be patriotic. For this reason, unemployment was very high among the
immigrant population of Canada during WWI. Internees were paid only 25 cents for a full day of
work.

Censored
The contents of this envelope were
reviewed by Canadian censorship
authorities. Postal censorship from
overseas was enforced to ensure the
secrecy of sensitive information. It also
curtailed some soldiers from
communicating their war experiences,
as many realized that their officers, as
well as those further to the rear, would
be reading their mail. Mail from the
home front was not censored.

The first photo is a picture of "alien enemies" arriving at the Petawawa Internment Camp during WWI.
During the war more than 8,500 immigrants from "enemy" countries (e.g., Ukrainians, Poles, Hungarians,
Germans, Croats, Serbs, Slovaks, Turks, and Bulgarians) were placed in internment camps across
Canada. Many immigrants were interned for attempting to leave Canada, posing a security threat to
the war effort. Others were interned for acting suspiciously, showing resistance to authority, being
deemed unreliable or undesirable, or for being found in a state of hiding.

The fourth photo is a picture of internees carrying their beds into the crowded barracks where they
slept at the Petawawa Internment Camp during WWI. As the war dragged on into its third year,
Canada's labor force became desperate for workers. In response to this, many of the internees or
"enemy aliens" were released to work in factories and on farms. Many times they were forced to work
in places that were far away from their families.

Valcartier Internment Camp
A rare panoramic view of the internment camp at Valcartier as it existed in 1915. The Valcartier
camp closed in October 1915. Its 146 internees were transferred to camps at Spirit Lake and
Kingston. Twenty-six receiving stations and internment camps existed across Canada from 1914-1920,
holding 8,579 "enemy aliens."

Make Perfect Shells
Poster issued by the Department of Labour and the
Imperial Munitions Board of Canada to advise
munitions workers of the potentially deadly effects of
poor quality work.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/make-perfect-shells/?back=1582&anchor=2145

Are you breaking the law? Patriotic Canadians will
not hoard food. LOC Summary: Poster shows a man
and woman with bags of hoarded flour and sugar
looking at the silhouette of a policeman walking by
their blind-covered window. A Canada Food Board
statement, detailing fines for hoarding, hangs on the
wall.
http://www.ww1propaganda.com/ww1-poster/are-you-breaking-law-patriotic-canadians-will-not-hoard-food

This letter is from a representative at, "The Canadian
Bank of Commerce" and is addressed to Sir Joseph
Flavelle (chairman of the Imperial Munitions Board).
This letter describes the contributions that each
province has made to the Canadian Patriotic Fund.
In 1917, all of Canada was called upon to raise
$13,500,000. Some provinces raised their share
through subscription and taxation. Quebec was
asked to give more than their share because they
did not contribute as many troops to the war effort.

Fight with Food
Poster urging all Canadians on the home front to eat
less wheat, meat, dairy products, and beans so that
these foods could be sent overseas. Canadians were
also directed to eat more fish, vegetables, fruits, and
other grains. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden is
quoted at the bottom, "The food crisis is grave and
urgent beyond the possibility of exaggeration."
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/fight-with-
food/?back=1582&anchor=2162

Boys to the farm -- bring your chums and do your bit -
- S.O.S. LOC Summary: Poster shows man in Sons of
the Soil uniform blowing a bugle to summon men to
the Sons of the Soil corps
http://www.ww1propaganda.com/world-war-1-posters/canadian-ww1-propaganda-posters?page=11

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/firstworldwar/025005-3300.006.06-e.html
Income Tax Form of William Wardlaw Duncan
In 1978, nonagenarian William Wardlaw Duncan
donated a complete set of his income tax for the use
of future generations of Canadian researchers.
Income tax was officially implemented for the 1918
fiscal year. This document was Mr. Duncan’s
submission for the second year that income tax
existed in Canada. The exorbitant $100 per day
penalty for not filing income tax is clearly denoted on
the bottom of the form.

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/four-reasons/?back=1582&anchor=2182
Four Reasons
This fund-raising poster bears
the caricatured images of
Kaiser Wilhelm II, Field
Marshal von Hindenburg,
Crown Prince Wilhelm, and
Admiral Tirpitz to deride the
German war effort. Anti-
German sentiment proved
effective in rallying support
during fund-raising
campaigns, like this one for
Victory Bonds.

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/if-ye-break-faith/?back=1582&anchor=2186
If Ye Break Faith...
This poster uses the familiar imagery of poppies, and the text of John McCrae's famed poem, In
Flanders' Fields, to sell victory bonds. The same image was used in newspaper advertisements.

Women working on primers for shells during World War I
http://www.histori.ca/peace/page.do?subclassName=Image&pageID=277&galIndex=1

This is a propaganda poster that was directed
towards the women of Canada during World War I.
This poster sends a very strong message to women,
urging them to give their husbands and sons
permission to join the war effort. For much of the war
it was against the law in Canada for a married man
to enlist without the written permission of their spouse.
Many women did refuse to give their husbands
permission to enlist. In response these types of posters
tried to make Canadian women feel guilty for not
offering their men to the war effort. This type of
propaganda was common during World War I
because of the almost instant respect and honor
that a soldier and his family gained by going off to
war. Women were often seen walking through the
streets trying to encourage all able bodied men to
enlist. Many Canadians still saw war as a glorious and
heroic event.
http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/archres/wwi-intro/women.html

http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/archres/wwi-intro/women.html
The first photo is a picture of some Canadian nurses during World War I (Ward 33). This picture
was taken at Christmas time. The hospital is well decorated for the occasion, in hopes of
cheering up the wounded. One of the biggest tasks of a WWI nurse was to comfort the wounded
and give them hope of a healthy return home.

If You Can't Join Him, You Should Help Her
This poster contrasts a soldier in the trenches with a
woman and her children in a Canadian Patriotic
Fund (CPF) office. The CPF, a national, voluntary
association, raised $47 million for soldiers'
dependants by a vast network across Canada.
Despite the CPF's good work, many aid recipients
complained that monitoring by the CPF officials
intruded on their personal lives. Volunteer visits to
ensure that money was not spent frivolously or that it
did not lead to licentious behavior was a clear
reflection of prevailing social values.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/if-you-cant-join-him-you-should-help-
her/?back=1582&anchor=2160

"Kultur vs. Humanity"
This Canadian Victory Bond poster
evokes the image of the Llandovery
Castle, a Canadian hospital ship
torpedoed by German U-boat U-86,
off the coast of Ireland on 27 June
1918. The attack killed 234 people,
including 94 Canadian medical
officers and nurses. At the bottom of
the poster is the message: "Kultur vs.
Humanity." Wartime propaganda
soon referred to German Kultur
(culture) as a damning insult, a
supposed predisposition for war,
cruelty, and destructiveness that
placed Germany outside the
community of civilized nations. A total
effort against such an enemy was
more than justified, it was expected.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/kultur-vs-humanity/?back=1582&anchor=2135

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/propaganda/materials-for-the-war-effort/if-you-cannot-put-the-i-into-fight/?back=1582&anchor=2166
If You Cannot Put the "I" into Fight
Canadian Patriotic Fund (CPF) fund-raising poster
appealing for donations from men who were not
serving on the front lines. The CPF was a private
organization created to provide for the families of
soldiers serving overseas.

Help the Boys
Shells explode and German soldiers flee in panic in this colourful recruitment poster for the 245th
Battalion, Canadian Grenadier Guards. Raised in Montreal, the 245th sailed to England in 1917 where
the battalion was broken up and absorbed by the 23rd Reserve Battalion. The soldiers were
subsequently sent to the front as reinforcements for numerous other front line battalions.

Mustard Gas Victims
The extensive bandages on these wounded Canadian soldiers may indicate that they have suffered the
effects of flame or mustard gas. Mustard gas burned the lungs, but also caused serious external blisters
and disfigurement.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/battles-and-fighting-photographs/mustard-gas-victims/?back=199

Gas moving towards allied Trenches.
http://www.canadaatwar.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=2686

Battle Maps
These maps show the positions of the battalions and brigades of the Canadian Division and other
units at four points during the Second Battle of Ypres, April 1915. The red lines representing the
Canadian position show how they withstood the German attack and kept the city of Ypres in
Allied hands.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/archival-documents/maps/battle-maps/?back=132

Artillery Barrage
This photograph shows explosions from a British artillery barrage on the Somme battlefield. There are
numerous explosions across a relatively small area of ground. The bombardment is relatively uniform and
likely directed against the barbed wire that can be seen running across the front.

Old Trench on the Somme
The zig-zag lines on the left
are communication trenches
leading back towards the
rear areas in this October
1916 photograph of the
Somme. The front line is better
laid out, according to
regulations, and the periodic
bays allow for parts of the
front line to be lost, without
comprising the whole trench.
The white chalk beside the
trenches indicates that these
trenches have been dug very
recently.

Disabled Tank
This tank only managed to advance about 100 metres into No Man's Land before it became mired in
the mud and had to be abandoned by its crew. These first tanks were very slow - about the speed of
a walking person - and highly susceptible to mechanical break down, muddy ground, and enemy
artillery fire.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/battles-and-fighting-photographs/disabled-tank/?back=140

Remains of the Sugar Factory
A lone soldier stands atop the remains of the sugar factory south of Courcelette on the Somme.
Several platoons of Canadian infantry and a supporting tank overran the factory on 15 September
1916, after a fierce German defence.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/battles-and-fighting-photographs/remains-of-the-sugar-factory/?back=142

Canadians advancing over the crest of Vimy Ridge
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/overseas/first-world-war/france/vimy/story-galleries/03_april_1917/02_no_man_land

Vimy Ridge from the Air
This aerial photograph illustrates the major trench
lines around an unknown sector on Vimy Ridge. The
large craters, some ten to 15 metres deep, were
made from mine explosions set off by Canadian
engineers prior to and during the assault of 9 April
1917. Mines could create great confusion and blow
huge gaps in an enemy's defences, but they were
also significant obstacles for advancing troops.

Artillery Support
In this striking nighttime photograph taken behind Canadian lines at Vimy Ridge, a British naval gun
fires in support of the Canadian attack. Approximately 1,000 Allied guns and mortars pounded the
ridge prior to the assault, a period called by the German defenders the "week of suffering."
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/battles-and-fighting-photographs/artillery-support/?back=144

Practice trenches and battleground
miniatures were built and used to
rehearse. Before Vimy, maps were
for officers only – but not any more!
Maps were handed out to every
soldier (40,000 in all) and each man
knew his precise objective and
approximate time of arrival before
going into battle.(Model
reproduction of German lines.
Library and Archives Canada.)

Map of Canadian Advance at
Vimy
The Canadian offensive at Vimy
Ridge is shown here, as well as the
advance across the Douai Plain
and the battles of Arleux and
Fresnoy in late April and early
May. The blue lines mark the
progress of the advance and the
dates Allied forces reached them.
Pink lines mark divisional
boundaries. Green lines illustrate
old advances.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/archival-documents/maps/map-of-canadian-advance-at-vimy/?back=144

Canadian Pioneers carrying trench mats with wounded and prisoners in background during the Battle of
Passchendaele
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/first-world-war/passchendaele/gallery

Passchendaele Mud
Mud, water, and barbed wire illustrate the horrible terrain through which the Canadians advanced at
Passchendaele in late 1917.

A Field of Mud
The mud at Passchendaele slowed all movement to a crawl, and left advancing troops exposed to
enemy fire for longer periods of time during attacks.

Canadian Pioneers laying trench mats over mud.

The Canadians in Mons
Canadian Corps commander Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie and other Canadian officers
taking the salute in the Grand Place, Mons, Belgium on 11 November 1918.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/life-at-the-front-photographs/the-canadians-in-mons/?back=1592&anchor=2666

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/battles-and-fighting-photographs/canadians-entering-cambrai/?back=1590&anchor=2533
Canadians Entering Cambrai
A small patrol of Canadian troops crosses the main
square in Cambrai on 9 October 1918. The retreating
Germans set fire to the town, but the rapid Canadian
occupation allowed much of the city to be saved
from the flames.

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/battles-and-fighting-photographs/the-arras-cambrai-road/?back=1590&anchor=2524
The Arras-Cambrai Road
Canadian ammunition limbers on the devastated Arras-Cambrai road during the Battle
of Arras in late August 1918. At the front, almost all ammunition and supply transport was
horse-drawn. There were few vehicles or undamaged roads.

Crossing the Canal du Nord
These Canadian supply units are crossing the dry bed of the Canal du Nord. The wrecked bridge in the
background was deliberately destroyed by the Germans, while the dead Canadian in the foreground is
grim testimony to the recent fighting.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/life-at-the-front-photographs/crossing-the-canal-du-nord/?back=1592&anchor=2664

Enforcement of the Military Service Act
This pamphlet informed voters that under the Military
Service Act families who had already contributed
someone to military service would be considered for
exemption. This certainly would have appealed to
families with loved ones overseas who wanted to see
the war's burden shared more evenly. In April 1918,
after German offensives on the Western Front had
worried the government about the prosecution of
the war, it cancelled almost all exemptions. This
affected farmers' sons in the greatest numbers. The
only remaining exemption was a result of the "death,
disablement or service of other members of the
same family while on active service."
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/archival-documents/government-documents/enforcement-of-the-military-service-
act/?back=1562&anchor=1733

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/archival-documents/government-documents/exemption-certificate/?back=1562&anchor=1739
Exemption Certificate
Hubert Leonard Clarke's certificate of exemption from military service on medical grounds. Clarke
was not called up as a soldier as he was categorized as unfit for service. Approximately 93 percent of
men eligible for conscription applied for an exemption.

Anti-conscription protest in Montreal, May 24, 1917
http://www.histori.ca/peace/page.do;jsessionid=2C9FF36915164CF27177448DF74802E2.tomcat1?subclassName=Image&pageID=278&galIndex=5

Voting up the Line
Canadian soldiers at the front voting in the 1917 election. Two soldiers with a sack wait to collect the
completed ballots. Canadians engaged in military service, regardless of race, age or gender, were
eligible to vote. Ninety percent of them voted for Sir Robert Borden's Union government that ran a
campaign based on invoking conscription.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/life-at-the-front-photographs/voting-up-the-line/?back=1592&anchor=2537

Women's Suffrage
Canadian Nursing Sisters in France vote in the 1917 election. The Wartime Election Act (1917)
enfranchised women serving in the military, as well as those with a father, brother, or son overseas. The
war hastened female suffrage at the federal level.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/life-at-the-front-photographs/womens-suffrage/?back=1592&anchor=2499

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/archival-documents/government-documents/soldiers-ballot/?back=1562&anchor=1737
Soldiers' Ballot
Broadsheet produced by the Union government
showing soldiers how to cast their votes in the 1917
election. This leaflet notes that a vote for the Union
government is a vote against slackers.

This document is addressed to all women that can
vote. The War Time Elections Act allowed women
serving overseas, or women that were next of kin to a
man serving over seas to vote
http://wwipicturegallery.wikispaces.com/Conscription+Crisis

http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3667273&rec_nbr_list=3667273,3667271,3667255,3667254
,3667253,3667252,3667250,3667249,3635573,3635572
The Canadian Mother, Vote Union Government.

4,3667253,3667252,3667250,3667249,3635573,3635572
The Fiddler, Nero "Fiddling" With Politics While the
Flames Spread : Union government electoral
campaign.

7254,3667253,3667252,3667250,3667249,3635573,3635572
If Bourassa and Laurier Win, Vote Union Government.

7254,3667253,3667252,3667250,3667249,3635573,3635572
In This Crisis Vote Union Government.

http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/archival-documents/government-documents/how-to-vote-yes/?back=1562&anchor=1720
How to Vote YES
Leaflet urging a yes vote for conscription. The reverse
of the card warns the reader, "Before you cast your
vote think what the Kaiser would like it to be." The
Allied press and propaganda demonized the Kaiser,
Germany's king, as a warlord. The pro-conscription
forces ultimately proved successful in Canada's 1917
election

94805,3394804,3394803,3213655,3213654,97987,103049,99088,103304,186685,155622,156208,104705,97657,103873,106901,4741134
Canadians voting in London at General Election 1917.

Every Vote Counts
A wounded Canadian soldier casts his vote in the December 1917 election at a Canadian hospital in
France. The patient and his bed were moved outdoors to pose for this photo with high ranking officers.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/photographs/life-at-the-front-photographs/every-vote-counts/?back=361

As the leaders negotiated, Canadian soldiers were
finally off the front lines and waiting to return home.
http://socialsdi11.wikispaces.com/Paris+Peace+Conference

League of Nations meeting at Geneva, August-
September 1928, when Canada was a member of
the Council
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/league-of-nations/

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