Canada Between The Wars 1919-1939

1
Canada Between The Wars 1919-1939
2
The Economy
3
Post War Economic Problems

• Wartime manufacturing ended and factories
  retooled for peace time, and downsized.
• 350,000 veterans returned to the workforce.
• Unions attempted to consolidate strength gained
  during the war.
• Labour demands for One Big Union frightened
  government and business.

OBU
MANY SMALL UNIONS
4
Post War Economic Problems II

• The government refused a veteran demand for a
  2000 bonus.
• Farmers were upset by government prices for
  wheat.
• Inflation, after 1917, resulted in rising
  interest rates.

5
Winnipeg General Strike

• Workers demanded the right to bargain with
  employers.
• 30,000 workers set up picket lines on May 15,
  1919.
• The strike showed signs of spreading beyond
  Winnipeg.
• A frightened government brought a violent end to
  the strike.

6
Winnipeg General Strike
FEAR
7
Railways

• Bankrupt railway lines established during the
  Laurier era were consolidated by the government
  as the Canadian National Railway system.
• To meet costs the CNR raised freight rates on the
  Maritime section of the line imposing severe
  hardship on industry in this region.

FROM 40 to 100
Maritime
FREIGHT RATES
8
The Election of 1921
9
The Election of 1921

• The new Conservative leader after 1920 was Arthur
  Meighen.
• The Liberals elected William Lyon Mackenzie King
  to lead their party.
• Discontent among farmers resulted in a new
  federal political party - The Progressives.

Arthur Meighen
10
The Election of 1921 II

• The Progressives supported free trade, lower
  taxes and cheap freight rates.
• The Liberals also supported free trade.
• The Conservatives continued to support high
  tariffs and this cost them the election.
• Mackenzie King formed government in 1921.

Mackenzie King
11
The Election of 1921 III

• Liberal seats
• Progressive seats
• Conservative seats

116
65
50
Progressive strength in the West combined with
Liberal support in Quebec and the Maritimes swept
the Conservatives from power.
12
Canadian Autonomy
13
The Growth of Canadian Autonomy 1914 -1919

• Decision making for much of World War I was
  entirely British.
• In 1917 the British War Cabinet was expanded to
  become the Imperial War Cabinet which included
  all of the Dominion prime ministers.
• In 1919 Canada placed her own signature on the
  Treaty of Versailles and took a separate seat on
  the League of Nations.

14
Mackenzie King and The Empire

• Mackenzie King did not support military expansion
  and wished to distance himself from the Empire.
• He cut the defence budget and appointed O.D.
  Skeleton to direct Canadas foreign policy.
• Kings policies were popular in the West and in
  Quebec.

15
King and Canadian Autonomy

• Liberal nationalism was demonstrated by
• The Chanak Crisis of 1922
• King refused to support Britains request for
  troops in case of a war with Turkey.

• The Halibut Treaty of 1923
• For the first time Canada signed an international
  treaty without British support.

16
The Statute of Westminster 1931

• In 1923 at the Imperial Conference Mackenzie King
  and J.B.M. Herzog of South Africa proposed that
  the foreign policy of each dominion should be
  completely independent of British control.
• The King-Herzog Principle led to the Statute of
  Westminster of 1931 which established Canada as
  an autonomous community within the British
  Empire.

17
The King-Byng Affair
18
The Election of 1925
Oil and Gas
Pulp and Paper

• Between 1921 and 1925 economic conditions in most
  of Canada improved

Branch Plants
but
American Investment

• The Progressive party was weakened by internal
  disagreement
• and
• The Liberals had failed to keep all the promises
  of 1921. They were now vulnerable in the
  Maritimes because of

Freight Rates and Tariffs.
Hydro-electric Power
Copper and Nickle
19
The Election of 1925 II

• Conservative seats
• Liberal seats
• Progressive seats

116
101
24
Mackenzie King lost the election but called on
the support of the Progressive Party and refused
to resign.
20
The King-Byng Wing-Ding 1926

• A scandal in the Liberal government forced
  Mackenzie King to ask Lord Byng, the
  Governor-General, for dissolution.
• Lord Byng would not grant this request because
• Meighen led the largest party.
• An election had just taken place in 1925.

Lord Byng
21
The King-Byng Wing-Ding

• A reluctant Arthur Meighen now formed government.
• King accused Lord Byng and the Conservatives of
  twisting the Constitution.
• The Progressives continued to support the
  Liberals and Meighen was quickly defeated.
• An election called for September 14, 1926
  returned King and the Liberals to power.