Was Conscription the right choice in 1917?

1
Was Conscription the right choice in 1917?
2
Canadas contribution so far

• Prime Minister Borden initially pledged 25,000
  troops 30,000 volunteered
• He said There has not been, there will not be,
  compulsion or conscription. -1914

3

• Oct 1915 Borden increases
• commitment to
• 250,000 men
• Jan 1916
• 500,000 men
• Is this realistic?

4
French-Canadian Frustration

• Regulation 17 Restrictions on language
• 3 of volunteers were Fr-Can, but they were
  scattered amongst English.
• They were bitter about assimilation some felt it
  an Imperialist war.
• They had or no loyalty to Britain or France.
• Nationalist Leader Henri Bourassa opposed
  compulsory military service.

5
Recruitment/Propaganda

• Will we wait until
• ours burns?
• Lets enroll and quickly

6
This is the moment to act. Dont wait until
the Germans come to reign destruction here in
Canada. Be men! Do not stay behind.
7
Why did Canadians ingeneral stop volunteering?

• Farming families needed their sons.
• People heard about the horrors
• of war.
• Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele resulted in news of
  high casualties.

8
A matter of honour

• 1917 Borden went to an Imperial War Conference in
  London.
• David Lloyd George urged Borden to commit more
  men.
• Borden visited Canadian soldiers and realized the
  need for more troops to maintain the war effort.

9
The Election

• Borden realized Canadas capacity to help but
  knew volunteers would not be enough. He would
  have to force through conscription.
• Military Voters Act
• Wartime Elections Act
• Wilfrid Laurier and Francophone Liberals were
  opposed. Conservatives most English Liberals
  supported conscription.

10
Outrage!

• Riots in Quebec 1918.
• French-English tensions grew.
• Only 48,000 conscripts went overseas
• was it worth it?

11
Outcome

• Conscription Crisis represented the impossibility
  of reconciling French English views.
• Quebec became anti-Conservative.
• Canada was deeply divided. Had WWI continued, it
  might have sparked civil war.

12
Two views of Conscription
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Finis