World+War+1+Introduction

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Let's start off by listening to a 1915 song about the War...it's called "Pack Up Your Troubles" and it's a marching song. media type="file" key="5_PackUpYourTroubles.mp3" width="240" height="20"

The Great War
 The Great War, later known as the First World War or World War I, was fought mostly in Europe, between August 1914 and November 1918. It was a world war, because there were sea battles in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. The war was terribly destructive - historians estimate that over 10 million lives were lost.

1. What do you think is meant by "Great" in this sense?

 Donald Fraser was one of the lucky ones to survive a particularly grim battle of the Great War. He was carried off to a nearby field hospital, where he woke up a day later. Here is part of his journal entry about that day:

 November 5, 1917

 Later, I awakened in a tent in a dim light where about thirty fellows lay on stretchers moaning and groaning. A bag containing the shrapnel taken out of my shoulder was pinned to my clothes, while the left arm was wreathed in bandages. The other [was] wrapped the same way, but in addition, strapped to my body. At this stage I was very dazed and sore and if I felt strong after I was hit, I felt the opposite now...

 In the morning a Red Cross train was at hand and in a short time the carriages were filled. Two nurses came into my carriage and sat about ten feet away on the opposite side. I could tell by the way they looked at me every now and then that they expected me to peg out.

 As the train slowly sped away and I realized that my fighting days had passed forever, I silently said farewell to the line that had been my home for the last two years and two months.

peg out: a slang term that meant to faint or pass out

 Reginald H. Roy, ed., The Journal of Private Fraser: 1914-1918, Canadian Expeditionary Force (Victoria: Sono Nis Press, 1985), pp. 315-316

2. How do you think Donald Fraser felt when he wrote this? What is it in the passage that tells you?

 Donald Fraser's injuries affected him for the rest of his life. He had little strength in his arm and was left with limited energy. But he considered himself lucky, claiming that he "lasted longer than 90 percent of those who went over with me."

 Some 61 000 Canadians were dead or missing by the end of the Great War, and more than 150 000 others suffered terrible damage to body and mind. In military terms, Canada had more than 210 000 war casualties - a terrible toll. Newfoundland, which was not part of Canada at that time, sent almost 5000 soldiers. Over 1200 of these men were killed. As well, almost 3300 Newfoundlanders joined the Canadian forces and served with them.

This was a significant number, particularly because of Canada's population of less than 8 million at the time. The overall death toll of World War 1 was staggering, 10 million soldiers and 7 million civilians died, more than twice the number of Canada's population. Reflected as a percentage of population, Canada lost about 0.9% of the population. Serbia, a country right in the heart of one of the areas fought in, lost 16% of it's population, almost three-hundred thousand people.

<span style="background-color: #bde8e8; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">3. What do you think accounts for the reason a country Serbia, with a smaller population than Canada, suffered so many more deaths?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Canadian troops are especially remembered for their part in battles at Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Literacy Hint <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> This is an example of material quoted from another source. Here are some ways to tell:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - a sentence in the regular text introduces it <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - square brackets mean that someone has made a change or added something to the text <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - a series of dots (called an ellipsis) means that part of the original text has been deleted <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - it is usually in a different font or format than the regular text

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">When you're reading, you need to keep track of who is "speaking."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">When you're finished the questions below, go to this link to Fraser's Diary

<span style="background-color: #bde8e8; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">4. Based on the information above, describe your first impressions of this war. Jot down your ideas or make some sketches in a mind map formed around "The Great War."

<span style="background-color: #bde8e8; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">5. Go to this <span class="wiki_link_ext">LINK and list the 5 countries that lost the highest overall number of their population, in order. Make another list of the 5 countries that lost the highest number by percentage of their population.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">You might want to check out this video that will introduce you to the horrors of the war that Donald Fraser fought in; <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">[|Link to Video]