The+Conscription+Crisis

The Conscription Crisis


 In 1917, Prime Minister Robert Borden returned from London, England, shaken by the news. He had learned that his Allies expected the war to last until 1920 - another three years. But Borden had already met his pledge that Canada would supply 500 000 troops to the war. Canada had only 8 million people in 1917. One in 16 was already in uniform, all of them volunteers. Most of the eligible men of Ontario, Western Canada, and the Atlantic region had already volunteered. But, like most British Canadians, Borden was determined to support the King and the Empire. There must be more Canadian troops.

 The prime minister decided he must get more recruits by using conscription, which means that military service was required by law. The Military Service Act was passed in the summer of 1917, making military service compulsory for men between the ages of 20 and 45. Newfoundland's government passed its own Military Service Act almost a year later, in May 1918. Borden called on Canadians to support the decision in the upcoming December election. Re-election of his government would prove that the public supported conscription.

 Casualties and Enlistments in 1917
 Month; Casualties; Enlistments  Jan.; 4396; 9194  Feb.; 1250; 6809  Mar.; 6161; 6640  Apr.; 13477; 5530  May; 13457; 6407  June; 7931; 6348  July; 7906; 3882  Aug.; 13232; 3117  Sept.; 10990; 3588  Oct.; 5929; 4884 <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Nov.; 30741; 4019 <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Dec.; 7476; 3921 <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Totals; 122946; 64339

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">THINK
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">How do the figures for the first three months differ from) those of other months? What effects did battles at Vimy Ridge (April) and Passchendaele (November) have on these figures? Given these figures, why was Prime Minister Borden so worried?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">The Conscription Election of 1917
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> The December 1917 election divided people more than any other national election in Canadian history. To many, a vote against conscription seemed disloyal, almost treasonous.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">French Canada **generally did not enlist in large numbers or support conscription because**
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - many people had lived in Quebec for generations and had few ties to either Britain or France <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - Quebec was largely rural; fewer farmers volunteered all across Canada <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - many French Canadians married early and had large families who needed support <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - the army had no French-speaking brigades at first, and few French-speaking officers <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">- the war was considered to be a British problem by many French-Canadians

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> **Farmers and labour unionists** were slow to enlist because <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - they believed food and materials they produced at home were essential to the war effort.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> **Conscientious objectors and pacifists** could not support the Military Service Act because <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - they opposed war as a matter of conscience

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> **Liberal leader Sir Wilfrid Laurier** refused to support the Military Service Act because <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - he knew that Quebec opposed conscription. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - throughout his long political career, Laurier had worked hard to unite French and English Canadians, not divide them.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> **Prime Minister Robert Borden** (Conservative) asked Laurier to form a coalition government, a temporary +alliance. When that didn't work, he took steps to win the election: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - he split Laurier's party by offering its English politicians key posts if they joined a Union Government <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> - he passed the Wartime Elections Act, taking the right to vote away from conscientious objectors and the so-called "enemy aliens." Meanwhile, it gave the vote to women who were connected to the military.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">French Canadian Liberal Politician Henri Bourassa
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Tensions were already high between the French and English in Canada. Just before the war, some provincial politicians were busy eliminating French language instruction from schools. Popular French-Canadian politician Henri Bourassa, a Liberal, angrily reminded English Canadians of this fact in an open letter about the war:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> "The backward ... policy of the rulers of Ontario and Manitoba gives us additional argument against the intervention of Canada in the European conflict. To speak of fighting for the preservation of the French civilization in Europe while endeavouring to destroy it in [North] America appears to be an absurd piece of inconsistency." <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Sandra Gwyn, Tapestry of War, 1992, p. 327, quoting from Bourassa's original letter published in the pamphlet "Canadian Nationalism and the War," 1916

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> The bitter Conscription Election split Canada. Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals won very few seats outside Quebec, while Borden's Union Government of Conservatives and English-Canadian Liberals swept most of English-speaking Canada. In the end, conscription was hardly worth the trouble it caused. Very few of the men called for service actually got into the war.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">media type="youtube" key="FX85Afumru8?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Note-"enfranchised" means having the ability to vote. "disenfranchised" means having the right to vote taken away

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Questions
<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> 1. Complete the following summary:

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Politician: 1. Robert Borden <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Title and Political Party: <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> For or Against Conscription? <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Reasons for Their Views:

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Politician: 2. Wilfrid Laurier <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Title and Political Party: <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> For or Against Conscription? <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Reasons for Their Views:

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Politician: 3. Henri Bourassa <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Title and Political Party: <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> For or Against Conscription? <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> Reasons for Their Views:

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> 2. Read again about how Borden made sure he would win the election. Do you think this strategy was fair? What are some political tactics used in elections today?

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> 3. How do you think you would have voted in the 1917 election? Why?