Conscription During WWI

In Canadian history, nationalism and sovereignty tend to be common themes prevalent since Confederation. A well-known example of this in Quebec was during the Quiet Revolution which strengthened the need for change through Premier Lesage’s reforms and in turn, developed a strong sense of nationalism in Quebec. In contrast to beliefs that the rapid modernization of the Quiet Revolution had a positive impact on Quebec, it rather had a negative impact on Quebec and its citizens and identity. The three consequences which arose in Quebec as a result of the revolution are the encouragement of separatism, the elimination of traditional values and roles and the establishment of powerful bureaucratic control. Quebec’s attempt to be more like the

The historical context of the Quebec Separatist movement included The Quiet Revolution. The Quiet Revolution was when small groups try to make Quebec independent especially FLQ. The small groups members were Francophones, French-speaking citizens. Their ideals was to make Quebec independent from Canadaś government. First, Canada made a bill stating that it will create a better future for Canada. “The Official Language Bill is a reflection of the nature of this country as a whole and of a conscious choice we are making about our future.” (World History: The Modern Era) Canada thought it was necessary to have one language, and it will make them feel united. After this bill was established, Canada’s government regretted and believed that there should be two official language. Yet the citizens of Canada were still deciding if they wanted that law to pass. “We believe in two official languages and in a pluralist society, not

Firstly, the Conscription Crisis of 1942 provoked conflict between the French and English Canadians, but also changed Canadian identity positively during the 1940s. Ever since World War ll began and Canada joined the war the French Canadians highly opposed to the idea of conscription; “[...]English-Canadians, who were mostly in favour of conscription, and French-Canadians, who were strongly opposed.” To begin with, the prime minister of Canada at the time, Mackenzie King had acknowledged the great disagreement the French Canadians had against conscription and made a promise to the nation: “King’s government [...] had promised the nation, and particularly Quebec, that it would not send any conscripts to serve overseas.” The last thing that King wanted to do was to impose conscription especially when Quebec strongly believed in anti-conscription: “The Quebec ministers kept a strong vigil over King's anti-conscription predisposition, reminding him of the terrible divisiveness of the World War 1

Conscription proved itself on angering many French Canadians. The October Crisis showed how French Canadians can fight back against Canada. The 1992 and 1995 Referendums demonstrated the actions that the French can take if they are ignored. Becoming aware of Canada’s actions can prevent straining French-English relations to the point where it cannot be

In 1917 during WW1, the Canadian government justified in enacting the Military Services Act to register and conscript men for war. Almost all French Canadians opposed conscription because they felt they had no loyalty to France and Britain. Other Canadians were at ease with the conscription as they supported the British Empire. The farmers, union heads, and pacifists were all opposed of the conscription like the French Canadians. I believe the Military Services Act was not the best choice because it ripped up the relations between the English and the French Canadians, it eliminated the freedom of the people by forcing them to go to war, and caused a riot in Quebec City leading to a few deaths. The

Though the beginning of the separatist movement was marred by fighting and violence, the vast majority of the conflict has been a political one. The reason for the revolution in Quebec stems from the restrictions placed upon the populace by the English. These restrictions were on both the language and culture of the Quebecois, and caused them to feel trapped in under the English rule, for lack of a better term. This revolution is on a much less certain foot than the others however, with many of the younger citizens not remember the restrictions of days

The Quiet Revolution is characterized as the events that took place in Quebec following the death of Quebec’s conservative Premier Maurice Duplessis in 1959 and the election of Jean Lesage and his Liberals the following year. The era marked a period of unprecedented political and social change for the province and also the development of the Quebecois identity.

Once the Military Service Act was put in place, the problems began that made the Conscription Crisis of 1917 so significant. Almost immediately Quebec anti-conscription riots broke out all over Montreal. The province of Quebec was totally opposing the fact of serving in World War One. The fact that forcing young men to fight and die was thought to be an outrage in Quebec. Never minding the fact that the Canadian Corps was nearly in Complete English. During the riots nearly forty percent of the Québécois conscripted men did not report for their duty in the war. The views French-Canadian's between the majorities of the English Canadian's were basically utterly opposed to each other causing the relations between the two the lowest ever within Canadian history. In both the elections of 1917 and 1921 seventy percent of the Quebec Population voted liberal for the loss of trust from the conservatives due to this event. "The 1917 Election was the most bitter in Canadian history, viciously fought on both sides"- said

In 1980 The PQ government called a referendum asking weather Quebec should have a new agreement with the rest of Canada. The No side won by a slim margin. In response to the referendum Pierre Trudeau promised to reform the Constitution. "Do you want "a new agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations"? That was the heart of the question placed before the people of Quebec in the May 20, 1980 referendum. René Lévesque's Parti Québécois was asking Quebecers for a mandate to negotiate "sovereignty-association", an idea that inflamed federalists and separatists alike.

WWII was a defining moment in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the verge of global affairs into a crucial opponent in the 20th century's most tragic battle. Canada played a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany, and sacrificed thousands of lives. Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services and more than 43,000 were killed (Stacey, July 15, 2013 ). In November 1944, after extreme losses in front-line units serving in Northwest Europe and Italy, Ottawa legitimized conscription, sending out 16,000 home defence men overseas (Canadian War Museum, N/A). This implement for Conscription was necessary for Canada based on the lack of Canadian volunteers, the

Canada faced dramatic changes through the decades of the 1960’s and 1970’s, but in particular the province of Quebec. In 1959, Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis died, this marked the beginning of the Quiet Revolution. Duplessis was the Union Nationale leader and the party had controlled Quebec for decades until shortly after Duplessis’ death, a provincial election was held where the Liberals, led by Jean Lesage, had won the vote. The Liberals started moving away from the Catholic ideologies, traditions were being shifted and a transformed society was taking over the province of Quebec. Lesage was famously quoted in 1962 “There is no doubt in my mind; it’s now or never that we must become masters in our own home.” which became the Liberals

Most notable among the many reasons for the Quebecois electing the Parti Québécois to power is the

Quebec has played a special role in the French History. In the modern province occupies, many of the land where French settlers that founded the colony of Canada also known as New France that was in the 17th and 18th centuries. The population is predominantly with French-speakers and Roman Catholics, with a large group minority that was Anglophone. The political alienation of Francophones from the Anglophones has been a persistent theme since the late 19th century. The tension was high during the First World War. Historically, the British merchants and the financiers controlled the whole economy and dominated Montreal. During the Quiet Revolution in 1960, much of that changed. Quebec's separatists, calling for an independent nation, gained

Finally in 1867, the United Canadas joined two other British Colonies, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form the Dominion of Canada (McRoberts 1991, 413). French-Canadians continued to fight against assimilation and received autonomous privileges with exclusive jurisdiction over matters regarding its cultural distinctiveness***. Thus, the Francophone language and culture has always been at the forefront of Quebec priorities. Since Confederation, Quebec nationalist have felt that the Francophone language and culture has been at risk of assimilation by the rest of Canada. As a result, Quebec nationalism is fundamentally rooted in the preservation of the Francophone language and culture (Guiberneau 2006, 52). Political leaders in Quebec continuously urge for the recognition that Canada is composed of two nations or cultures (McRoberts 1991, 413). Prior to confederation Quebec enjoyed numerous autonomous privileges. Unfortunately, post-confederation Quebec did not enjoy as many autonomous privileges because Canada was created as a relatively centralized federation (Beland and Lecours 2007, 406). A centralized federation not only took several of these autonomous powers away from Quebec, but it also threatened the Francophone language and culture (Beland and Lecours 2007, 406). With this said, Quebec nationalism has placed a great deal of pressure on the federal government to decentralize, giving more powers to provincial governments.

Firstly, Canada has two official languages and considers Francophones a major part in Canadian history. Even though, French-speaking Canadians are a minority in today’s society, they are recognized as a minority and play a major role in Canadian society and politics. Secondly, the people of Quebec were given the opportunity to vote in the referendum of 1995, voting yes or no for independence of Quebec. Many Quebecois wanted independency from the rest of Canada, and the results were very close. The percentage of people who said no were 50.58% and 49.42% of people said yes. The party which was in provincial power at the time, was Parti Quebecois. Thirdly, Quebec’s strong pride for it’s language and culture, has caused French to be the only prominent language in Quebec. The people of Quebec feared that Francophones would assimilate and lose heir language and culture. A law was passed which made it mandatory that signs must be in French or the French must be bigger than the English. There is actually a police force which fines people for putting up English signs. As a result, Quebec has much more political power as a province than they ever used