Remebering Vimy Essay

In Canada, Terry Fox is always suggested to be a hero who offered by way of clues to a Canadian cultural identity. Terry Fox is a famous Canadian athlete and cancer research activist. In 1980, his efforts for embarking on a cross-Canada run to make people recognize the importance of cancer research, with one of his legs amputated, successfully influenced and engaged millions of people. Terry Fox quotes that to him, being famous himself is not the idea of the run, while the only important part for him is the Marathon of Hope. (1980) In this essay, I am going to analyze the heroism, nationalism and identity that Terry Fox brings to Canadian history.

The feats achieved by Canadians were incredible, and more influential than anything they had done before. Vimy was one of the German’s most heavily guarded areas, and it was thought that it was impossible to over take. However, when the Canadians did take it, they captured the most artillery and guns since the start of the war. They also managed to take 4,000 Germans as prisoners of war. Past battles at Vimy witnessed over 200,000 causalities. During the Canadian attack on the ridge, they lost 3,598 soldiers while the Germans suffered over 20,000 causalities. Canadians had much to be proud of after Vimy, a feeling they did not often get while fighting under British command. Critics question whether Vimy aided Canada’s birth as a nation. “It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that if Vimy Ridge had been captured

Dear Mother, It’s been a long time since I had the opportunity to sit down and write you a letter. I miss you and father a lot. I am overjoyed to be writing this letter to you. The mood here is one of jubilation. Our assault on Vimy Ridge began at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, eight days ago. We lost a lot of good boys but I am so very pleased to inform you that the Canucks got the job done! What the French couldn’t do for two years and the Brits too we, Byng’s Boys did in three days. I was assigned to the front line in the trenches as part of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade attached to the 4th Canadian Division. This is actually the first time all four divisions got to work together as a unified Canadian Corps. They

As young men gathered and worked together at Valcartier for wartime training, they began to develop a sense of Canadian identity. During the war, Canadian soldiers gained social autonomy from Britain as Canada’s expeditionary force maintained independent from British units. For the first time, Canadian troops were chosen to lead an assault in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. They had captured more land, guns, and prisoners than any other British troop. Following this triumph, a Canadian, Arthur Currie, was selected to command Canada’s troops in the Battle of Passchendaele.

When one thinks of Canada, he/she is most likely to stereotypically comment on a subject regarding hockey, beavers, maple syrup, and cold weather. However, not many stop and wonder about how Canada became the peaceful nation it is today. Throughout Canada’s relatively short and brief history, it has managed to flourish into a strong and powerful nation. Canada’s peaceful identity has been formed with meaningful historic events that have occurred throughout our history.It’s identity has been characterized by Lester B. Pearson's role during the suez canal, their involvement in the Vietnam war, and its engagement in peacekeeping missions around the world.

On April 9, 1917, Canada sent out 100 000 fine men to serve and protect their country. To this day, the battle of Vimy Ridge is still known as the day Canada became a nation. Despite the cataclysm of the battle and the thousands of lost souls, Vimy Ridge is considered to be defining moments in Canadian History. The Germans were in complete control of Vimy Ridge for over two years prior to the Canadian onset. This enabled the Germans to strengthen their position, making them seem unvanquishable. The German forces were appeared to be impregnable. Nor the British armada or the French were able to vanquish the Germans. The French battled for over two years and suffered over one hundred and fifty thousand casualties. Despite the twenty divisions and three massive

With the announcement of re-enacting the Battle on the Plains of Abraham came an overwhelming amount of negative feedback from Quebec residents, the reason being that the loss of the Battle began a traumatic period in history for the French. With their victory, the British began trying to assimilate the French, “it was only

In June 1812 the Unites States took on the most powerful in the world at the time, Great Britain, this war would not only define James Madison’s presidency but also the future of of the United States. However this war is known as the forgotten war, forgotten by the Americans and the British. On the other hand, it is remembered by the Native Nations and Canada. The big question that comes to mind is who won? Well it’s say to say that both side suffered great losses and great wins and some may say Canada got the upper hand. For a forgotten war it sure did have a great everlasting impact.

The first major event that impacted Canada’s legacy, as a whole, was the sacrificial battle of Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was proven to be essential to the foundation of Canada as it signified the birth of a new nation and it was considered to be the greatest battle fought, in World War One. Firstly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge established Canada’s emergence as a newly born nation from under the shadow of Britain and gave a verification of Canada’s prominence on the international level. For instance, after successfully regaining the ridge, it displayed to the British superpower, that Canada are worthy of independence, that must be granted upon as a reward for a significant victory (Fonseca). As a result, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, marked the end of British soldiers commanding Canadian troops, as Canada showed tremendous resilience internationally, and also proved that we are independently, capable of leading a well-organized attack against other countries (Fonseca). This milestone was a huge accomplishment for Canadians, as eventually this was the catalyst for total autonomy of Britain (“History Now”). Secondly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge gave Canada justified independence on the international stage. As a result of winning the complicated battle, Canada was deservedly permitted to their own independent seat and signature at the peace talks after the war. This then allowed Canada, to participate in voicing their thoughts, and plans as a newly independent country. This was seen to be,

When it comes to Canadian History, perhaps the most controversial and widely disputable topic of debate would have to be one of Canada’s greatest wars: The War of 1812. A wide array of views are held on many aspects of the war ranging from who won to what ramifications the war would ultimately sire. In yet another discussion on the ever so controversial War of 1812, a new question was posed and deliberated by five historians: whose war, was it? Like any other question posed about this war a multitude of ideas would ultimately arise in each of their differing viewpoints. In their roundhouse discussion, the historians would ultimately serve to paint the War of 1812 as a war that transcends much further than the nationalistic view. A view that, though an important part of Canadian history, has been exaggerated to the point of choking out the many voices who fought and continue to fight for inclusion in the narrative. In their remembrance of the War of 1812, society unwittingly failed history in their lackluster commemorations which exclude important narratives and voices and stand tainted by the misuse of history to serve the nationalistic agenda.

At the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadians gained self respect when they realized the greatness of their accomplishment. At the peace talks in Versailles, Canada earned its own seat. On top of that, Prime Minister Robert Borden signed independently. Canada’s nationalism became recognized in society. The link between Canada and Britain began to fade away but our link with the USA heightened. Canada located the national war memorial at Vimy after it was donated by the people of France. The memorial recognizing all who fought for our country placed where we were reborn as a

Nationalism is an important aspect of national pride and identity for countries around the world. For example, Canada takes pride in its cultural identity, one that is claimed to be different from other ‘Western’ more ‘industrialized’ nations, such as countries in Europe, and the United States. Even though Canada currently has a national identity that differs greatly from that of other more established countries, history has dictated the way in which a particular national identity exists today. In Canada, Samuel De Champlain and the French established colonies that created a cultural clash between the French Europeans, and First-Nations Canadians within the country. However, this notion of French Canadian Nationalism isn’t necessarily embraced by all of the Canadian Population. This paper seeks to analyze important pieces of Canadian History that have contributed to a broken concept of what constitutes Canadian nationalism, with an emphasis on how historic events prevent and affect coherent Canadian Nationalism in modern society. Through the analysis of the notions and histories associated with ‘First-Nations Nationalism’, ‘Quebecois Nationalism’, and a broader ‘Anti-American’ identity embraced by many Canadians, this paper seeks to locate common ground within the culturally diverse Canadian population in order to progress toward a singular coherent

In my opinion, Vimy Ridge is a defining moment in Canadian history because it gave our whole country a sense of nationalism for one of the first times ever. This part of our history was all about World

Many countries have tried but failed to capture this area. Both French and British armies tired but failed the Germans were too strong. This area was known as Vimy Ridge, which has many high hills and was located in France. The Germans had captured this area since September 1914, the Germans started to build artillery proof bunkers and trenches. Germanys had the advantage in every battle; Germanys had their bases on top of the long hills. Which lead them to look down on their enemies, which was easier for Germanys to kill their target. After countries failing to capture Vimy Ridge, Canada decided they were going to attempt to fight for Vimy Ridge. For the first time Britain asked for generals to lead Canada to victory for the battle of Vimy Ridge. Sir Julian Byng and Major Arthur Currie were asked to lead the Canadian Military to win the battle of Vimy Ridge. After months of practicing a strategy Canada was ready. April 1917, Canada went to battle with Germany for Vimy Ridge. This became one of the most devastating battles ¬in Canadian history. Canadians should remember that Vimy Ridge was not their triumph alone. British artillery and the elite 51st Highland Division helped make victory possible (Desmond Morton, Significance of Vimy Ridge). Vimy Ridge is considered a defining moment in Canadian history because, it was Canada’s first time using a general to plan tactics and strategy’s, Canada was the only country that succeeded on capturing Vimy Ridge, lastly all Canadian

Graeme Garrad, author of the article and a senior lecturer in history at Cardiff University evokes the event of War of 1812. He writes a beautiful article entitled “The saviour of Canada” which was printed in the journal History today in October 2012. This article is about how Canada defended Britain from United States in the War of 1812. He tells about the consequences of the war and describes how Canada helped Britain. I am going to review his article on the basis of language, images, content, facts, His style of writing, how he concluded the argument, what title lead us to expect from the article, bias or not.