The Battle of Vimy Ridge and Its effect on Canada

One of Canada’s largest military endeavors was the battle of Vimy Ridge during World War One. It was a fierce battle between Germans and Canadians. Canada was trying to take over the German controlled ridge, which ran from northwest to southwest between Lens and Arras, France. Its highest point was 145 feet above sea level, which was exceptionally helpful in battle because of the very flat landscape. Already over 200,000 men had fallen at Vimy, all desperately trying to take or defend this important and strategic ridge. As a result of its success in taking the ridge, Canada gained a lot more than just the strategic point. Canada was united as a nation, and the victory changed the way other counties viewed them. Canadians no longer

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.

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

All because of Canada’s workers intelligence, from scratch, they created the best gear such as handguns, fighter planes, armoured personnel carriers that were to be used overseas. “Canadian industry produced more than 800,000 military transport vehicles, 50,000 tanks, 40,000 field, naval, and anti-aircraft guns, and 1,700,000 small arms”. All of these vehicles, and guns were either designed and put onto blue prints in Canada or the United Kingdom but each and every single vehicle and gun was produced in Canada’s factories. Of the eight hundred thousand military vehicles, approximately one hundred sixty eight thousand were issued to Canadian forces. This meant that our Canadian army had an approximate soldier to vehicle ratio of three soldiers to one vehicle. When the Great Britain joined into the Italian campaign, they had eighty thousand vehicles, and seventy five thousand of those were left behind in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Britain relied on Canada to almost “bail” them out with relief vehicles. Once Canada shipped in their obscene amount of vehicles across the Atlantic, the Germans would find themselves overwhelmed and were forced to retreat out of Sicily, thus proving how strong of a threat Canadians posed to the Axis powers. Not only did the contribution of land vehicles support the Allied troops, on the other hand, but the influx of antiaircraft guns help the

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the greatest military battles ever fought. This battle contributed to Canada’s coming of age as a nation. The taking of Vimy Ridge claimed more than 200,000 lives during the first World War and will forever remain in the history as one of the worlds great military triumphs. The Canadian Military used extensive planning, new innovative weaponry and relied on the tremendous courage and sacrifice of its soldiers in order to claim victory.

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,

Another reason that Canada is said to have lost this war is that the war hit Upper Canada the hardest. The Niagara Peninsula was taken by the Americans and they idealized that it could be used as a sort of base for them. Instead, guerilla warfare ensued, which to this day Americans are reluctant to mention. York was burned by Americans. It is believed that Upper Canada only survived the war because of the tremendous support from the British forces. This may be true, but without the British, the Canadians would not have been in the war to begin with. Upper Canada was also changed dramatically in terms of economics. Farms became

The War of 1812 was an influential event, which marks its place in Canadian history. The heroic efforts of Canadians helped to define who they are, determine what side of the border they live on, and the flag they salute today. Therefore, The War of 1812 is the most significant historical event that lay down the foundation for a nation. It united segregated colonies, secured borders with a strong militia, and achieved the fundamental objective of defense.

Up until the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadians were loyal citizens of the British Empire. We had a lack of experience with wars and basically no equipment compared to others. Terrible losses like the Battle of Second Ypres and Battle of the Somme caused Canadians to doubt British leadership. At the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadians became more confident in themselves. Canadian nationalism was founded in the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Canada displayed their power and abilities to the rest of the world during the normandy landings on June 6, 1944 and proved themselves as a middle power. D-Day was the day Allied forces planned an invasion to push German forces back into Germany and end World War Two. Canada contributed a lot to the Allies such as materials, ammunition, ships, etc. They had the third largest navy and fourth largest air force. “The Royal Canadian Navy sent 110 ships and 10, 000 sailors, and the Royal Canadian Air Force contributed 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons. They also sent 14, 000 Canadians to fight on the beach.”(CANADA AT D-DAY, WarMuseum.ca)

When people look back and remember the First World War, they often remember the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand, the sinking of the Lusitania, or the Zimmerman telegram. Not often do they recall the role that Canada played in the war. However, Canadians were a significant factor of the Allies’ success. Although Canada only possessed two Navy warships at the time and was known for being a peaceful country, she supplied over 60,000,000 shells to the Allies’ troops and endured over 67,000 casualties and 173,000 men wounded across multiple battles. With that said, it could also be argued that internal political conflicts in Canada afflicted their overall contribution to the war. In fact,

To say Canada played an important role in World War Two would be an understatement. Canada’s significance in the war will forever be remembered as one of the greatest, and the Battle of Hong Kong is a prime example of just that. The fact that Canada provided troops even with the optional not to, and the struggles the troops endured not only on the battlefield, but as prisoners of war, and the amount of physical and moral support the Canadian soldiers gave to the British soldiers in Hong Kong is proof that Canada was a major contributor in World War Two.

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

During the course of the Second World War, Canada evolved into a powerful, resourceful nation that was needed by the Allies. Canada contributed significantly to the Allied war effort during World War II where they fought on land, water and air and assisted indirectly from the home front. On land, they fought in numerous battles and campaigns such as D-Day, Hong Kong, and the Italian campaign. However, they were also strong and resourceful when it came to air and naval forces in battle. But even outside of battle, Canada was still able to make a contribution through its civilians.

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