The Second Boer War: The War Between Great Britain, Canada

Furthermore, Canada remaining under the archaic British North America Act and not drafting its own constitution meant that the composition of the nation and the government was in the hands of the British Parliament, which denies the Canadians the luxury of dictating the structure and make-up of their own country. Now, one may say that Canada weakened its economic ties with Britain and was therefore no longer economically dependent on them, but the fact of the matter is that all we did was shift our dependence onto another nation, the United States. By 1926, America’s yearly investment in the Canadian economy had risen up to $3400 million (as opposed to $2000 million in 1920) mainly in the exporting of Canadian resources to the United States. In addition to that, American companies built “branch plants”, which were made to avoid having to pay trade tariffs, making this a pretty one-sided trade

During the period of Apartheid in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 the reactions of the South African citizens towards the legal separation of races varied depending on race, ideals and time period. After gold and diamonds were fud inSouthAfrica both the dutch and British wanted the land to themselves, leading to the Boer War from which the Dutch farmers emerged victorious. Following the Boer War and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Dutch Boers gained control over the majority of the land in the previously British Cape Colony along with the settlements they had already built, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Blacks in South Africa made up about eighty percent of the population but only lived on ten percent of

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

This was the opportunity for Canada to demonstrate its importance in the British Empire and share in its military responsibilities but the “Canadian Prime Minister, Sir Wilfred Laurier, did not believe that Canada should be involved, but he faced growing agitation in English. ”[2] Ultimately, the final decision, without any approval of Parliament[3] was to support the Imperial request. This was

The Second World War was an important event in Canadian history, turning an unobtrusive country on the outer edge of global affairs into a critical player in the 20th century’s most important struggle. The Canadian Prime Minister of the time, William Lyon Mackenzie King was hesitant to join the Second World War due to the devastating effects of the first war still being fresh. Canada took all variables into account and launched Canada into the war very well, with a primary focus on the manufacturing duties of the war. Notably, Canada carried out a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic, allowing goods produced in Canada to pass the ocean and neutralize threats by German U-boats. In addition, Canada played a big role in the air war over Germany and contributed forces to the campaigns

This war provided the first test of Canada’s Royal Navy. The Germans had noticed that Canada had their own Navy. So, in return there were many threats coming from the German Navy from the Atlantic and the Pacific, especially by the German submarines. In 1914 there were no signs of battle happening from the Germans until later. So, Canada was expanding its navy as quickly as it can. This battle happened in 1918. This was a big significance to Canada because it showed that Canada’s own Navy; without Britain’s help is successful.

In the early 1800’s Britain has been using impressment on our American sailors and escaped ex British sailors they also have been putting them in the British navy. Josiah Quincy “a federalist” was a man who did not agree with waging war with Britain. In his speech he said “ for what purpose to invade Canada? For territory? No. You have enough of that. Citizens refugees? No. you would be willing to dispense with them. Plunder? This is the only hope an invitation of Canada can offer you.”(Quincy) This shows that there would be nothing to gain from invading Canada. The only thing you can get from invading Canada would be adding to the national debt. Some might argue that we are losing pride by not taking up arms and fighting the British. However

This event began when Prime Minister Borden passed the Military Service Act, an act that introduced conscription. English Canadians supported this act and conscription, and believed that Canada should always be loyal to Britain. French Canadians, on the other hand, hated this act and opposed conscription, and saw no need for Canada to get involved in the world war (Martinello,“Conscription Crisis of 1917”). This event is one of the most important events in French Canadian and English Canadian relations, because it initiates the beginning of a troublesome rivalry. From this point on, there are going to be huge amounts of issues due to this topic, which will not get solved until many years after World War II. As well, this troublesome rivalry will result in major fighting between French and English Canadians, and which will almost lead to the separation of Québec. This conscription crisis was also a momentous debate that echoed public divisions on not just war, but also on language education, agriculture, religion, and the political rights of women and immigrants (Behiels, “Francophone-Anglophone Relations”). The conscription crisis really showed the federal government, as well as the rest of Canada, that there truly is a division between the two major groups of people living in this

fter the second World War Canada’s navy was the third largest in the world behind the United States and the United Kingdom

Firstly The military service act was passed in the year 1917 by prime minister Borden, who was a great nationalist and wanted to make sure that his country was well protected. Conscription took away from french Canadian culture because many of the soldiers were mainly English speaking creating language barriers between french Canadians and English Canadians.

If Canada appeared to be “doing it’s share” in the imperial war effort, it was more likely to gain concessions and prove its usefulness as an independent dominion to Great Britain. This is similar to what happened in reality – the Canadian contribution in the first world war directly led towards the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and fully Canadian diplomatic

Soldiers were dying quickly, conditions in the trenches were very poor and Britain was losing power fast which caused Britain to ask for more troops. Specifically, after the Battle of Somme’s Canada was at a loss of men and a lot of current soldiers were wounded, and Canada needed more men to be able to fight the Germans so they would not be able to get an edge over the British Army and possibly take over Britain and later Canada. Borden then visited Europe and returned with his decision after seeing that In May that year, prime minister Robert Borden returned to Canada from Europe and decided the country couldn’t replenish the depleted battle lines without conscription. This all helped Borden make final choice to create the bill in 1917 and call the men to war. The reinforcements that Canada provided would later help win Britain win the first World War and keep a good relationship between Canada and Britain.

The Boer War was a significant moment in the history of the British Empire as many of great Britain’s commonwealth allies were called to help the fledging empire. Canada during the war went through many serious debates on what was the suitable choice for the country. Divisions soon rose up along lines that would continue to exist for much of the century. Canada learned much from the experiences it faced during the Boer War and it was through the challenges it faced that the country was able to correctly adapt to the 20th century.

It was in the weary war years of Mackenzie King in the 1930’s when the development of Canadian foreign policy started to take shape. Before that period Canada did not have an independent foreign policy with no international presence whatsoever and Canadian people saw themselves as part of the British dynasty. The first period in the formulation of Canadian foreign policy was in fact the ‘absence’ of policy and it was World War 1 which gave birth to foreign policy. Sixty thousand Canadians were lost which left Canadians wary of international development especially when there were very few military objectives. Canada had minimal control over her own troops and negotiations with the British were a challenge. Our troops were under control of the British and negotiating with the British was challenging. Looking back, there was almost a sense of absurdity about WW1. Therefore, Canadians came out of WW1 with a stronger than ever desire for independence. The Statute of Westminster, 1931, was the last of the Imperial Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain applicable to all dominions. It granted Canada,

     The South African Republic and the Orange Free Stated made an alliance. They then declared war on the British on October 12, 1899 because they were uncooperative with Kurger’s demands. The Afrikaner forces were successful in invading Natal and Cape Colony. In December the British commander in chief Sir Redvers H. Buller sent fresh troops to relieve the British forces in three war zones. These zones were Colenso, Natal, the hills of Magersfontein on the Orange Free State and Cape Colony borders, and the mountain range of Stormberge in the Cape Colony. Within a week, which is referred to as the Black Week by the British, each of the new units had been defeated by Afrikaner forces.