How Did The Second World War Change Canada? The act of warfare has never been and will most likely never be celebrated and perceived as a beneficial act for humanity. In most instances throughout history, the act of war has represented loss of life, a loss to great for any wartime triumph to overcome. Despite the negative connotations that warfare implies, a nation which goes through a major war can often emerge positively transformed. The Second World War represents a colossal juncture in Canada’s history as a nation. The war propelled Canada into the latter part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century as one of the prodigious, western industrialized nations. From an economical standpoint, the Second …show more content…
On August 19th, 1942, Prime Minister Mackenzie King broadcasted a message across the entire nation to emphasize the importance of a national selective service. Through the broadcast, a clear message was transmitted: if the allies were to win the war, Canada needed to employ all it’s resources into the war effort, and the Canadian women were at the forefront of this national effort. (Edmond Cloutier, 1942).i In total, close to two hundred and sixty one thousand Canadian women were employed in the war production alone. The war transfigured the traditional role of women in the workforce, as they were now involved in building aircrafts, ships, and other military vehicles. Nursery was a field which became very appealing for women to work in, as it offered tremendous wages and also new medicinal techniques were being discovered. Thousands of women volunteered, proving overseas forces with necessary equipment to maintain the battle efforts. World War Two played a pivotal role in the evolution of Canadian women in the society. The deep void that was left by the men who left to serve Canada overseas opened the door and new possibilities for women to sustain the economy and ultimately help Canada and the allies triumph in the war. The Second World War instigated another fundamental change in Canadian
World War II was a very important moment in Canada's history. There were a lot of causalities and also a lot of women and men that served in the armed services. There were about 42,000 casualties and about one million men and women that served in the armed services – add the statistics later in the essay. Overall, Canadians were known for their proud legacy and sacrifice. There were a lot of negatives and positives throughout WWII, but there were no turning points in Canada's attitude towards women.
World War One is a huge part of history in Canada. Although many say it hindered, it most certainly helped Canada’s progress towards nationhood. Women relatives of soldiers and nurses got the right to vote during the war when Robert Borden was Prime Minister. Years later, that lead to all women in Canada receiving the right to vote. Canada was also industrialized greatly during the war. People started to move from rural areas to urban, and many factories were being built. All the Canadian soldiers fighting in the war brought pride and honour to country. After winning the battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917, Canada was noticed and recognized as an independent country.
New jobs were also made to support the war efforts. One of these jobs were munitions work where they produce bullets, gas masks, shells and supply them to the people fighting in the war. This would be another huge victory for women since they got the right to vote through the Wartime Elections Act before WWI. But a negative that came out of the jobs was the wage gap that would still actually be carried on to the present. Through strikes, and even a committee created by the War Cabinet to examine women’s wages, a report was produced which endorsed the statement of “equal pay for equal work”, but since they already had a low expectation for women, they thought that it meant “lesser strength and more fragile, which would affect the result of their effort. All of these things would be eventually reversed after the men returned from war but it set a large movement in motion that would continue on to this day. Thanks to WWI, Canada set up a huge stepping stone for women's rights. Though it came with its negative, the wage gap, it was predictable considering the predicament that women were in. Without women, Canada’s contributions to the war effort would be very few, not only that contributions to the war effort in itself would be very few. It
WW1 had a deeply positive impact on the status of women in Canada. Before WW1, most women had been employed at low-skill and low paying jobs in food, clothing industries and as domestic servants. However, because many men were serving overseas, jobs opened up for women and many of these women were in higher skilled positions. Even though women had skilled jobs, women gained the right to vote due to their contributions to the war effort. Because the Conscription failed due to the government, they passed the Military Act and the Wartime Elections Act. Clearly, we can see that WW1 had improved the status of women in Canada.
World War II was one of the most influential wars in history to date that lasted from 1939 - 1945 that included many of the worlds nations. World War II has shaped Canada’s economy, politics, and society drastically because the country was in a state of total war. Canada joined the Allies side, providing them with man-power and resources such as military vehicles and firearms. The war had a very significant effect on Canada as they had contributed early which made a crucial difference to the winning of the war. In this essay, I will exam how has World War II shaped Canada’s economy, politics, and society.
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.
War everyone. Two of the world's biggest wars have affected the world greatly. Canada had made big impacts on both world war one and world war two. Although Canada has affected both greatly, the experience gained from each war has its similarities and differences.
In World War II we could notice how Canada began to shape itself as an independent country. Therefore, World War II had a positive impact on Canada due to the political policies, military policies and battles, and additionally social policies. The political policies were effected positively due to Clarence Decatur Howe war economy along with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Military policies and battles were issued positively because of the Canadians at D-day including the Italian Campaign. Lastly the social policies were impacted in a positive way as a result of the women in the armed forces, furthermore the women in the home front.
At the end of the Great War, Canada plunged into economic darkness; the once-powerful war industry was no longer needed and factories shut down all over the country, causing unemployment for civilians and veterans alike to skyrocket. This reflected on the military of Canada; vehicles that were destroyed were not replaced; the number of permanent forces and militia barely grew. Canada’s military saw a period of inactivity that would even cause land, sea and air components merged as a singular entity due to the Great Depression’s effect on the military budget. However, the peace was not to last. As Adolf Hitler’s Germany appeared and showed the world its intentions, nations gathered and Canada committed an important act demonstrating its independence as a nation; Canada declared war. Viewed for a long time as a British colony even after Confederation, Canada took a stand against a virtually universally-recognized evil alongside the major powers of the world at the time. Canada’s participation in conflicts in many different operations throughout WWII demonstrated its military effectiveness, but its important role in the D-Day landings defined Canada’s military competency through the crucial Operation Overlord, dubbed by some as the beginning of the end of the Second World War, in Normandy. Canada’s role in Operation Overlord in Normandy solidified the military structure that is our modern military and sculpted the image of an independent nation through Canada’s military
Throughout this article the writer makes numerous references towards how the government of Canada attempted to do the right thing towards female workers during the war, but it also shows how the government’s heart wasn’t into it, thus just making offers to female workers just to appease their complaints for the time being until the war was over. The government was terrible on providing financial support to women whose husbands were away at war, offering only meager amounts of their pay each month, thus forcing more women into the workforce. The article goes on to further explain how during the war, women felt empowered by their circumstances and how once the war was over that women continued to fight towards equality and many refused to ‘go back to the kitchen’ after the war and further challenged the norms by continuing to work.
“During the war about half of American women worked outside of their homes,”( Hughes 2). The number of working women rose from fourteen point six million in nineteen forty one to nineteen point four million in nineteen forty four. “Women were not just motivated by wages or patriotism; but buy the feeling of independence that they gained from the work,” (Hughes 2). Without women laborers the US economy would have never been able to produce military hardware to be successful in the war. Even though women played a huge role in the work force during the World War II, they also played an even bigger role in the war itself. Women played several different roles in the actual war. “A few of women’s roles in the actual war of World War II would be army nurses, spies, pilots and entertainers,” (Scott3). Women served as army nurses during World War 11, there were than seven thousand active nurses on duty when the United States entered the war. “Women also served as pilots, on September tenth nineteen forty two, Nancy Harkness Love, with the support of th U.S. Air Transport Command, organized twenty five women pilots into the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (W.A.F.S),” (Scott3). Women pilots were used to serve non- combat flights, to free the men for combat flights. “Women spies of the World WarII , they were often successful and unsuspected since people suspected women that women’s properly roles were solely domestic,” (Scott3). Lastly
In the past, WWII and WWI, women were very dominant; they had to take care of their children, do all the chores and also had to cook the food. During WWII, women had to take place for the men (First world war.com). The war changed the life for all Canadian women. When men went to fight, women were called upon to fill their jobs, and this included many jobs that were previously thought of unsuitable for women. Women were called up for war work from March 1941(Women during World War II). The roles of the women were positively impacted by World War II, because they had the potential to re-enter the workforce, control the farms and join the military for the first time. Taking control of the military was tough, but women had shown that they could work together and handle the situation.
During the war more than six million women joined the workforce. In August of 1943 Newsweek Magazine reported: “They [women] are in the shipyards, lumber mills, steel mills, foundries. They are welders, electricians, mechanics, and even boiler makers. They operate street cars, buses, cranes, and tractors. Women engineers are working in the drafting rooms and women physicists and chemists in the great industrial laboratories.”
The last and biggest way woman helped Canada and the allied effort defeat Germany was through the Canadian Womans Army Corps (CWAC). The CWAC was a combat free branch in the army made for specifically the purpose of reliving men from their non-combat roles in order to get them fighting in the war and increase our man count. Some of the many jobs woman would do while enlisted in the CWAC included working at radar stations, cleaning jobs, cooking, secretarial, and even as mechanics. without the CWAC we we would have put less men into combat decreasing our man count. These brave women wanted to help there country in the fight and they did it with pride
Canada’s influence in Europe allowed them to help to alter the course of World War II through their courage and bravery at many battles, including Juno Beach, Ortona, and the failure of Dieppe. Throughout the war they came alongside the British out of their own accord to protect their homeland