Thursday, April 9, 2020

World War I

Today, we discussed the background to Canada's development from 1867 (immediately following the Civil War) to 1918, the end of World War I. It is often said that Canada's true independence is achieved through its sacrifice on European shores in support of Britain and its allies during World War I. In the end, Prime Minister Robert Borden insisted that Canada sign the Treaty of Versailles instead of having the expected custom of Britain signing on Canada's behalf.

The war was Canada's most significant national achievement. Canada was the first former colonial country to defeat a major European power on a European battlefield. Canada's effort was considerable -- 620,000 troops were mobilized out of a population of 7.2 million. Of those Canadians who went to war, 173,000 were wounded and 67,000 were killed. In comparison, the United States entered the war late (1917) 204,000 were wounded and 117,000 were killed out of a population of 92 million. Canada's industrial effort to support the war was also strong and showed the world that Canada had a growing industrial base.

However, the war was also a bitter domestic issue, causing tensions that would remain for some time between the English, who felt it Canada's duty to participate and the French, who felt no such loyalty and considered the war a European problem.
The resulting draft and subsequent losses only made the racial conflict worse.

In many important ways, World War I shaped Canada as a country. However, in America's relatively short involvement, it became clear that America had grown powerful enough to shape the world. At the time of US entry, the war was not going particularly well for Britain and its allies. Russia had fallen to revolution and the Tsar was removed. A power struggle would begin in Russia that would culminate with the communists under Lenin taking over.

Although he dragged his feet on an agreement in the hopes that workers in Germany would rise up and support the workers in Russia, sparking a European communist revolution, Lenin was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending the war on the eastern front. The treaty actually required Russia to free Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and the Ukraine. These countries would serve as a buffer zone for Germany, creating "space" between itself and Russia in the event that there would be another military mobilization.

Ultimately, Lenin was hardly in a position to bargain hard with Germany. After all, it was Germany that supported his efforts to go to Russia to lead the revolution in the first place as a way to undermine the Tsar. Additionally, when Lenin delayed making the deal, the Germans tired of his dithering and resumed their advance on Moscow. The Russian army was still in disarray and the Germans advanced one hundred miles in four days. It was at this point that Lenin made the deal. Many didn't like the terms, but he had promised to get the country out of the war, and failure to do so now would result in his own demise.

This left Britain and France without their major ally and allowed Germany to concentrate its efforts on the western front.

However, the United States entered the war at around the same time that Russia was falling into chaos. Its industrial and military capacity was quickly ramped up and ultimately became the decisive factor in forcing Germany to retreat and eventually surrender.

The emergence of the United States as a world power and the end of the colonial monarchies signaled that the world was changing dramatically.

 World War I Summary


The Treaty of Versailles and Its Impact

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005425

The Bolshevik Revolution (Russian Revolution)

https://www.history.com/topics/russia/russian-revolution

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk




The Fall of the Romanov Dynastyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJbUWu6--ag

American Involvement in World War I

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpwwi1.htm

Battle of Somme Footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tv5gBa9DQs
Posted by at