World War I

Here is a little review of what we've covered concerning 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.

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.

In short, you should have a thorough understanding of the following:

• The causes of the First World War


•The Russian Revolution and its impact on the world and on Russia itself


•The impact of and reason for America's entry into World War I


•The way in which the economies of the world become more dependent on each other through war and the aftermath of paying for the war (especially as it relates to the Great Depression)


World War I Summary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXqppJ-L88U

Causes of the War

http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm

The "Willy-Nicky" Telegrams

http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_Willy-Nicky_Telegrams


Timeline of the War

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/timeline_of_world_war_one.htm

The Treaty of Versailles and Its Impact

http://www.wzaponline.com/TreatyofVersaillesandtheImpactonGermany.pdf

The Bolshevik Revolution (Russian Revolution)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_(1917)

the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_brest-litovsk.htm

The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty

http://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

Use of Poison Gas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTY7v1Q_vnc&feature=related

Pop Quiz #6 and #7

Here are the last two pop quizzes written... Remember, these serve as exam review:

Pop Quiz #6

1.       Define Federalism. (1)

2.       Describe the division of power and responsibility between the federal government and the provinces. Cite three examples for each.  (6 x ½=3)

3.       Explain how a bill becomes a law. (8 x 1/2=4)

4.       Draw a chart showing the structure of Canadian government. (9 x ½=4 ½)

5.       Who is the current Prime Minister? (1/2)

6.       What is a coalition government? What is a minority government? Why do these occur? (3)

Total= 16

Pop Quiz # 7

1.       What is an oligarchy? Name the oligarchies that existed in Upper Canada and Lower Canada? (3)

2.       What is responsible government? (1)

3.       Explain what led to the 1837 rebellions in both Upper and Lower Canada. What did the people rebelling want? Which rebellion had racial or ethnic overtones? (3)

4.       Name the leader of the rebellion in Upper Canada. Name the leader of the rebellion in Lower Canada. (2)

Total=9

Pop Quiz # 3 Once More and with Feeling...

It occurs to me that I forgot to post this one. Enjoy the memories.

Pop Quiz #3
1. What is metropolitanism? Provide an example from Canada’s colonial past and our present. (3)
2. How is the railway a tool of metropolitanism? (1)
3. Name three major colonial powers. (1)
4. How is the House of Commons an example of metropolitanism? (1)
5. Who are the Jesuits? When and why did they come to Canada? (3)

See Things Before They Get Dangerous

Pop Quiz Coming Next Week!!!

Reviewing our Notes

Today we reviewed the Confederation notes that you worked on over the last two days. We covered the major issues leading to Confederation:

Political Deadlock in the Canadas

Governments couldn't last because:

• the "double majority rule" - to pass a bill you needed a majority in both Canada East and Canada West

http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/DoubleMajority-HistoryofCanada.htm

• "equal representation" - Canada East and Canada West had the same number of seats despite Canada East having a greater population



• political realities - Only John A. Macdonald and George E. Cartier could form reliable alliances between their political parties to govern and get things done. When Macdonald and Cartier were less successful at the polls, there was less stability in government.



• Suspicion and distrust between French and English also played a part in the deadlock.



• Everyone agreed on one thing - the system borne out of the Union Act of 1841 wasn't working and something needed to change.

Pressures from the United States

• The Civil War caused trouble between Britain and America, and as a result between America and the British North American colonies. In particular, the Union was angry at Britain for buying cotton from the South and thereby providing the Confederacy with finances for the war against the North. With a large, powerful and battle-hardened army, many in the colonies feared that the Union could easily take out their anger at the British on the largely undefended colonies.



• After the Civil War, many Irish Americans who fought united and planned to invade Canada. Their hope was to take the colonies and hold them for ransom until Britain agreed to free Ireland from British control. However, the raids were poorly organized and in most cases didn't even make it to the border. Nonetheless, the threat frightened the colonists and helped to convince the public that it needed protection from invasion.



• "Manifest Destiny" was the widely held American belief that America's destiny was to control all of North America. In their actions, they warred with Mexico over the west, bought California, annexed Texas and bought much of the central South and midwest through the Louisiana Purchase. It was reasonable for British colonists to fear for their place in North America.

Economic Pressures

• After the end of the Civil War in 1866, the United States cancelled the Reciprocity Treaty (free trade) with the British North American colonies. In part, this was seen as a way of getting back at Britain for buying Southern cotton during the Civil War. In part, there was a feeling that without American trade the colonies might be forced to join the United States.



• Britain cancelled free trade for all of its colonies. They were moving to an industrial model, where there was no advantage to giving colonial goods preferential treatment. Instead, Britain now saw colonial goods as competition against their own goods.



• Ironically, there was free trade with the US, but no free trade between the British colonies. Now with the US and Britain eliminating free trade with the colonies and hence dramatically changing access to markets and certain finished goods that the colonies did not produce enough of, the colonies had no choice but to turn to each other for trade.



• Ultimately, building a railway between the colonies provided a means of security (i.e. An intercolonial railway could move troops to where they were needed.) and an economic solution (i.e. An intercolonial railway could facilitate trade amongst the colonies.).

Pop Quiz News...

There's bound to be two pop quizzes soon... one dealing with the rebellions and the other dealing with government and federalism.

The Pop Quiz that Wasn't

Let this one be a lesson to you... We should have counted this one for marks. See the March 22 blog entry. The answers are pretty clear.

Oh, snap!

Pop Quiz # 5

1. There are three categories of causes for Confederation. Name them. (3)
2. There are four direct causes of each of two particular categories from above in answer number one. Specify the category and identify the direct causes related. (8)
3. There are two direct causes in one particular category from above in answer number one. (2)

Canadian Government and Federalism

See the chart above for the basic structure of the Canadian governmental system. See the chart below for how a bill becomes a law.
































How a bill becomes a law:

http://www.fedpubs.com/subject/law/statutes.htm


What is federalism?


http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/aia/index.asp?lang=eng&page=federal&sub=why-pourquoi&doc=why-pourquoi-eng.htm

Note the above link discusses reasons for a state to adopt federalism but fails to mention the most significant ones: a desire for local control where authority is closer to the people most affected by the decisions made.

Division of Powers


http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/aia/index.asp?lang=eng&page=federal&sub=legis&doc=legis-eng.htm

Coalition governments in Canada

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/coalition-governments-canada