Thursday, May 24, 2012
Navigation
On the right side of this page, you will see a list of labels: The Basics, Controversy, Politics, and Aftermath. All posts on this blog are filed under one of the four categories. Simply click on one to read about the subject in relation to the Conscription Crisis of 1917.
World War II
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 had a major influence on the choices made by future politicians. In 1944, a second conscription crisis arrived as a result of World War II and it was much better handled.
With the arrival of World War II, Parliament was focused on keeping Canada united and did not want to repeat the previous disaster. The general consensus was that conscription should not happen again. By 1942, Germany was greatly weakening the Allies and Great Britain was pressuring Canada to bring in more people. William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of the time, decided to hold a plebiscite, a vote in which the entire electing population can participate. In the end, the majority of Canadians voted in favour of conscription, but 72% of Quebec was against it.
Although he had won the support of the majority, Mackenzie King was not as quick to disregard opposing opinions as Borden had been. He waited two years before enforcing conscription, and when he did, he limited the number of conscripted citizens to 16,000. He also lessened opposition in Quebec by securing the support of Louis St. Laurent, who was a young and well-respected justice minister in Quebec at the time. Through these actions, it is clear that Mackenzie King was careful to avoid the fiasco that had taken place in 1917.
There were brief riots in Montreal and a brigade that refused to go to Europe, but the dispute was not as severe as what had happened in the previous conscription crisis. Having had the chance to learn from World War I, the government was much more careful this time around and managed to avoid the extent of the divide caused by the previous conscription crisis.
With the arrival of World War II, Parliament was focused on keeping Canada united and did not want to repeat the previous disaster. The general consensus was that conscription should not happen again. By 1942, Germany was greatly weakening the Allies and Great Britain was pressuring Canada to bring in more people. William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of the time, decided to hold a plebiscite, a vote in which the entire electing population can participate. In the end, the majority of Canadians voted in favour of conscription, but 72% of Quebec was against it.
Although he had won the support of the majority, Mackenzie King was not as quick to disregard opposing opinions as Borden had been. He waited two years before enforcing conscription, and when he did, he limited the number of conscripted citizens to 16,000. He also lessened opposition in Quebec by securing the support of Louis St. Laurent, who was a young and well-respected justice minister in Quebec at the time. Through these actions, it is clear that Mackenzie King was careful to avoid the fiasco that had taken place in 1917.
There were brief riots in Montreal and a brigade that refused to go to Europe, but the dispute was not as severe as what had happened in the previous conscription crisis. Having had the chance to learn from World War I, the government was much more careful this time around and managed to avoid the extent of the divide caused by the previous conscription crisis.
Immediate Aftermath
Although Borden’s Union government had given exemptions to the sons of farmers before the election, the exemptions were revoked in early 1918 after Borden’s reelection.
The results of the act were, for the most part, underwhelming. The first group of conscripts consisted of 404,395 people, of which 380,510 people appealed for exemption and 20,000 ultimately reported for training. Tens of thousands of French-speaking Canadians refused to register the mandatory selection process and 93% of people who did register applied for exemption.
At the end, only 48,000 conscripts were sent overseas by the time of the November 1918 armistice.
In Quebec, the aftermath included riots in Montreal lasting two days. Store windows were smashed the tramway rails were destroyed. 150 policemen had to be called in to restore peace.
On Easter weekend in 1918, military police grabbed a young man in a bowling alley in Quebec City. He was 23 year-old Joseph Mercier and he had been caught with neither conscription registration papers nor exemption papers. A mob formed and retaliated by attacking military registry offices, looting it, and destroying files by throwing them into the snow. Local police refused to act so Ottawa sent in soldiers to restore peace. Soldiers were pelted with bricks and snowballs so they opened fire. 4 died and many more were injured.
All this made many wonder whether or not the whole commotion about conscription had been worth it. It is clear that conscription did not work out as well as Borden had hoped. More than anything, it had caused conflict between different demographic groups in the country.
The results of the act were, for the most part, underwhelming. The first group of conscripts consisted of 404,395 people, of which 380,510 people appealed for exemption and 20,000 ultimately reported for training. Tens of thousands of French-speaking Canadians refused to register the mandatory selection process and 93% of people who did register applied for exemption.
At the end, only 48,000 conscripts were sent overseas by the time of the November 1918 armistice.
In Quebec, the aftermath included riots in Montreal lasting two days. Store windows were smashed the tramway rails were destroyed. 150 policemen had to be called in to restore peace.
On Easter weekend in 1918, military police grabbed a young man in a bowling alley in Quebec City. He was 23 year-old Joseph Mercier and he had been caught with neither conscription registration papers nor exemption papers. A mob formed and retaliated by attacking military registry offices, looting it, and destroying files by throwing them into the snow. Local police refused to act so Ottawa sent in soldiers to restore peace. Soldiers were pelted with bricks and snowballs so they opened fire. 4 died and many more were injured.
All this made many wonder whether or not the whole commotion about conscription had been worth it. It is clear that conscription did not work out as well as Borden had hoped. More than anything, it had caused conflict between different demographic groups in the country.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Conscription and the Crisis
By definition, conscription is the compulsory enlistment of citizens for service in the military. In the later years of World War I, conscription was introduced in Canada and became a fiercely debated topic. This debate divided the nation, thus creating the Conscription Crisis of 1917.
Dropping Enlistment Numbers
In 1914 when the war had just started, Canadian volunteers were plentiful and 30,000 Canadians enlisted in that year alone. At the start of the war, Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden said that Canada would not need to enforce conscription. Soon, this all changed and enlistment numbers began to decrease. From July 1916 to October 1917, only 2810 Canadians volunteered for the infantry.
There are many possible causes for this drop in numbers. At the time, Canada only had a population of 7.5 million people and a sixth of Canadian men between the ages of 15 and 44 had already joined the infantry. Thousands more were in other military branches like artillery, forestry and railway units, engineers, medical corps, and Royal Flying Corps. A large portion of the people who were capable of fighting had already joined.
War had also turned out to be less glamorous than many had originally thought. People back home in Canada could feel this as food and supplies were limited and the war had dragged on for longer than originally thought. Most had expected a short war with troops returning by Christmas of 1914. New technology also brought new and more brutal ways of fighting that, for the most part, had not been foreseen.
There are many possible causes for this drop in numbers. At the time, Canada only had a population of 7.5 million people and a sixth of Canadian men between the ages of 15 and 44 had already joined the infantry. Thousands more were in other military branches like artillery, forestry and railway units, engineers, medical corps, and Royal Flying Corps. A large portion of the people who were capable of fighting had already joined.
War had also turned out to be less glamorous than many had originally thought. People back home in Canada could feel this as food and supplies were limited and the war had dragged on for longer than originally thought. Most had expected a short war with troops returning by Christmas of 1914. New technology also brought new and more brutal ways of fighting that, for the most part, had not been foreseen.
Borden's Decision
In 1916, Prime Minister Robert Borden visited London for the Imperial War Conference where he spent time in military hospitals and spoke with wounded soldiers. He was moved by what he saw and became determined that Canada would send over more soldiers to allow the wounded ones to return home, as they might have had to return to the trenches if no replacements could be found.
Borden pointed out that Australia had more soldiers fighting in the war than Canada in spite of Australia’s smaller population. In his 1916 New Year’s message, he pledged 500,000 Canadian soldiers. It is possible that he was acting on emotional instinct without properly thinking it through because 500,000 was not an entirely realistic number for a country with a population of 7.5 million people and a sixth of men capable of fighting already in the infantry.
Another possible motivation could have been because Borden himself had a personal connection to the war and the Canadian military. His cousin was a commanding officer of a battalion in France and he is pictured inspecting the battalion when he visited Europe to see the situation for himself. Because of his personal connection through his cousin, the war would have hit closer to home for him and probably would have given him an extra motivation to help and give support to the soldiers fighting in the frontlines.
Borden pointed out that Australia had more soldiers fighting in the war than Canada in spite of Australia’s smaller population. In his 1916 New Year’s message, he pledged 500,000 Canadian soldiers. It is possible that he was acting on emotional instinct without properly thinking it through because 500,000 was not an entirely realistic number for a country with a population of 7.5 million people and a sixth of men capable of fighting already in the infantry.
Another possible motivation could have been because Borden himself had a personal connection to the war and the Canadian military. His cousin was a commanding officer of a battalion in France and he is pictured inspecting the battalion when he visited Europe to see the situation for himself. Because of his personal connection through his cousin, the war would have hit closer to home for him and probably would have given him an extra motivation to help and give support to the soldiers fighting in the frontlines.
Military Service Act
The Military Service Bill was introduced to the House of Commons in June 1917 and passed August 28th, 1917. It was enforced after Borden was reelected in the federal election that took place on December 17th, 1917. It made military service compulsory to all men between the ages of 20 to 45 until the end of the war.
This one act would greatly influence Canada in the years to come.
This one act would greatly influence Canada in the years to come.
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