The Great Depression and the Second World War in Canada

• Social and Economic Analysis: Describe key social changes and economic trends/developments in Canada during the Great Depression and World War II periods.

• Interpersonal and National Relationships: Analyze significant ways Canadians cooperated or came into conflict with each other. Analyze how issues affected Canada’s relationships with Great Britain and the United States.

• Government Policy: Describe the causes of key government policies and the contributions of various individuals, groups, and organizations to Canadian society.

• Historical Inquiry: Formulate different types of questions to guide investigations into issues, events, and developments in Canadian history since $1914$. Use tools and strategies appropriate for historical inquiry, such as analyzing perspective, bias, and accuracy.

• International Interaction: Analyze key interactions between Canada and the international community between $1929$ and $1945$.

• Military Conflict: Explain the causes of the Second World War and analyze Canada’s specific contributions to the war effort on land, sea, and in the air.

The Economic Foundations of the Great Depression

• The Business Cycle: Economics is historically characterized by a recurring cycle consisting of several phases:

  • Expansion: A period of growth and increasing economic activity.

  • Peak: The height of economic expansion.

  • Recession: An economic decline following a peak.

  • Trough: The lowest point of the economic cycle.

  • Recovery: The phase where the economy begins to grow again toward expansion.

  • Depression: An extreme, sustained trough; a severe global economic slump.

• New Consumer Habits: During the "Roaring Twenties," Canadians transitioned into new spending patterns. Because jobs were plentiful, people began to buy items on credit.

  • Credit/Installment Buying: Customers could purchase goods with a small down payment (usually $10\%$ of the price) and make monthly payments plus interest until the item was paid off.

  • Financial Impact: Interest made these items significantly more expensive than the original asking price by the time they were fully paid for.

• The Stock Market and "Buying on Margin":

  • Buying on margin allowed investors to purchase stocks with only a $10\%$ down payment.

  • Black Tuesday: On October $29$, $1929$, the stock market crashed, ushering in the Great Depression and the era of Dust-Bowl droughts.

  • Market Bottom: By $1932$, the stock market had dropped to $89\%$ below its previous peak.

Canadian Economic and Political Distinctiveness

• Resource Dependency: Canada relied heavily on commodity exports of raw materials compared to the United States. Key exports included:

  • Lumber

  • Oil

  • Metals

• Monetary Vulnerability: While Canada had its own currency, it lacked a Central Bank or Federal Reserve at the start of the Depression. This meant the government had no way to stabilize the economy or implement effective monetary policy to control inflation and unemployment.

• Political Structure: Canada was still a Dominion with a Parliamentary system.

  • The presence of many small parties allowed for significant influence on national laws and events.

  • Canada lacked a formal Constitution at this time.

  • Ethno-linguistic Divisions: Divisions in Quebec were largely centered around ethno-linguistic differences.

Social Impact and the Relief Camp System

• Impact on Young Men:

  • At age $17$, young men were no longer considered "dependents" by the government and were expected to strike out on their own to relieve the financial burden on their families.

  • Men were often the last to be hired, as employers prioritized married men with families.

  • Young women were generally expected to be cared for by male relatives or husbands.

• The Relief Camp Initiative: Prime Minister R.B. Bennett established these camps to address the issue of single, unemployed men.

  • Establishment and Location: Initiated in $1931$ in British Columbia, typically located in remote wilderness areas.

  • Labor: Men worked $8$ hours a day ($44$ hours a week) building roads, airports, military bases, and parks.

  • Pay Progression: Initially $2.00\,\text{dollars}$ a day, then reduced to $7.50\,\text{dollars}$ a month when operated jointly by federal and provincial governments.

  • Military Oversight: In $1933$, the Department of National Defence took over the camps and reduced the pay to $20\,\text{cents}$ a day, plus meals, a bed, and work clothes.

  • Scale: Approximately $20,000$ Canadian men worked in these camps at any given time.

• Camp Conditions Debate:

  • Complaints: Strikers reported that food was "rotten." Requests were made for cotton sheets to replace standard blankets during the summer.

  • Official Reports: Witnesses and investigators claimed meals were generally good and often better than what families on relief were eating.

Political Change and Social Unrest

• Transition from King to Bennett: Mackenzie King was in power when the Depression hit but was replaced by R.B. Bennett in the $1930$ election after King called for a re-election to consolidate power.

• The On-to-Ottawa Trek:

  • Origins: Men in the relief camps formed the Relief Camp Workers’ Union (RCWU).

  • Protest: A protest began in Vancouver on April $4$, $1935$. Strikers voted to take their grievances to Ottawa, jumping on freight trains heading east.

  • Scale: Over $2,000$ men joined the trek by the time it reached Regina, Saskatchewan.

• The Regina Riot:

  • Frustrated by the potential for revolution, the federal government stopped the trekkers in Regina.

  • Escalated into a riot suppressed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

  • Casualties: Resulted in $1$ death, $100$ injuries, and multiple arrests.

• King’s Return: Bennett lost the October $1935$ election to Mackenzie King. King returned with a majority seating and implemented the following:

  • National Housing Act

  • Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration

  • Bank of Canada

  • Unemployment Insurance and the Canadian Wheat Board

  • Social Welfare policies

Alternative Political Ideologies

• Shift in Thinking: By the end of the Depression, the public believed governments should take responsibility for citizen well-being and support the economy.

• The Political Spectrum:

  • Liberal/Left: Advocates for community regulation of production (Socialism).

  • Conservative/Right: Traditional paths.

  • Radicalization: During upheaval, parties on the extreme ends of the spectrum gain power by offering fast results through radical solutions.

• Key Alternative Parties in Canada:

  • The Alberta Social Credit Party

  • The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)

  • The Union Nationale

  • The Communist Party of Canada

• European Ideologies:

  • Pacifism: Belief that all violence and war are unjustifiable.

  • Isolationism: Policy of remaining apart from international political affairs.

  • Socialism: Theory advocating for community ownership of the means of production.

The Outbreak of World War II

• Underlying vs. Immediate Causes: Just as WWI had M.A.I.N. causes (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism) triggered by an assassination, WWII had complex roots.

• Immediate Trigger: The invasion of Poland by Germany in September $1939$, leading Great Britain and France to declare war.

• The Treaty of Versailles ($1919$): Signed by leaders like Lloyd George (England), Orlando (Italy), Clemenceau (France), and Woodrow Wilson (U.S.). Its terms created severe resentment in Germany:

  • War Guilt Clause: Germany accepted full blame for WWI.

  • Reparations: Germany was ordered to pay $6,600\,\text{million}$ pounds.

  • Disarmament: Limited to a small army and $6$ naval ships; no tanks, air force, or submarines. The Rhineland was demilitarized.

  • Territorial Clauses: Land was redistributed; Anschluss (union with Austria) was forbidden.

• German Reaction: Economic hardship, high food prices, and job shortages in the $1920s$ led the populace to support Adolf Hitler, who promised to dismantle the Treaty.

The Rise of the Nazi Party

• Hitler’s Early Political Career:

  • September 1919: Joins the German Workers’ Party (DAP).

  • February 1920: DAP becomes the Nazi Party (NSDAP).

  • July 1921: Hitler becomes leader of the NSDAP.

• Beer Hall Putsch and Incarceration: Following a failed coup in Munich, Hitler was jailed. During this time, he wrote Mein Kampf, detailing his political beliefs.

• Consolidation of Power ($1933$-$1934$):

  • January 30, 1933: Hitler is appointed Chancellor.

  • Reichstag Fire: Nazis blame Communists for the fire, leading to mass arrests of political opponents.

  • The Enabling Act: Allowed the cabinet to enact laws without parliamentary consent.

  • One-Party Rule: All other parties were banned or removed.

  • Night of the Long Knives: A purge of political rivals.

  • August 1934: Hitler officially becomes Fuhrer.

Military Operations of World War II

• War on Land:

  • Blitzkrieg: "Lightning war" using planes, tanks, artillery, and mechanized units to overtake targets rapidly.

  • Canadian Involvement: Over $1,000,000$ Canadians served ($730,000$ in the army), with over $40,000$ fatalities. Key battles included the Italian Campaign, D-Day, and the Dieppe Raid.

• War in the Air:

  • Evolution of aircraft for reconnaissance, bombing, and paratrooper deployment.

  • Development of Radar by the British was a critical turning point.

  • Canada possessed the fourth-largest air force in the world by the war's end.

  • Commonwealth Air Training Plan: Canada trained Allied pilots from across the globe.

• War at Sea and the Battle of the Atlantic:

  • Duration: The longest continuous battle ($1939$-$1945$).

  • The U-boat Peril: Winston Churchill noted that German submarines were the only thing that truly frightened him. Over $15\,\text{million}$ tonnes of merchant shipping were lost.

  • Convoys: Groups of warships protected Merchant Marine ships. The largest Canadian convoy had $167$ ships carrying $1,000,000$ tonnes of cargo.

  • RCN Growth: Starting with $6$ warships in $1939$, Canada ended the war with the third-largest naval fleet ($400+$ ships).

• The Dieppe Raid (August 19, 1942):

  • A poorly planned British operation intended to test Hitler’s coastal defenses and gather intelligence.

  • Resulted in catastrophic failure and heavy casualties.

• The Battle of Hong Kong ($1941$): The first battle for Canadian soldiers in WWII, occurring as Japan expanded its empire in Asia.

• Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941): The Japanese bombing of the U.S. naval base in Hawaii, triggering American entry into the war.

• D-Day: The Allied landing in France; documented famously by CBC correspondent Matthew Halton.