Canada and the First World War, Second Edition : Essays in Honour of Robert Craig Brown

This book comprises a collection of original essays on Canada’s experience during the First World War. The essays were written by more than a dozen of Canada’s leading historians in honour of Robert Craig Brown, a historian who has had an important impact on the writing of history in Canada.

The First World War is often credited as being the event that gave Canada its own identity, distinct from that of Britain, France, and the United States. Less often noted, however, is that it was also the cause of a great deal of friction within Canadian society. The fifteen essays contained in Canada and the First World War examine how Canadians experienced the war and how their experiences were shaped by region, politics, gender, class, and nationalism.

Editor David MacKenzie has brought together some of the leading voices in Canadian history to take an in-depth look into the tensions and fractures the war caused, and to address the way some attitudes about the country were changed, while others remained the same. The essays vary in scope, but are strongly unified so as to create a collection that treats its subject in a complete and comprehensive manner.

Canada and the First World War is a tribute to esteemed University of Toronto historian Robert Craig Brown, one of Canada's greatest authorities on the Great War World War One. The collection is a significant contribution to the on-going re-examination of Canada's experiences in war, and a must-read for students of Canadian history.

Contents 5 Illustrations 9 Preface 11 Canada and the First World War – Thirteen Years On: An Introduction to the Second Edition 13 Part I: Introduction 53 Introduction: Myth, Memory, and the Transformation of Canadian Society 53 1. Craig Brown’s Logical Reason 65 Part II: Fighting the War 85 2. The Military Effort, 1914–1918 85 3. Conscription in the Great War 112 4. Political Leadership in the First World War 126 5. Against Isolationism: Napoléon Belcourt, French Canada, and ‘La grande guerre’ 146 6. The Economic Impact of the Great War 188 Part III: The War at Home 207 7. Mobilizing Women for War 207 8. Supporting Soldiers’ Families: Separation Allowance, Assigned Pay, and the Unexpected 244 9. Ontario and the Great War 280 10. Ethnic and Class Relations in Western Canada during the First World War: A Case Study of European Immigrants and Anglo-Canadian Nativism 322 11. The Crusade for Science: Science and Technology on the Home Front, 1914–1918 350 12. Canada Invaded! The Great War, Mass Culture, and Canadian Cultural Nationalism 373 13. Eastern Approaches: Maritime Canada and Newfoundland 400 Part IV: The Aftermath 429 14. Canada and the Peace Settlements 429 15. Remembering Armageddon 459 Contributors 485 Index 489 "The First World War is often credited as being the event that gave Canada its own identity, distinct from that of Britain, France, and the United States. Less often noted, however, is that it was also the cause of a great deal of friction within Canadian society. The fifteen essays contained in Canada and the First World War examine how Canadians experienced the war and how their experiences were shaped by region, politics, gender, class, and nationalism. Editor David MacKenzie has brought together some of the leading voices in Canadian history to take an in-depth look into the tensions and fractures the war caused, and to address the way some attitudes about the country were changed, while others remained the same. The essays vary in scope, but are strongly unified so as to create a collection that treats its subject in a complete and comprehensive manner. Canada and the First World War is a tribute to esteemed University of Toronto historian Robert Craig Brown, one of Canada's greatest authorities on the Great War World War One. The collection is a significant contribution to the on-going re-examination of Canada's experiences in war, and a must-read for students of Canadian history."-- Provided by publisher