For All We Have and Are : Regina and the Experience of the Great War

The First World War profoundly affected every community in Canada. In Regina, the politics of national identity, the rural myth, and the social gospel all lent a distinctive flavour to the city's experience of the Great War. For many Reginans, the fight against German militarism merged with the struggle against social evils and the “Big Interests,” adding new momentum to the forces of social reform, including the fights for prohibition and women's suffrage. James M. Pitsula traces these social movements against the background of the lives of Regina men who fought overseas in battles such as Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge. Skillfully combining vivid detail with the larger social context, For All We Have and Are provides a nuanced picture of how one Canadian community rebuilt both its realities and myths in response to the cataclysm of the “war to end all wars.” Cover Contents Introduction The British Canadian and the “Foreigner” The Rural Myth The Social Gospel Regina before the War Chapter 1: War Comes to Regina Patriotism at the Outbreak of War Recruits Rush to the Colours Gender, Class, and Ethnicity Chapter 2: The First Year The Hard Winter of 1914 to 1915 In the Trenches Regina Reacts to the Battle of Second Yypres Chapter 3: Brave New World The War against Liquor Prohibition Goes into Effect Women and the War Votes for Women Chapter 4: The Battle over Schools The Better Schools Movement The Rural Myth and Saskatchewan Schools The Language Issue Chapter 5: The Preacher and the Premier Rev. Murdoch MacKinnon’s Attack on Premier Scott Scott Goes too Far Scott’s Fall from Power Chapter 6: News from the Front News from the Front Recruitment Woes Chapter 7: The Twenty-Eighth Battalion Into the Trenches From Flanders to Courcelette Vimy Ridge To Passchendaele Photo Insert Chapter 8: The End of Voluntarism Compulsory Military Service Unionist Government Implementing Conscription Voluntarism Falters on the Home Front Chapter 9: The Economy and the Rural Myth The Economy Goes into High Gear Labour Shortages Soldiers of the Soil Labour Unrest Vacant Lot Gardens Food Conservation Chapter 10: Religion and Social Reform The Social Gospel and the Spirit of Sacrifice Social Reformers Gather Social Reconstruction Moral Policing Chapter 11: Returned Soldiers Veterans’ Organizations Putting the “Foreigner” in His Place Chapter 12: Victory The Spanish Flu The Last One Hundred Days Regina Celebrates Epilogue: Crown of Thorns Regina Commemorates Crown of Thorns Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Epilogue Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources Index "For All We Have and Are makes an important contribution to the growing literature on how Canadian communities experienced the First World War. Using newspaper archives, memoirs, and letters, James Pitsula looks at how issues such as class, anti-immigrant actions, volunteer movements, local politics, and the social gospel played out against the backdrop of the war overseas. Regina in 1914 was a new, vibrant frontier city. As provincial capital, it was also the stage on which the major political dramas of the day took place. For many Reginans, the fight against German militarism merged with the struggle against social evils and the "Big Interests," adding new momentum to the forces of social reform, including the battles for prohibition and woman's suffrage. More than one-quarter of Reginans were "foreign-born," and the war unleashed a fierce public battle over schools and language that would lead to the fall of premier Walter Scott. Pitsula traces these social movements against the background of the lives of Regina men in the trenches overseas, such as the 28th Battalion that fought at Passchendale and Vimy Ridge"--Publisher's website

The First World War profoundly affected every community in Canada. In Regina, the politics of national identity, the rural myth, and the social gospel all lent a distinctive flavour to the city's experience of the Great War. For many Reginans, the fight against German militarism merged with the struggle against social evils and the "Big Interests, " adding new momentum to the forces of social reform, including the fights for prohibition and women's suffrage.James M. Pitsula traces these social movements against the background of the lives of Regina men who fought overseas in battles such as Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge. Skillfully combining vivid detail with the larger social context, For All We Have and Are provides a nuanced picture of how one Canadian community rebuilt both its realities and myths in response to the cataclysm of the "war to end all wars."

James M. Pitsula. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 339-354) And Index.