CANADA HISTORY - War-WWI

Victory 1918

On November 11, 1918, at precisely 11:00 a.m., the guns fell silent across the Western Front. After four long, agonizing years of conflict, the Great War—a war that had devastated Europe and reverberated across the world—was finally over. The Triple Entente, the alliance of France, Britain, Russia, and later Canada, along with the United States and other allies, had emerged victorious. But for the soldiers in the trenches and the families back home, the victory was bittersweet, and the question of what had truly been won lingered over the world like a dark cloud. The war of attrition, which had turned the fields of France and Belgium into killing grounds, came to an end. The slaughter was over, but the cost had been staggering. And for Canada, this victory marked not only the conclusion of its most significant military endeavor up to that point but also the beginning of a new chapter in its national identity.

Canada’s Role in the Conflict
At the outset of the war, Canada was a fledgling Dominion, still largely dependent on Britain for its foreign policy and defense. But as the war progressed, Canada emerged as a vital part of the Allied war effort. More than 600,000 Canadians served in the war—an extraordinary number for a country with a population of just over 8 million. Canadian soldiers fought in some of the most brutal and critical battles of the war: Ypres, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and the Hundred Days Campaign. By the end of the war, the Canadian Corps, under the command of General Arthur Currie, had earned a reputation as one of the most effective and formidable fighting forces on the Western Front.

The victory of the Entente powers was, in large part, a result of the efforts of these Dominion troops, who had grown from a collection of volunteer regiments into a well-organized, professional military force. Canada's contribution to the Allied victory was recognized on the world stage. By the time the armistice was signed, Canada’s role in the war had fundamentally altered its relationship with Britain and the rest of the world. No longer merely an appendage of the British Empire, Canada had proven itself a nation capable of independent action, and this newfound status would have lasting implications.

The Cost of Victory
Yet, the victory came at a horrendous cost. Of the 600,000 Canadians who served, more than 60,000 never returned home. Tens of thousands more were wounded, many of them with injuries—both physical and psychological—that would affect them for the rest of their lives. The brutal trench warfare, the introduction of new, deadly technologies like machine guns, poison gas, and tanks, had transformed the battlefields of Europe into a nightmarish hellscape, where progress was measured in yards, not miles, and where entire generations of young men were lost.

For Canada, the cost of the war was not only measured in the lives lost but also in the profound changes it wrought on the home front. The war had strained Canada’s economy, led to conscription that divided the country along linguistic and regional lines, and created a social fabric deeply marked by loss and sacrifice. French Canadians, already alienated by the introduction of conscription in 1917, felt further estranged from the national war effort, which they saw as a British imperialist cause. The war had unified Canada in one sense—through shared sacrifice and national pride—but it also deepened divisions, particularly between English and French Canada, that would linger for decades.

The Hollow Political Victory
Though the Entente powers had achieved military victory, the political victory proved hollow. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, imposed harsh conditions on Germany, holding it responsible for the war and demanding reparations that crippled its economy. The punitive nature of the treaty sowed the seeds of resentment that would eventually give rise to Nazism and lead to the Second World War just two decades later.

One French general, reflecting on the aftermath of the conflict, famously remarked, “I fear that all we have done is to take a break from the war for 20 years.” His words proved prophetic. The Treaty of Versailles did little to create lasting peace in Europe. Instead, it created the conditions for a resurgence of German militarism, which, combined with the economic devastation of the Great Depression, led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the march toward another, even more devastating war.

Canada’s Transformation
For Canada, however, the end of the war marked the beginning of a new era. While the political and economic ramifications of the war were felt worldwide, the war had a profound effect on Canada’s national identity. Canada’s success on the battlefield, particularly at Vimy Ridge in 1917, had given Canadians a sense of national pride and unity that had not existed before. Vimy was more than just a military victory—it was a symbol of Canada’s coming of age. For the first time, Canadians had fought together as a unified national force, and their success was seen as a defining moment in the nation’s history. The term "Canada’s birth of nationhood" was frequently used to describe the impact of the war on the country's sense of self.

In the aftermath of the war, Canada was no longer seen as a mere colony or dominion of the British Empire. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Prime Minister Robert Borden successfully lobbied for Canada to have its own seat at the negotiating table, rather than being represented by Britain. This was a crucial moment in Canada’s path toward greater independence. The war had demonstrated that Canada could stand on its own, and Borden’s presence at the conference was a symbolic assertion of that newfound autonomy.

The Lasting Impact on Canadians
The war’s end brought both relief and sorrow to Canadians. For the families of the men who had fought and died, the armistice was bittersweet. The guns had fallen silent, but the losses remained. Across Canada, towns and cities erected monuments to the fallen, and the national grief was palpable. The Great War, once imagined as a quick and glorious affair, had instead become a prolonged nightmare, and its aftermath left deep scars on the country’s psyche.

The soldiers who returned home found that the country they had left had changed. Many veterans faced a difficult transition back to civilian life, struggling with injuries, both visible and invisible. Post-traumatic stress, then known as shell shock, was poorly understood, and many soldiers suffered in silence. The government’s efforts to provide support to returning soldiers, through pensions and rehabilitation programs, were often insufficient, leading to widespread discontent among veterans.

At the same time, the war had catalyzed social and political changes within Canada. The war effort had mobilized Canadian industry and agriculture, leading to economic growth in some sectors, while at the same time creating inflation and labor unrest. Women, who had played a crucial role on the home front—working in factories, volunteering, and serving as nurses—emerged from the war with a stronger voice, leading to greater demands for women’s suffrage and social reforms.

A Nation Changed
The end of the First World War was a turning point for Canada. While the military victory marked the close of a chapter in the nation’s history, the war had fundamentally reshaped Canada’s place in the world and its internal dynamics. The war had shown that Canada could punch above its weight on the global stage, and the sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers helped to forge a stronger sense of national identity. Yet, the costs of the war—both in terms of human life and the deep social divisions it created—were heavy burdens that Canada would carry for decades to come.

The victory on November 11, 1918, was a moment of triumph, but it was also a moment of reflection. The question that hung over the world in the aftermath of the war was whether the peace won on the battlefield could be sustained. For Canada, the answer would not fully be known until 20 years later, when the world was once again plunged into darkness with the outbreak of the Second World War. But in that moment of silence, as the guns ceased and the war ended, Canada had emerged from the Great War as a nation transformed, forever changed by the blood and sacrifice of its sons.