Browse Exhibits (34 total)

Canada's Participation in World War One

On July 28, 1914, the world saw the start of a terrible war that would last four long years. This war would change the world forever as this type of global conflict had never been seen before. New strategies and technologies used during the war changed modern combat forever. That war that changed so much of the world is called the Great War. World War One involved over thirty nations, with battles being fought all across Europe that claimed the lives of nine million soldiers and six million civilians. On August 4, 1914, Canada joined the war as the Canadian Governor General declared war on Germany. This war would then claim the lives of 66,000 Canadians and injure an additional 172,000. 

Canada's participation during World War One saw  424,000 brave Canadians head overseas to fight against the Central Powers. Canadian soldiers would see heavy fighting immediately as they were thrown into battle, often without the proper equipment. Within a short time period of fighting, Canadian soldiers soon began to earn respect from their fellow allies and enemies.  This was all due to the sheer determination and will Canadian soldiers possessed, as they took part in major key battles such as the battle of  Vimy Ridge and the battle of  Passchendaele. It's through these key victories we learn of the heroics Canadian soldiers had and where we witness how vital Canada's contribution was during the Great War.    

However, this exhibit will not just explore the positive contributions we have learned from history. It will also explore Canadian soldiers' contributions, which show the darker side of history that is unknown to many. Canadian soldiers may have been respected at first on the battlefield of their enemies, but as the war raged on, this respect turned to fear. Canada's soldiers soon began to be the most feared during the war, but this was not because of their will. It all has to do with their actions.

Canadian Propaganda in the World Wars

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Canada entered the first World War as part of the British Empire. The war effort from Canada was huge as they contributed quite a large amount of their population to the war. The Canadian troops fought in many important battles during World War 1 earning them respect on the world stage. This war led to Canada achieving a sense of national identity as their own separate nation away from Britain. At the beginning of World War 2 Canada declared war on Germany a week after Britain did, showing their new sense of national identity. Like the first World War Canada supplied many troops and they fought in some of the most important battles like the Battle for Britain and the D-Day landings at Normandy. Canada sent over so much to Britain for their war effort that without Canada’s gifts who knows where the war would have gone. For Canada to be able to supply these munitions and troops a huge part of that was propaganda posters. This essential aspect of Canada's war effort helped them boost the public support for the war effort. They boosted overall enlistment and helped promote a sense of national pride and unity. Propaganda is a way of communicating usually towards a large demographic aimed at influencing the behaviors and beliefs of those individuals. This is often accomplished through the presentation of biased or potentially misleading information. Some of the key ideas of propaganda is to selectively choose the information that is being shown, by only being shown what the people who are spreading the propaganda want the viewer to see allows them to shape perception how they chose. Most importantly for these forms of propaganda is the emotional appeal of them, because this propaganda was in war time the propaganda would be used to make people feel things like national pride, anger, or even fear. Anything to make the citizens become part of the war effort. While this may be seen as manipulative, propaganda played a major role in Canada’s success in defending itself in the World Wars and aiding in the creation of a nation away from the british empire, without these posters it would have been much more difficult to recruit soldiers, to boost morale and most importantly to encourage citizens to contribute to the war efforts.  The purpose of this exhibit is to show the audience that it takes more than soldiers to build an army, more than soldiers to win a war. It takes a nation. This exhibit should leave its readers with a new understanding of how Canada was able to band together both during the war efforts and after.

Bibliography

 

 

  • Mackenzie, Hector. “Transatlantic Generosity: Canada’s ‘Billion Dollar Gift’ to the United Kingdom in the Second World War.” The International History Review 34, no. 2 (2012): 293–314. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23240826. 

 

  • Stacey, C.P.. "Second World War (WWII)." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published July 15, 2013; Last Edited November 30, 2023.

 

The Women at War

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The First World War is known as a catastrophic war in which many had sacrificed their lives for others, between the years 1914 and 1918 61,000 Canadians lost their lives during the war (Canadian War Museum).  This exhibit’s focus is dedicated to the 2,800 women who served as nurses during the First World War and enlightening their experiences and sacrifices that they made during the war (Canadian War Museum). In Canada, the role of a nursing sister was the only position open to women during the first world war, due to its exclusivity and being the only position available to women who wished to serve in the war effort it became highly sought after (Morin-Pelletier, 2024). Nurses during the First World War were tasked with tending to wounds, managing the pain of the injured soldiers, managing illness, administering vaccines as well as offering comfort to the soldiers who were injured and afraid (Canadian war museum). The position of a nursing sister was not necessarily without danger, the number of nurses who lost their lives during the First World War was greater than that of the Second World War (Dodd, 2017). Recognizing the efforts of these women is important as we remember our veterans, the nursing sisters dedicated their efforts to healing and comforting soldiers while also being at risk of contracting fatal illnesses, obtaining life threatening injury and even at risk of being killed in action (Morin-Pelletier).  Over the course of the war 61 nurses had lost their lives, they were dedicated to their position. (Dodd, 2017). The cause of death of these 61 brave nurses varied, with 21 of these women losing their lives in action, 39 others passing from illness and one who had lost her life in an accident (Dodd, 2017). 

          The artifacts in this exhibit have been carefully selected, the artifacts consisting of letters, pictures and other important documents each have the intention as they stand alone and together to illustrate and illuminate the extraordinary efforts and the stories of these brave women. Their stories hold great importance to our Canadian history and the evolution of the role played by women in times of war across the globe.

 

 Bibliography 

Dodd, D. (2017). Canadian Military Nurse Deaths in the First World War. Canadian Bulletin of Medical History / Bulletin Canadien d’histoire de La Médecine, 34(2), 327–363. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48742733

Morin-Pelletier, M. (2024). "Has Any Great Harm Been Done?" Canadian Women Breaking Barriers During the First World War. Histoire sociale / Social History 57(117), 117-138. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/his.2024.a928522.

“In Uniform - Nurses.” Canada and the First World War, www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/people/in-uniform/nurses/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.

“Remembrance: Canada and WWI.” Canadian War Museum, 1 Feb. 2024, www.warmuseum.ca/remembrance-day-resources/canada-and-the-first-world-war.

Pierre Trudeau's Omnibus Bill 1968-1969

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The Omnibus Bill of 1968-1969 is a significant part of Canadian history, especially regarding women’s reproductive rights. Pierre Trudeau implemented this Bill while he was Prime Minister, leading to outrage from women across Canada. This outrage ended in what we now know as the women’s movement in Canada, which has shaped the society that we know today.  One of the most significant issues during the Omnibus Bill of 1968-1969 was how many politicians and higher-ups in Canada did not honestly care about Women’s rights. Instead, they only cared about their reputation and how “caring” about women in Canada and the Omnibus Bill would gain them public support (Lynch, 1969). Many male politicians’ mindset about the Omnibus Bill of 1968-1969 raised a significant amount of controversy because the real motivation behind their actions was very unclear. Although this Bill was mainly focused on Canadian women and their rights, especially regarding their reproductive rights, it also included the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and the rights that these citizens had regarding their sexuality (The Gazette, 1969).  The Omnibus Bill of 1968-1969 was an essential political and moral bill because it was the first time Women’s reproductive rights were debated in the Canadian Government. Many Canadian citizens did not support having discussions about reproduction and women’s rights, and it was a significant culture shock to citizens that the Prime Minister was trying to pass the Omnibus Bill. The Omnibus Bill was the first to discuss these rights and play a major role in Canadian history.  The sources I will include in this exhibition will all be primary documents, videos, or photography from 1968-1969 regarding the Omnibus Bill. The exhibition I am about to present will take you back to how citizens, government officials, and women in Canada were during the 1968-1969 time period.