A study of War and Military History, 1867 to the Present Essay

A study of War and Military History, 1867 to the Present - Essay Example With its large expanse of land mass covering North America, right above the United States, proved to be of strategic importance for the British. Trade between Canada and the main British isle was usually undeterred by the vast Atlantic Ocean, and such supply routes were usually left undisturbed for the most part. On the social and political situation, the Canadians were mostly North American colonists who remained loyal to British imperial rule and also composed of colonists from the United States who maintained their allegiance with the British rule. This group of Canadians formed the majority of Canada’s society and usually held a strong voice with regards to the colonial affairs. On the other hand, there were also the French speaking Canadians who were mostly from the domain of Quebec and Montreal. The French Canadians were formerly French Empire colonists during the 16th and 17th century who were conquered by the British by the end of the French-Indian War. The fact that F rench Canadians were usually not treated with much respect as that of the English Canadians, French Canadians most of the time took the polar opposite with regards to political opinion. When the outbreak of the First World War happened in Europe, it was first thought that the British Empire would not be involved in the war which at first was thought to be merely involved between the Austria-Hungary against Serbia. But when Germany entered the war, in the side of Austria-Hungary, Great Britain decided to enter the war against what would later be known as the Central Powers, namely the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to prevent the German Empire from expanding its imperial influence. Canada was involved in this armed struggle across its borders since it had its obligations as a colony of the British Empire. Prior to all this, Canada had a large standing militia force, yet a small regular army and an even smaller navy. Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia and Defense during that time, was tasked to raise enough soldiers for the war in Europe to complement the British forces around the Western Front. For this to be done, volunteers of men were needed to be implemented to enlist enough manpower to be of potential support for the war efforts. Many joined in the hundreds of thousands, becoming known as the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Canadians were known to serve well and with distinction. They were notable in their involvement in major battles such as the Battles of Ypres, Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and the Hundred Days offensive. Canadian Corps were considered as fine soldiers, being highly motivated and dogged. But as the war dragged on and losses were mounting high on the British and its Commonwealth forces, it came to the point that conscription would be needed. After the Battle of Somme, in which casualties on both sides of the belligerents where high, there was a great demand to reinforce the forces in the Western Front. Because of the terrible amount of casualties as the battles raged on the trenches in the Western front with no clear or decisive victory in sight, the number of volunteers of Canadians drastically dropped . This eventually caused conscription to be seen as a necessary measure for the Canadian government to pass the act of conscription. By this period, the government Canada decided to pass the act of conscription. Opinions about conscription in Canada during the First World War were divided distinctly between the