|
Storm Clouds |
Mobilization |
Fall of France |
Battle of Britain |
Pacific War |
Hong Kong |
Conscription |
Dieppe |
Spartan | Battle of
the Atlantic | Sicily |
Italy |
Overlord | Falaise |
Occupation |
Holland |
Germany 45 |
VE | VJ
Even before the storm clouds were
gathering over Europe, Mackenzie King was apprehensive
about any foreign events that might drag Canada into a
conflict which might require the commitment of large
land forces. He was particularly sensitive to the
Conscription Crisis and its results form the First World
War. On his visit to Britain and Germany in 1937 he was
particularly attentive to diplomatic judgements
and actions that would calm the European situation and
minimize the potential of another great war.
By 1939 when war began
to look possible and then after the signing of the
Nazi/Soviet pact in August, King was still determined to
avoid sending a land force to any war in which it might
become involved but to build up the Canadian air force
and navy in order to be able to restrict the number of
soldiers needed and hence the possibility of having to
resort to conscription to fill those numbers. The
members of his cabinet from Quebec made it completely
clear to him that if he was to bring conscription in,
they would have to leave the cabinet and the government
might then fall.
 During
the stunning days of September, as Poland fell, King
realized that Canada would have to make a land force
contribution and it was decided to send the 1st Division
to England as a start. The Liberal government promised
that it would not introduce conscription as a way of
filling the ranks of the quickly expanding army and
hoped to settle fears in Quebec that it was coming
regardless of speeches.
By June, the Germans
had again devastated several more allies and countries
as the lowlands and France all toppled under the
relentless attack of the German Blitzkrieg. The outcry
from the country to do more to support Britain was
overwhelming and in order to avoid conscription but draw
manpower into the military and support services the
National Resources Mobilization Act was introduced in
Parliament and passed on June 21, 1940. This act allow
the Liberals to show that they were taking action by
drafting any able bodies man into home service to
support the war effort and appease the anti-
conscriptionists by avoiding conscription which would
send Canadians overseas that did not want to go.
Registration for the NRMA occurred with little
resistance.
By 1942 the pressure
to bring conscription in and make the war effort total
was again rising and King faced a rebellion from his
English Cabinet Ministers over the issue. King presented
the idea of holding a plebiscite which would release the
Liberals from their commitment not to bring in
conscription. On April 17th, 1942 Bill 80 was passed
although the vote for conscription was over 80% in
English Canada and over 70% against conscription in
Quebec. The wording of the bill authorized conscription
for overseas service if it was deemed necessary.
 |
 |
By 1944 the military
personnel that had been conscripted and not sent
overseas were known as Zombies and the high casualty
rates seemed to indicate that they would need to be used
for overseas duty. On November 22, King gave into the
pressures from his government and decided to start
sending the conscripts overseas as replacements. He
saved his government and although only just over 12,000
conscripts arrived in combat areas by the end of the
war, the outcry form Quebec and anti-conscriptionist
remained relatively quite compared to WWI. King had
successfully navigated the competing demands of politic,
economic, military and international demands and
survived the war with a strong Liberal party and victory
in the war. |
