|
1929 Crash | Economic Slowdown
| Bennett in Power |
The Ottawa Conference |
Prairie Drought |
Relief |
The Regina Riots | Alberta &
Bible Bill | Statute of
Westminster | Woodworth & the CCF
| The Union Nationale |
Relief Camps |
Bennett's Conversion |
King's
Return | European
Unrest | Royal Visit
By 1935 the economy was starting to
recover and signs of hope around the country began to
appear. Prime Minister Bennett's last minute conversion
to government action didn't win over many voters.
Mackenzie King had been working hard to rebuild the
Liberal Parties base and his slogan of "It' King or
Chaos" sat while with an electorate who were
disillusioned with Bennett and were not entirely
captivated by the CCF, Social Credit and several other
small parties.
On election day the Liberal vote held steady and yielded
them 171 seats while the Conservative support collapsed
in many parts of the country and they fell to just 39
seats while the CCF picked up7 seats and the Social
Credit 17 seats. King has started with his base in
Quebec and grew from there. He was once more in power
and the Liberals would remain there for another 20
years. Upon
entering office King was immediately faced with the
Italian/Ethiopian situation and the commitment the
Canadian representative, W. Riddell, to the League of
Nations had made in leading the imposition of sanctions
on Italy. King
backtracked on the action
"What
was my amazement when on reading a morning newspaper I
found Doctor Riddell at Geneva was reported to have
proposed to add oil, coal and steel to the list of
commodities which by sanctions were to be prohibited
from export to Italy. No instructions whatever had been
sent to him authorizing anything of the kind...word was
immediately to be sent that no action of any kind was to
be taken by Doctor Riddell without specific instructions
from the government. I asked whether that communication
had been sent, and was informed that it had been sent
within an hour after receipt of the communication from
Doctor Riddell. So that so far as the present
administration is concerned I say we gave specific
direction to Doctor Riddell that he was to do nothing in
the matter of extending sanctions without express
direction from the government itself."
King had falter in his
first great opportunity back in office and the march of
fascism continued. The next event in 1936 was the
reoccupation of the Rhineland by Germany which violated
the 1919 settlement. King's policy was to remain aloof
from affairs in Europe. He was anxious to avoid
entanglements abroad and preferred to focus on affairs
at home n Canada. This attitude paralleled FDR's
position in the United States and although rarely called
an isolationist because of Canada's closer relationship
with Britain, that was what King was.
He realized that
another commitment to Europe might reopen the issue of
conscription and that would mean endangering the Liberal
base in Quebec. King was comfortable supporting the
British position of appeasement and in January of 1937
stated
"In
any action this Parliament takes, we shall do well to
have regard for the world situation as it is today and
for the way in which our action may be viewed by other
parts of the world. If ever there was need for
unity on the part of nations and peoples who hold
certain cherished ideals of freedom and liberty, that
need exists today. We have need for unity in our own
country. Nothing can do this country more injury than
internal disruptions and differences. We have need for
unity as between all parts of the British commonwealth
of nations. I for one believe that the British
commonwealth today is exercising a greater influence for
peace than any other force in the world."
King followed up his
participation in the 1937 Imperial Conference in London
with a visit to Germany and there he met with Adolf
Hitler and came away believing that he was not a man to
be feared. By 1939 King was beginning to accept the fact
that war was coming and that Canada would probably
participate in it in some manner. The depression was
drawing to an end but an even more threatening menace
now lurked and was to prove a greater test then the
30's.
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