In
1867 the four existing provinces of Canada - Quebec, Ontario, Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick - were united into one dominion of the British
Empire. Later Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince
Edward Island (1873), Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905) joined the other
provinces. By 1911 Canada had a population of 7.2 million. A quarter
of Canadians were French-speaking and most of these lived in Quebec
Province.
The French-Canadian, Wilfrid Laurier,
the leader of the Liberal Party, became prime minister in 1896 and
he held office for fifteen years. Robert
Borden, the leader of the Conservative Party, replaced Laurier
in October, 1911.
In 1914 Canada had just over 3,000 regular soldiers.
Based at harbour fortifications, the Canadian
Army was backed up by a militia of local volunteers. Expecting
a war in Europe, during the summer of 1914 the Canadian government
asked for volunteers to join a Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF).
Almost
600,000 Canadians joined the army during the First
World War. Of these, 418,000 served overseas with the Canadian
Army and sixty-three of these won the Victoria
Cross, including William Bishop and
John MacGregor. The CEF had 210,000
casualties, of whom, 56,500 were killed. Overall casualties numbered
in excess of 60,000 as some Canadians served in other military forces.
On
10th September, 1939, the Canadian parliament declared war against
Nazi Germany, but refused to send
non-volunteers to Europe. The Canadian prime minister, Mackenzie
King worked closely with the United States
in the defence of North America.
In
December 1939 the Ist Canadian Division left for Britain.
They were followed later by two other infantry divisions, two armoured
divisions and two armoured brigades.
In
1941 two Canadian battalions were sent to the defence of Hong
Kong but they were captured by the invading Japanese
Army in
December 1941. Of these, 246 died as a result of harsh treatment while
prisoners of war.
The
Royal Canadian Air Force contributed a squadron during the Battle
of Britain and 48 other Canadian squadrons fought during the war.
Canada also provided facilities and personnel for the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan which produced 131,553 airmen for Commonwealth countries.
Canadian
soldiers were used on the raid on Dieppe
in France in August 1942. The attempt to take and hold the port was
a disaster and 3,367 out of the 4,963 Canadians who took part were
killed, wounded or captured.
The
3rd Canadian Division and second armoured brigade took part in the
invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Canadians
suffered heavily casualties during the fighting at Pas de Calais,
Caen and Falaise. They fought throughout the Netherlands
and participated in the recapture of Antwerp.
After
the surrender of Germany in April 1945,
a Canadian occupation force remained in the country until 1946.
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