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Unit 2 · 8 lessons

Canada, 1914–1929

Why Canada went to war in 1914, what Canadians and Newfoundlanders faced on the Western Front and at home, the upheaval that followed the peace, the boom and culture of the 1920s, women's rights and immigration policy, First Nations, Métis and Inuit experiences, and the steps that took Canada from colony toward independence.

  • 72 practice questions
  • 71 flashcards
  • 4 interactive lessons
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Lessons

  1. 1Causes of World War I and Why Canada Was at WarThe long-term causes of the First World War (militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism), how the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off a chain reaction in the summer of 1914, and why Canada, as a dominion of the British Empire, was at war automatically on August 4, 1914, along with how different Canadians reacted.Interactive9 questions
  2. 2Canadians on the Battlefield, 1914–1918What trench warfare and new weapons meant for soldiers, the major battles fought by Canadians and Newfoundlanders (Second Ypres, Beaumont-Hamel and the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and the Hundred Days), who served, including Indigenous, Black, Japanese Canadian and women volunteers, and the human cost of the war.9 questions
  3. 3The Home Front: War Economy, Women, Internment, Conscription and the Halifax ExplosionHow the First World War changed life in Canada: a war economy paid for with Victory Bonds and the first federal income tax, new work for women, the internment of thousands of "enemy aliens" under the War Measures Act, the conscription crisis of 1917 that split English and French Canada, and the Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917.Interactive9 questions
  4. 4Peace and Upheaval: Versailles, the 1918 Influenza and the Winnipeg General StrikeHow the war ended and how Canada won a place at the Paris Peace Conference, signed the Treaty of Versailles separately and joined the League of Nations; how the 1918–1920 influenza pandemic killed about 55,000 Canadians; and why returning veterans, rising prices and fear of revolution led to the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.8 questions
  5. 5The 1920s: Economy, Technology, Arts and Popular CultureHow Canada moved from a sharp postwar recession to a resource and consumer boom, why the boom was uneven across regions and groups, what new technologies (insulin, radio, cars, bush planes) changed, and how the Group of Seven, American mass culture, prohibition and sport shaped Canadian identity in the 1920s.9 questions
  6. 6Women's Rights and the Persons Case; Immigration Policy and DiscriminationHow women won the vote (Manitoba first in 1916, federally in 1917–1918), entered Parliament and won the Persons Case in 1929, and why many women were still excluded; and how Canadian immigration policy, from the 1919 Immigration Act to the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, sorted newcomers into "preferred" and unwanted groups, along with the racism and antisemitism many communities faced and how they responded.10 questions
  7. 7First Nations, Métis and Inuit, 1914–1929How First Nations, Métis and Inuit people served in the First World War and what they came home to; how residential schools (made compulsory in 1920), Indian Act amendments, the pass system and bans on ceremonies and land-claims fundraising affected communities; how leaders such as Fred Loft and Deskaheh organized to resist; and how life changed in the North.Interactive9 questions
  8. 8Growing Autonomy: From Versailles to the Statute of WestminsterHow Canada moved from being automatically at war in 1914 to controlling its own foreign policy by 1931: the separate signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the Chanak Crisis, the Halibut Treaty, the King–Byng Affair, the Balfour Declaration and the Statute of Westminster, and how imperialists, nationalists and Indigenous nations saw these changes.Interactive9 questions