Post-war and the 1920s and 30s -- (click to download document)

· ` known as a time of great change

· politically

· economically

· culturally

· technologically

Foreign Policy

·The League of Nations

· followed Treaty of Versailles

· intended to keep the peace

· proposed by President of USA, Woodrow Wilson

· called for removal of economic barriers

· called for freedom of the seas

· general association of nations

· idea not welcomed by France, Britain, USA

· counterproductive to Imperialism

· idea welcomed by smaller nations, such as Canada

· Collective Security

· like a huge alliance system

· any aggressor nation would be subject to suppression by other nations

· negotiation

· sanctions

· military blockade

· but no army of its own: member nations to provide

· Drawbacks

· USA wouldn’t join

· isolationists

· not interested in what didn’t affect them directly

· Canada opposed article X about coming to aid of other nations

· too much risk, especially since USA not involved

· fear of another European war

· Canada still under influence of Britain: French Canadians remembered conscription

· Canada didn’t like reference to maintaining territorial integrity of existing political independence

· Robert Borden protested in secret memorandum

· concern over Canadian autonomy

·Formation of the League

· Canadian Parliament accepted Treaty of Versailles and membership in League

· a separate seat for Canada

· met at Geneva, Switzerland in 1920

· Canada interested in administrative role

· also hoped to change article X

· not revised

· interpretive resolution carried

· states obligations

· governed by proximity

· Canada elected to Council

· soon demonstrated it was not a puppet to Britain

· Failures of the League

· many situations where the league should have acted and did not.

· Japan invaded Manchuria (part of China) in 1931

· League reluctant to interfere

· did not use sanctions or military intervention

· Canada supported inaction because of trade agreements with Japan

· Japan withdrew from League

· thereby not bound by rules

· Germany began to re-arm in 1933

· Germany withdrew from League, thereby not bound by rules

· Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935

· League condemned the action

· Britain and France wanted Italian support if another war with Germany

· League imposed sanctions

· continued supply of oil to Italy

· Canada supported

· Political Change

· Robert Borden out of Prime Minister's office in 1920, Arthur Meighen sworn in as Prime Minister

· William Lyon Mackenzie King sworn in as Prime Minister in 1921

· Canada asserted its independence from Britain

· Canada joins League of Nations as independent nation

· Chanak Crisis

· 1922

· army in Turkey threatening neutral zone of Chanak, in the dardanelles

· Britain decides to go to war

· said Canada also willing to go to war; hadn’t asked Canadians

· Prime Minister MacKenzie King, of Canada, said parliament would decide what Canada would do

· Parliament said would not support Britain

· Halibut Treaty

· 1923

· Canada and USA had negotiated treaty on fishing

· British representative prepared to sign for Canada

· MacKenzie King announced to Britain that a Canadian would sign

· Canada persuaded US senate Canada would sign on its own behalf

· King - Byng Crisis

· 1926

· Prime Minister and Governor General clashed

· Prime Minister King lost election but formed a coalition to stay in power

· Prime Minister, losing power, called an election

· Governor General Byng wouldn’t dissolve parliament

· gave opposition chance to hold office

· lasted a short time

· election called

· Prime Minister King claimed British official should follow the advice of Prime Minister of Canada

· got support of Canadian people

· was re-elected

· Balfour Report

· 1926

· Imperial Conference

· Dominions requested recognition of their autonomy

· special committee considered request

· supported Dominions

· autonomous communities within the Empire

· equal in status

· united by common allegiance to Crown

· part of “Commonwealth of Nations”

· Statute of Westminster

· 1931

· formally turned British Empire into “British Commonwealth of Nations”

· established Canada’s right to make decisions in foreign affairs

· Canada could still not reform its constitution

· British North America Act

· Domestic Policy

· women’s suffrage

· women got federal vote in 1918

· First female MP, Agnes Macphail, elected in 1921

· other women elected at provincial level

· Judge Emily Murphy challenged as judge because not a person

· Alberta court said she could be a judge

· “Famous Five” challenged MacKenzie King to appoint a female senator

· required to be a person

· Supreme Court of Canada said women not persons

· appealed to Privy Council in Britain

· in 1929 Privy Council said women should be considered persons and permitted to hold all public offices

· Corrine Wilson, Canada’s first female senator

· Immigration

· tensions between groups of Canadians

· returning soldiers resented immigrants with jobs

· immigrants considered socialist revolutionaries

· Ku Klux Klan in prairies in 1924, spread to Ontario by 1928

· disliked Catholics, Jews,

· anti-Jewish riots in Toronto in 1932

· restrictions on immigration

· preference given to British and Americans

· eastern Europeans had to have a job lined up

· exclusion of Asians

· improved economy in 1925 led to acceptance of some immigrants

· mostly ended up in city slums in abject poverty

· Aboriginal nations

· Indian Act still governed them

· reserves lost land to government

· continued residential schools

· over-harvesting of furs led to drop in prices

· Williams Treaty in 1923

· many lands in NWT but also some lands in Southern Ontario

· formation of Native Brotherhood of British Columbia

· formation of League of Indians of Canada

· attempt to unite all Indians across Canada

· leader accused of being communist

· in 1930s reduced money to build schools and hospitals on reserves

· Economic Policy

· permitted buying of stocks “on margin”

· many invested in stocks after 1927

· 1920s - general optimism about economy

· predictions by banks about prosperous future

but

· wheat prices began to fall in 1927

· decreased demand for newsprint

· slowed economy in USA

· overall economic instability internationally

· result of inability of Germany to pay war debt to Britain and France

· Britain couldn’t afford to lend money

· Stock Market Crash, October 1929

· more than just a correction

· a few investors lost millions of dollars

· many small investors lost large amounts

· recession then depression then The Great Depression

· fewer jobs

· less to spend on goods

· overstock of products

· farmers hit hard

· drop in price of wheat

· mechanization led to good harvest, glut on market

· drought from 1928

· dust storms

· fertile topsoil blew away

· grasshoppers

· Atlantic fisheries couldn’t export --- jobs cut

· pulp and paper production dropped -- jobs cut

· mining cut back --- jobs cut

· railway construction stopped -– jobs cut

· reduced sale of farm implements – jobs cut

· reduced sale of automobiles – jobs cut

· reduced demand for steel – jobs cut

· businesses failed – jobs cut

· married women turned away when seeking jobs

· women asked to leave jobs to let married men have them

· economy believed by politicians to be temporary

· unemployed went on pogey or the dole or relief

· money given by government

· those on it felt ashamed

· could not own anything of value

· received food vouchers

· Federal government slashed government spending – jobs cut

· MacKenzie King rejected giving relief payments to provinces

· wouldn’t give 5 cents to a Tory government

· Provinces and Municipalities payed for relief by cutting jobs

· Prime Minister R. B. Bennett passed Unemployment Relief Act, 1930, but also felt relief to be a provincial responsibility

· by 1932 one third of workforce unemployed

· government established Unemployment Relief Camps

· under Department of National Defence

· housed mostly young single men

· in isolated areas

· construction of roads and airfields, and make-work projects

· low wages, poor food

· men rebelled in B.C.

· On To Ottawa Trek

· rode trains east toward Ottawa

· stopped at Regina by RCMP

· leaders met Bennett, but dismissed

· riots in Regina

· one man dead

· 130 trekkers arrested

· many injured

· government afraid of agitators and communists

· communism outlawed in 1931

· leader of Communist Party of Canada, Tim Buck, jailed for two years

· foreigners threatened with deportation

· Bennett’s New Deal

· Package of promised reforms, dependent on re-election (which didn’t happen)

· Rowell-Sirois Commission recommended new federal-provincial relations

· federal government take over relief payments

· provincial taxation restricted

· New Political Parties

· Co-operative Commonwealth Federation

· socialist movement established in 1932

· in Saskatchewan

· farmers and labour and middle class

· led by J.S. Woodsworth

· Regina Manifesto

· proposed to replace capitalist system

· proposed public works projects

· proposed public ownership of key industries

· proposed national minimum wage

· won five seats in federal parliament

· Social Credit

· in Alberta

· considered capitalism wasteful

· “if people have money they will spend it”

· established 1935 by William Aberhart

· promised people $25 a month for necessities

· couldn’t get federal money so issued its own notes

· federal government challenged right of province to issue its own currency

· Unione Nationale

· in Quebec

· nationalist French-Canadian Party

· formed in 1936 by Maurice Duplessis

· claimed English minority was cause of economic hardship

· kept power through government favours

· Cultural Change

· Increased Urbanization

· rural / urban balance tipped in 1931

· slums

· poverty

· pollution

· health problems

· moral problems

· Rural shrinkage

· farms more specialized

· farms larger

· farms less self-sufficient

· Industrialization

· exploitation of natural resources

· hydro-electricity

· pulp and paper

· mining

· oil

· American investment

· goods exported to USA

· money borrowed from American banks and firms

· branch plants of American companies set up in Canada

· Prohibition

· alcohol production and consumption banned in Canada during WW1

· prevent use of grain needed to feed soldiers

· aim of Women’s Christian Temperance Union

· arrests for drunkenness dropped 93 percent in Calgary

· still available by medical prescription

· abused

· available from illegal sources

· bootleggers

· incomplete after 1921, some places “dry” others not

· alcohol consumption and production regulated by government

· continued in USA until 1933

· Canadians supplied Americans with illegal alcohol

· Rum Runners

· anywhere you could cross the border undetected

· 1000 islands

· Windsor

· Cornwall

· prairies

· east and west coasts

· Entertainment

· Fads

· miniature golf

· roller-skating

· board games (Monopoly)

· contract bridge

· Golf

· Radio

· Canadian Broadcasting Corporation founded 1932

· to protect culture against American influence

· voice and music broadcasts

· listened with earphones, later speakers in wooden cabinets

· required “Private Receiving Station Licence” to help pay for CBC

· both Canadian and American content

· broadcasts were live

· inclusion of advertising after 1925

· soap operas actually advertised soap

· reduced feelings of isolation

· developed “common culture”

· Film

· silent movies

· music provided by in-house piano

· subtitles indicated location and “voice”

· rise of “personalities”

· Talking movies

· included voice and music on the film track; after 1927

· personalities

· some made transition to “talkies”, some didn’t

· some Canadians who moved to Hollywood

· Animation

· Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie, by Disney, 1928

· Snow White, by Disney,

· Formation of National Film Board of Canada, 1939

· to interpret Canada to Canadians and other nations

· Newsreels

· shown ahead of the main feature

· Painting

· Group of Seven established 1920

· landscape painters

· used bold colours and strong brush strokes

· un-European style

· painted in Algonquin and Algoma; Canadian Shield

· Print

· Magazines popular

· Maclean’s

· Chatelaine

· Readers Digest

· Canadian Home Journal

· Novels written about the hardships and bleak loneliness of Canada

· Newspapers

· content contests increased circulation

· sensational headlines

· comic strips

· Moon Mullins

· Winnie Winkle

· Little Orphan Annie

· Sports

· interest in spectator sports

· there was a Western Canada Hockey league

· teams in Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria

· Hockey Night in Canada first broadcast 1923

· First NHL game outside Canada (Toronto vs. Boston) in 1924

· baseball popular in small towns

· first participation in Olympic Games in 1920s

· first women’s Olympic teams in 1928

· College football popular

· Music

· Jazz

· Big Bands

· Swing

· Fashion for women

· The Flapper look

· “boyish”

· short hair

· straight hanging waistline

· bare arms

· cloche hat, later wide brimmed

· rising hemline

· The “30's fashions

· waist returned to mid-figure for women

· hemlines fell and rose

· full-skirted look

· slacks worn for sports or around the home only

· Technological Change

· Electrification

· Appliances made house work “easier”

· washing machines

· refrigerators

· floor polishers

· Gramophones

· improved radios

· doorbells

· telephones

· toasters

· Flight

· American Charles Lindbergh flies solo across Atlantic, 1927

· Canadian North opened up by bush pilots in bush planes

· Noorduyn Norseman

· DeHaveland Beaver

· Mercy flights

· “Wop” May and Vic Horner flew serum to diphtheria stricken Vermillion Bay

· Man hunts

· “Wop” May located the Mad Trapper Albert Johnson

· Air Mail 1924

· Trans-Canada Airlines established 1937

· Automobiles

· used for a variety of purposes

· extended the average person’s “world”

· improved models

· closed cars

· windshield washers

· heaters

· electric start

· increased expense to operate

· use led to paving of roads and highways

· led to factories to produce replacement parts

· development and spread of service stations

· increase in tourism

· cottages

· lodges

· Products

· Linoleum

· Rayon

· Pablum

· cereal for infants

· Kraft (strong) paper for containers

· Medicine

· Insulin discovered by Dr. Banting and Dr. Best as treatment for diabetes