Major Themes in Canadian History: 1900s to 1984

Posted on Feb 1, 2026 in History

Unit 1: Defining Canadian Identity

Core Elements of Canadian Identity

  • Culture, institutions, and artifacts
  • Commitment to peacekeeping
  • Multiculturalism
  • Themes related to being the “Best country to live”

Immigration and Multiculturalism

  • Newcomers reshape Canada
  • Multicultural policy implementation
  • Diversity challenges

The Women’s Movement

  • Pursuit of gender equality
  • Workplace rights
  • Political rights

Aboriginal Rights (Indigenous Rights)

  • Land claims
  • Self-government initiatives
  • Addressing historical injustices

Social Spending and National Debt

  • The welfare state model
  • Healthcare system
  • National debt debates

Regional Differences

  • West versus East tensions
  • Quebec versus the rest of Canada
  • Economic imbalance issues

Canada–US Relations

  • Trade agreements and disputes
  • Cultural exchange and influence
  • Defence cooperation
  • General US influence

French–English Relations

  • Language tensions
  • Quebec nationalism
  • Identity conflict

Constitutional Development

  • Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • Patriation from Britain

Unit 2: World War I (WWI)

The Road to War

Spark of WWI

  • Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip (member of the Black Hand)
  • Anger over Bosnia annexation

Background and Alliances

  • Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia
  • Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy (Italy later switches sides)
  • Europe was deeply divided

MAIN Causes of WWI

  • Militarism: The arms race
  • Alliances: Fear and suspicion among nations
  • Imperialism: Competition for colonies and resources
  • Nationalism: Ethnic pride and rivalries

The Ultimatum and Declaration

  • Austria-Hungary demanded Serbia crush nationalism
  • Serbia refused one term
  • War declared July 26, 1914

The Chain Reaction

  1. Russia mobilizes.
  2. Germany declares war on Russia and France.
  3. Germany invades Belgium.
  4. Britain declares war.
  5. Canada automatically joins the conflict.

Canadian Reaction

  • Patriotic enthusiasm
  • Valcartier training camp established
  • 30,000 volunteers quickly enlisted; eventually 400,000 served

The Schlieffen Plan

  • Goal: Attack France through Belgium, surround Paris, and defeat France before Russia mobilized.
  • Failure due to timing, Belgian resistance, and treaty violations.
  • Led directly to trench warfare.

Life and Combat in WWI

Trench Warfare

  • Resulted in a stalemate
  • Structure: Front line, support, and reserve trenches, dugouts
  • Key features: No Man’s Land, barbed wire, machine guns, artillery, gas, tanks, planes, U-boats

Trench Life Conditions

  • Rats and lice (known as “cooties”)
  • Diseases: Trench foot, trench mouth
  • Constant mud and presence of corpses
  • Daily duties: Digging, sentry duty, low rations

WWI Weapons Technology

  • Bolt-action rifles (15 rounds per minute) and bayonets
  • Machine guns (high firepower)
  • Artillery (shrapnel)
  • Chemical weapons: Chlorine gas and mustard gas
  • Tanks (slow, 6.5 km/h)
  • Airplanes (used for dogfights) and Zeppelins
  • Torpedoes and U-boats (submarines)

The Air War

  • Notable Aces: Billy Bishop (72 kills), William Barker
  • Roy Brown credited with killing the Red Baron
  • Life expectancy for pilots was often measured in weeks.
  • No parachutes were standard issue until 1918.

The Sea War

  • British navy was the strongest global force.
  • German U-boats proved deadly.
  • The convoy system was implemented to protect merchant ships.
  • Approximately 6 million tonnes of shipping were sunk.

Canadian Contributions and Homefront

Women in WWI

  • Served as nurses (“Bluebirds”)
  • Ambulance drivers, clerks, mechanics, and canteen workers

Black Canadians in Service

  • Faced significant racism and segregation.
  • The No. 2 Construction Battalion performed lumber work.
  • Notable figures: William White (officer), James Grant (Military Cross recipient).

Indigenous Soldiers

  • Approximately 4,000 enlisted.
  • Often served as snipers and undertook dangerous missions.
  • Francis Pegahmagabow was the most decorated Indigenous soldier.

Major Battles Involving Canadians

  • Ypres (1915): First poison gas attack; Canadians held the line using urine-soaked cloth masks; 5,200 casualties.
  • Somme (1916): Known as the July 1 disaster; 57,540 killed on the first day; 24,000 Canadian casualties; tanks first used; Germans nicknamed Canadians “stormtroops.”
  • Vimy Ridge (1917): April 9; all four Canadian divisions fought together; utilized the creeping barrage, tunnels, rail systems, and rehearsals; considered the birthplace of Canadian national identity; 3,598 killed, 7,000 wounded; led by General Arthur Currie.
  • Passchendaele (1917): Characterized by extreme mud, flooding, and drowning; heavy casualties; Canadians ultimately succeeded in capturing the ridge.

The Canadian Homefront

  • Financing the war through Victory Bonds.
  • Rationing of goods.
  • The 1917 Conscription Crisis.
  • Women filled essential industrial and agricultural jobs.

Unit 3: The Roaring Twenties and The Dirty Thirties

The 1920s Economic Boom

  • Rise of consumer goods: Cars, radios, movies
  • Increased American cultural influence
  • Rapid urbanization and consumerism

Social Change for Women

  • Emergence of the “flapper” lifestyle
  • Increased participation in the workforce
  • The Persons Case (1929), establishing women as legal persons

Indigenous Peoples Issues

  • Continuation of the residential schools system
  • Formation of political organizations

Canadian Technological Innovations

  • Insulin discovered by Banting and Best
  • The snowmobile invented by Bombardier
  • Expansion of radio broadcasting

The Great Depression (The Dirty Thirties)

  • The 1929 stock market crash
  • Mass unemployment and widespread poverty
  • Severe drought affecting the Prairies
  • Establishment of relief camps
  • The On-to-Ottawa Trek protest

Emergence of New Political Parties

  • Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)
  • Social Credit Party
  • Union Nationale
  • Communist Party of Canada

Government Role in the Economy

  • Increased government intervention
  • Implementation of relief programs
  • Intense debates over economic solutions

Unit 4: World War II (WWII)

Causes and Rise of Dictatorships

Failure of the League of Nations

  • The USA was not a member.
  • Weak enforcement mechanisms and isolationism.
  • Lack of resources; seen as powerless.

Japanese Expansionism

  • Driven by population growth and resource needs.
  • Increased militarism.
  • Invaded Manchuria in 1931; the League took no action.

Italian Fascism

  • Anger over the Treaty of Versailles (despite switching sides in WWI).
  • Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) established fascism in 1922.
  • Invaded Abyssinia in 1935.

Germany and Hitler’s Rise (1919–1933)

  • Economic collapse, hyperinflation, and mass unemployment.
  • Political instability and humiliation from the Treaty of Versailles.
  • Hitler joined the Nazi Party, promising land and power.
  • Promoted the Aryan “master race” and anti-Semitism.
  • Wrote Mein Kampf and scapegoated Jewish people.
  • Became dictator in 1933, establishing a totalitarian state.
  • Used the Gestapo, censorship, and book burnings.
  • Began rearmament and conscription, and left the League of Nations.

Steps to War (Appeasement Fails)

  • Rhineland (1936): Hitler remilitarized, violating the Treaty of Versailles; received no response.
  • Anschluss (1938): Germany annexed Austria; no resistance; the League did nothing.
  • Sudetenland: Home to 3 million ethnic Germans; the Munich Agreement (1938) saw Britain and France give the land to Hitler (policy of appeasement).
  • Czechoslovakia (1939): Hitler invaded the rest of the country; the West realized appeasement had failed.
  • Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939): Germany and the USSR agreed not to fight and secretly planned to divide Poland.

Blitzkrieg Strategy

  • “Lightning War” combining tanks, planes, and infantry.
  • Fast, coordinated attacks designed for shock and rapid surrender.

The War Begins

  • Poland (1939): Germany invaded September 1; Britain and France declared war September 3; the USSR invaded the east September 17; Poland fell in weeks.
  • Phony War (Sept 1939–May 1940): Period of preparation with little fighting.
  • War Expands (1940): Germany invaded Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg.
  • The Maginot Line was bypassed, and France fell on June 14, 1940.
  • Dunkirk: 340,000 Allied troops evacuated in the “Miracle of Dunkirk.”

Allied and Axis Leaders

  • Axis: Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Hirohito (Japan)
  • Allies: Churchill (UK), Roosevelt/Truman (US), Mackenzie King (Canada), Stalin (USSR), de Gaulle (France)

Canada on the Homefront

  • The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) trained pilots.
  • National Selective Service managed labor.
  • “Dollar-a-Year Men” served in government administration.
  • C.D. Howe, known as the “Minister of Everything,” managed wartime production.
  • Financing through Victory Bonds ($12 billion raised).

Women in WWII

  • 25,000 aircraft workers; 260,000 munitions workers.
  • 4,000 in shipyards and 4,000 in construction.
  • 50,000 served in military support roles.
  • Propaganda figures like Rosie and Ronnie encouraged participation.
  • 800,000 women ran farms in agriculture.

Internment of Japanese Canadians

  • 22,000 Japanese Canadians were interned.
  • Property was seized, and they were sent to camps in the BC interior.
  • Subjected to fingerprinting, interrogation, and poor living conditions.
  • Forced relocation occurred.
  • The Canadian government issued an apology and $21,000 compensation in 1988.

Other Internments

  • German and Italian Canadians were also detained during the war.

Key Events and Conclusion

  • Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941): The US entered the war.
  • D-Day (June 6, 1944): The Normandy invasion; Canadian forces landed at Juno Beach.
  • The Holocaust: Anti-Jewish discrimination existed in Canada; key dates led to the genocide of European Jews.
  • End of War: Allies pushed into Germany; the use of atomic bombs led to Japan’s surrender.

Unit 5: Post-War Canada (1946–1968)

The Cold War Era

  • Formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
  • Establishment of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command)
  • Involvement in the Korean War
  • Focus on peacekeeping, notably during the Suez Crisis (led to Lester B. Pearson’s Nobel Prize)

The Role of the United Nations (UN)

  • Peacekeeping operations
  • Diplomacy and conflict resolution
  • Humanitarian aid efforts

Canada–US Relations

  • Stronger economic and political ties
  • Increased trade and defence cooperation
  • Growing cultural influence from the US

Quebec Nationalism and the Quiet Revolution

  • The Quiet Revolution (rapid social and political change)
  • Secularization of society
  • Growth of the separatist movement

Demographic and Economic Shifts

  • Postwar immigration boom, including displaced persons
  • Fueled significant economic growth
  • The Baby Boom resulted in a massive population surge.

Cultural and Technological Developments

  • Increased American cultural influence via TV, music, and lifestyle.
  • Canadian efforts toward cultural protection (CBC/CRTC).
  • Key technologies: The Avro Arrow jet, nuclear power development, and expansion of highway systems.

Suburbanization

  • Rise of car culture
  • Massive housing boom leading to suburban expansion

Unit 6: Modern Canada (1969–1984)

Height of Quebec Nationalism

  • The FLQ Crisis (1970) and the implementation of the War Measures Act.
  • The Parti Québécois (PQ) elected in 1976.
  • The 1980 Quebec referendum (40% voted Yes for sovereignty-association).

French–English Relations

  • The Official Languages Act (1969) established federal bilingualism.
  • Ongoing identity debates.

Canada–US Relations

  • Trade disputes and energy policy disagreements.
  • Canada maintained neutrality regarding the Vietnam War.

The Second Wave Women’s Movement

  • Focus on achieving pay equity.
  • Advocacy for reproductive rights.
  • Push for workplace equality.

Political Landscape Shifts

  • Rise of regional political movements.
  • Increased Western alienation from federal politics.

Economic Challenges

  • High inflation and unemployment.
  • The global oil crisis.
  • Economic shift toward a service-based economy.

Achieving Political Autonomy

  • The 1982 Constitution Act.
  • Entrenchment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.