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Preparing
for the Fight
The Pre-war Militia
A scant dozen years prior to the Great War, Canadians had had a bitter taste
of war overseas. From 1899 to 1902, 7,000 Canadians helped Britain fight the
Boer War in South Africa, among them Sam Hughes, who would lead the training
of Canadian soldiers for World War I.
Partially as a result of that South African conflict, in 1907 Britain enforced
standardized military training for all its dominions. That training coincided
with a growing urbanization of Canada. And urbanization brought with it the problems
of petty crimes and vandalism many educators and politicians thought could be
cured by strict military training for Canadian youth. Add to that a relatively
vibrant economy and you have an environment that was ripe for a growth in militias,
cadet academies and military spending.
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When the Laurier Liberals fell in 1911, they were replaced by a Conservative
government led by Robert Borden. He appointed the gungho Sam Hughes as Minister
of Militia. Hughes took to the job with incredible energy, charisma and ego,
and with considerably less political sense or organizational skill.
Nonetheless, by 1913, Hughes and his able staff had supervised the basic training
of 55,000 militiamen and 44,000 cadets. From 1911 to 1913, he managed to double
the military budget. Then Canada slid into depression and the West into drought
and the passion for militarism began to fade along with the budget for equipment
and training. Hughes, too, with his bullying, strong-willed, Imperialist and
anti-Catholic ways began to wear out his welcome in Ottawa. But, two years later,
he would be called on to bring Canada's volunteer fighting force up to a level
never before seen.
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Parade of mounted militia
At the beginning of the 20th century, militarism was
all the fashion in Canada. By the time the country entered the war, the bloom
was off the rose. |
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