 |
The Conscription Crisis
Veteran politicians like Liberal Leader Sir Wilfred Laurier and Prime
Minister Robert Borden knew that conscription would split the country. They had
both done all they could to avoid the policy and the schism it would produce,
but by 1917 events in Europe had overtaken them. The Germans were winning the
war. The Americans had joined the conflict but it would take months for them
to ramp up their war machine and raise an army. In the meantime, the beleaguered
French army was near mutiny, the Russian forces had collapsed and the Italians
had been soundly trounced by the Austrians. More men were needed but in early
1917 only 5,000 new recruits had joined the Canadian forces. For Borden, returning
from the Imperial War Conference, conscription seemed the only answer.
To avoid an open French-English conflict, Borden attempted to forge a deal
with Laurier,
whose Liberals held Quebec, to create a |
|
coalition government which supported conscription. Laurier refused, worried that
support of conscription would drive Quebeckers into the arms of Henri Bourassa’s nationalist party. Despite
anti-recruiting riots in Montreal, Borden became convinced, especially after
the heavy casualties at Vimy Ridge, that Canada’s forces overseas needed
more men and by 1917 he believed conscription was the only answer. He would put
that belief to the test in a national election. The outcome would not only affect
the war, but shape politics in Canada for the 20th century. |
|
|
|
