HIST-2505 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes -
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
HIST-2505
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
SURVEY HISTORY OF CANADA: THE MODERN ERA, 1930 TO THE
PRESENT
Caitlin Badillo
The Winter Years- Interwar Canada and the Great Depression 1918-1939
January 8, 2018
Canada after World War I
1.1 Post War Depression
- After World War I, Canada mired a deep depression which lasted from 1918-1924.
- The economy went to halt, this was the worst depression since the 1870’s
- Few provisions were made for returned soldiers, unemployment was high, housing was scarce, and there
were few programs for the disabled
- In the 1920’s, it was common for soldiers to be homeless while still wearing their army uniform since they had
nothing else to wear
- There was an acceptance of state-led economic planning but few believed that government played a role in
peacetime economy
- Planners assumed that the depression would have run its course and that the economy would eventually
correct itself
- Businesses reversed gains that workers had made during the War, they took advantage of the unemployment
rate
1.2 Canada after World War I
- Through 1918-1919 there were many strikes due to the unemployment rate and the state of veterans
o This time period was called the “Workers Revolt”
- In June of 1919, the biggest strike had happened. The Winnipeg General Strike, were suppressed by a
panicked government fearful of revolution
- The government were very violent during this time period. Left wing political parties were outlawed, and the
RCMP and militia violently to put down strikes across Canada
The Roaring 20’s
2.1 The Roaring 20’s
- By the mid-1920’s the economy had recovered
o This is due to three factors
▪ Export growth: as the US economy had already recovered, the Americans had lowered tariffs
on Canada’s imports
▪ Increased industrial productivity: resulting from electrocution, mechanization and new
technologies
▪ The rise of service economies: banks, hotels, restaurants, retail shops, theatres, etc. expanded
commerce
2.2 The Rise of Mass Consumer Society
- Growth in service economy is tied to urbanization and the emergence of a mass consumer society
- 1921 was the first year where Canada urban population exceeded the rural one
- The new economy and society created many more opportunities for people
o Especially women
- Cheap entertainment and affordable consumer goods created a sense of optimism and progress
- Radio, movies, magazines and newspaper increased in selling
- Cabaret shows, jazz clubs and dance halls a less formal social scene where gender and class lines blurred and
society’s rules became more relaxed
- Citizens started doing things like window-shopping, or they would go to the movies to learn how to behave
and dress
- The radio came in 1921, and by the 1925 75% of households had radios
o The Radio content were mostly sponsored by sponsored goods
▪ Ex. Soap
Capitalism in Crisis
3.1 The Global Financial Crisis
- The roaring twenties only brought around five years of prosperity
- The difference in wages meant that there was a huge gap level between rich and poor
- Eventually inflation caught up with flat wages
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Workers could no long afford the goods, consumption flat-lined and the mass consumer economy
collapsed
- The economy was already in trouble when the stock market failed on Black Friday, October 28th, 1929
o Canada was in trouble because exports from the US increased their tariffs.
3.2 Agricultural crisis
- In Western Canada, there was an environmental crisis and a collapse of the regional agricultural economy
- Argentina and Australia flooded cereal markets, where the global price of wheat dropped 40%
- In 1931, Canada experienced its first drought in a long time
o Years of poor soil management meant prairie farms literally blew away
Government Responses
4.1 Ignoring the Crisis 1929-1930
- The Liberal government of W.L.M King thought the market would self-correct
4.2 Depression as Short-Term Emergency 1930=1932
- Bennett’s first major initiative was to raise tariffs
o The problem was that nobody could afford to buy anything
o This caused a problem because business costed more, and so did living
- Bennett’s second major initiative was economic stimulus
- The federal government loaned municipals money for job creation projects
- Relief projects provided work for ONLY married men
4.3 Depression as Long-Term Crisis, 1932- 25
- 4.3.1 From Stimulus to ‘The Dole’
o By the 1932, 32% nation-wide were out of work
o Government suspended public work loans and put money directly into welfare
o “The dole” was resented, people wanted to work they didn’t want to feel like charity
- 4.3.2 Relief Camps
o Large numbers of homeless men gathered in these things called tent cities. The men were thought of
a recipe for unrest, and they were required to move out of the cities
o In 1932, the government ordered them men to work in camps
o They were stripped away their right to vote, taking away their citizenship rights.
o The Workers Unity League was a powerful presence in the camps, they organized the Relief Camp
Workers Union
▪ They wanted their votes back, basic health care and disability pensions for workers who are
permanently injured doing relief work
- 4.3.3The On to Ottawa Trek
o In the spring of 1935, about 1500 workers from BC walked away from the camps and decided to
march to Ottawa to demand a hearing with the Prime Minister
o Support was strong, thousands came out to support them
o The on To Ottawa strike ended like the Winnipeg General Strike, the Government attacked the
peaceful protestors
o They got to Regina
▪ On July 1st, the RCMP dispersed a meeting in Regina
• In which, two were killed and hundreds were injured
• Titled the “Regina Riot”
• The RCMP went to the field where the strikers were sleeping and surrounded with
them with trucks that had mounted machine guns and they had builded a barbed
wire
• The strikers then agreed to go back to the camps
o The camps were disbanded and were replaced with provincial camps where the conditions were
better
o After the Second World War, Canadians would insist on relief as a matter of citizenships
o Five years later, under the Liberals under William Lyon Mackenzie King they had passed
Unemployment Insurance
4.4 The King Years (redux) 1935-1939
- Setting the RCMP n the unemployment was the last straw for Bennet, and he was defeated in 1935.
- The liberals returned to power in 1935, but had no better ideas, they slashed government spending which
damaged the economy
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
