Canada Between The Wars 1919-1939 The Economy Post War Economic Problems Wartime manufacturing ended...
-
Upload
scarlett-marylou-york -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of Canada Between The Wars 1919-1939 The Economy Post War Economic Problems Wartime manufacturing ended...
Canada Between The Wars 1919-1939
The Economy
Post War Economic Problems
Wartime manufacturing ended and factories retooled for peace time.
350,000 veterans returned to the workforce.
Unions attempted to consolidate strength gained during the war.
Labour demands for “One Big Union” frightened government and business.
OBU
MANYSMALLUNIONS
Post War Economic Problems II
The government refused a veteran demand for a $2000 bonus.
Farmers were upset by government prices for wheat.
Inflation, after 1917, resulted in rising interest rates.
Winnipeg General Strike
Workers demanded the right to bargain with employers.
30,000 workers set up picket lines on May 15, 1919.
The strike showed signs of spreading beyond Winnipeg.
A frightened government brought a violent end to the strike.
Winnipeg General Strike
Railways
Bankrupt railway lines established during the Laurier era were consolidated by the government as the Canadian National Railway system.
To meet costs the CNR raised freight rates on the Maritime section of the line imposing severe hardship on industry in this region.
The Election of 1921
The Election of 1921
The new Conservative leader after 1920 was Arthur Meighen.
The Liberals elected William Lyon Mackenzie King to lead their party.
Discontent among farmers resulted in a new federal political party - The Progressives.
Arthur Meighen
The Election of 1921 II
The Progressives supported free trade, lower taxes and cheap freight rates.
The Liberals also supported free trade.
The Conservatives continued to support high tariffs and this cost them the election.
Mackenzie King formed government in 1921.
Mackenzie King
The Election of 1921 III
Liberal seats
Progressive seats
Conservative seats
Progressive strength in the West combined with Liberal support in Quebec and the Maritimes swept the Conservatives from power.
Canadian Autonomy
The Growth of Canadian Autonomy 1914 -1919
Decision making for much of World War I was entirely British.
In 1917 the British War Cabinet was expanded to become the Imperial War Cabinet which included all of the Dominion prime ministers.
In 1919 Canada placed her own signature on the Treaty of Versailles and took a separate seat on the League of Nations.
Mackenzie King and The Empire
Mackenzie King did not support military expansion and wished to distance himself from the Empire.
He cut the defence budget and appointed O.D. Skeleton to direct Canada’s foreign policy.
King’s policies were popular in the West and in Quebec.
King and Canadian Autonomy
Liberal nationalism was demonstrated byThe Chanak Crisis of 1922
King refused to support Britain’s request for troops in case of a war with Turkey.
The Halibut Treaty of 1923 For the first time Canada signed
an international treaty without British support.
The Statute of Westminster 1931
In 1923 at the Imperial Conference Mackenzie King and J.B.M. Herzog of South Africa proposed that the foreign policy of each dominion should be completely independent of British control.
The King-Herzog Principle led to the Statute of Westminster of 1931 which established Canada as an “autonomous community within the British Empire.”
The King-Byng Affair
The Election of 1925
The Progressive party was weakened by internal disagreement
and The Liberals had failed to keep all
the promises of 1921. They were now vulnerable in the Maritimes because of
Freight Ratesand Tariffs.
Between 1921 and 1925 economic conditions in most of Canada improved
but
The Election of 1925 II
Conservative seats
Liberal seats
Progressive seats
Mackenzie King lost the election butcalled on the support of theProgressive Party and refused to resign.
The King-Byng Affair 1926
A scandal in the Liberal government forced Mackenzie King to ask Lord Byng, the Governor-General, for dissolution.
Lord Byng would not grant this request because Meighen led the
largest party. An election had just
taken place in 1925.Lord Byng