Unit: World War Two

Canadian History: People and Events

Figure, Event or Term

Mackenzie King

Identify
-Prime Minister of Canada during WW2
-Supported idea of appeasement -Met with Hitler in Berlin in 1937: thought Hitler was a good guy. Criticized for misjudgement -Decided that Canada should make independent decision to join the war. Summoned Parliament, and on Sept. 10, Canada officially declared war on Germany -Introduced wage and price controls during the war -Created Wartime Prices and Trade Board to control wartime economy. In 1941, gave WPTB powers to control inflation in Canada -Held a plebiscite to gain permission to break promise of no conscription -Introduced Unemployment Insurance Act in July 1941 -His government passed order in council in 1944 that gave workers the right to organize. Law forced management to negotiate with workers, and workers could not strike during a negotiated term

Historical Importance
-By supporting the idea of appeasement, King helped allow Hitler to gain the stronghold he needed in order to start the Second World War -His misjudgement of Hitler would have caused a large amount of distrust- by Canadians- in the government as they could see how bad Kings judgements were -Independent decision to enter the war gave Canada a huge source of INDEPENDENCE: we decided to enter the war by ourselves, Britain didnt decide for us -By giving the WPTB control of inflation in Canada, King ensured that Canadians without jobs wouldnt starve, unlike Canadians during WW1. We still have this kind of insurance today (called employment insurance), so this paved the way for todays insurance -Allowing workers the right to organize would decrease the tension in the Canadian factories. This leads to more production, which means a better economy and a more reliable source of production for wartime materials (helped win war)

Adrian Arcand

-Qubec journalist who believed in, and followed, Hitlers beliefs -Founded the Parti National Social Chrtien (established 1934) which advocated anti-communism, anti-Semitism and French Canadian nationalism -He demanded that all Canadian Jews be resettled near Hudson Bay -At the start of WWII, he founded the National Unity Party (closely based on Nazism) and said it would take over Canada -His party was declared illegal and he was interned in New Brunswick by the federal government for the rest of WWII

-Many French Canadians may have supported the Parti National Social Chrtiens beliefs of
French Canadian nationalism and anticommunism. This would not only reduce the communist actions in Quebec, but would lead to increased independence and ignorance of Quebecers. Less communism in Quebec= more people working due to less unions= better Canadian economy -His anti-Semitic views may have caused Jewish people to stay away from Quebec. This could be one of the reasons why Jewish Canadian population patterns are the way they are -Since his party was declared illegal and he was arrested, the federal government would have shown Canadians that they wont stand for such neo-Nazi organizations. This would increase the power of the Canadian government as they would be feared by people who carried out neoNazi actions and would be respected by those who were against Nazism -By not allowing the Jewish refugees to enter their countries, Canada, Cuba and the United States all showed that they had something in common with Hitler: they didnt want Jews in their countries. This may have given Hitler an extra sense of encouragement, knowing that his lack of acceptance of Jews was shared by Allied countries. This could be one of the reasons Hitler continued to torment the Jews -Citizens of Quebec would have been happy that the Jews werent allowed to immigrate into Canada. This would cause them to respect the government more, and vote for King, which may be one of the reasons King stayed PM (King as PM=better war effort)

S.S. St. Louis

- A transatlantic passenger liner that left Hamburg, Germany in spring of 1939, bound for Cuba -There were over 900 Jews, trying to escape Nazi persecution, on board. They hoped to be accepted as refugees into Cuba, but were not accepted -They asked Canada and the United States for help, but neither country accepted them -The ship was forced to return to Europe. Some of the refugees were allowed back in Nazi occupied countries -More than half (over 450!) of the Jewish people who were originally on board were eventually killed by Nazis