2-WWII+Canada+HF

Maria Abrego

1. How may the Home Front’s awareness of the war’s objectives and nature be characterized?

During ww2 the home front was much better organized than it was in ww1. In ww1, the people weren't happy with the “fairness” of the system and the rising prices. During the war, the national selective services controlled all citizens, told the where and when they could join,where they had to work, and when they could. They had to pay higher taxes and put their money in the war effort. Even school children were needed to collect cooking fat,bones,milkweed or anything necessary for the war effort. By 1944 Canadians had become supporters of a continuation of wartime control for peace.

2.How did propaganda affect the mindset at home?

Canada was just barely recovering from the trauma of their great depression. Cynicism and anger was spreading and the religious,political and social institutions were in strain. The posters had an emotional appeal and the federal government were under the guidance of the WIB, they produced over 700 propaganda posters and appeared in every billboard, buses,windows,etc. Propaganda was everywhere thanks to their distribution system, posters saturated all the cities and towns and they quickly became very familiar to Canadians. The use of the visuals made the propaganda more interested and more focused on the point it was trying to get across. Successful posters were the ones with the vigorous composition,bright colors, characters that showed actions like a wink or manual work were the ones that strikingly caused immediate impact on the Canadian’s values,attitudes, and aspirations for the war.



3.What were the direct contributions of the Home Front to the war effort? This needs to go beyond a cursory statement of, “They supplied soldiers, grew food, made armaments, etc.” You should consider support not only in patriotic or industrial terms, but also political, social, economic, cultural/intellectual, moral/religious, emotional, etc., terms.

All canadian cities and towns hurried with activity as factories were converted to make military equipments. The air force, naval, and army were growing industries. Radio.newspaper,movies,television, magazines, and other types of propaganda were used to advertise and promote the war effort. Communities experienced a blackout, volunteers worked to help the police and fire departments. As observers for the military to warn them about any enemy activity against them. Didn't matter is people were too old or too young or not even physically able, they qualified to serve the student cadet corps and the military. The re;igious and community groups usually did volunteer work, they knitted clothing,collected books and newspapers, baked food for the men and women serving. One of of ten Canadians enlisted full time performance in the armed forces so that at least one person in each family or group of friends were serving in the army.

4.What were the costs & benefits of the war to the Home Front, to include but not limited to goods/services/resources? Use a case study to illustrate.

During the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, over 140,000 pilots from the Allied power received training in Canada. This increased military skills for the armies of the allied power. The growth of Canada depended on exploiting the country’s natural resources. Manufacturing industries were highly needed. The governments provision of grants and subsidies were controlling areas of slow growth. Compromise with international rules on trading established the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico. Multinational companies relocated their factories to other countries so it would be cheaper, this caused job loss in Canada.

5.How can life for women & youth on the Home Front be characterized? Use case studies to illustrate.

The youth would write letters to the soldiers and they would help the pack boxes for them. The school children from the rural areas were members of the Junior Red Cross and they were all given responsible duties. They would also act on plays and perform in concerts to earn money for the war effort. The girl guides and the boy scouts participated in salvage drives and would sale war stamps. The youth also had to take jobs in the work field. Farms began to decrease so the age to have a drivers license decreased to age 14, so that they could drive the harvest trucks. Their days of childhood shortened since they had to assume more responsibility in their homes and community. The girl guides made quilts for the beds and raised money for the guides national campaign to purchase two air ambulances. The local girls worked tirelessly to collect pieces of useless paper and cardboard to reduce waste and sell them for salvage drives. The girl guides sold $700 worth of war savings stamps during the “Stamp Out the U-boat” campaign. In addition, the boy scouts, collected magazines for the army and the navy. They assisted at the polls during the national registration. In October they collected empty bottles of medicine for the hospitals at at the RCAF station. They had a fundraiser called “Copper Trail Day” they collected copper pennies that were donated by the public.

Women recycled goods and used the best methods to hand out information about recycling to reduce the amount of waste. They volunteers and created organizations where they compiled useful packages for the military of the axis countries during the fighting. With world war II, the need for employees in the workplace increased so women had to step in or the economy would collapse. By 1944, the number of women were getting paid twice as much as they were in the 1930s. Women had to work while still be able to do their domestic duties like cook and take care of their child ren.

"Canada." Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . "Canada Remembers Women on The Home Front." Veterans Affairs Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. < [|__http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/women/history/homefront__] >.

"Girl Guides and Boy Scouts." HomeFront In Summerside. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .