The Nations of Canada

1920.  For the first time the indigenous nations of Canada band together in a country-wide organization and spur a national debate on the Indian Act.

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1920.  Japanese-Canadian veterans return from the war determined that their sacrifices count for something - specifically, the right to vote in Canadian elections.

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1920.  Two British Columbian brothers revolutionize hockey, bringing the eastern game into the modern age.

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1920.  With Canada's two-party system seemingly under threat, both the Liberals and the Conservatives (Union) contemplate new leadership. 

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October 1919.  Dissatisified with the traditional Liberal and Conservative parties, the farmers and workers of Ontario unite to form a novel kind of provincial government.

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1919-1920.  Politicians and business leaders attempt to manage Canada's transition to a peacetime economy, but discover the task far more challenging than they anticipated.

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1919-1920.  Canadian delegates gather in Paris for the greatest diplomatic conference in history, determined to win recognition of their nation's status on the international stage.

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1919-1920.  In a series of trials the federal government attempts to fashion a narrative of what happened in Winnipeg in the spring of 1919.

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Spring 1919.  Months of mounting tension culminates in a general strike in Winnipeg - the outcome of which could re-shape post-war Canada.

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May 1919.  Labour unrest in Winnipeg spills over into the largest strike in Canadian history to that point, threatening the status quo throughout the country.

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1919.  Before Canadians can recover from the trauma of war, a deadly pandemic reaches the nation's shores.

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1919. The Canadian government faces the daunting task of transporting 260,000 soldiers across the Atlantic and re-incorporating them into a rapidly changing domestic society and economy.

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1918-1919.  Determined to tackle the forces of international revolution head on, Canada leads an imperial military expedition to Siberia.

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1919. As the war comes to an end Canada faces a threat just as grave at home - international revolution.

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1919: Indigenous veterans of the Canadian Expeditionary Force return home to find that the freedom and democracy they fought for in Europe is not much in evidence in Canada.

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1918. Explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson returns from five years in the Canadian arctic with a new vision for 20th century geopolitics - with the far north at the centre of it.

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1918.  German attacks on Canadian nurses become the subject of war crime trials after the conflict ends.

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Summer-Fall 1918.  The Canadian Corps completes a three-month-long marathon of battles until Germany finally sues for peace.  The end of the war brings a mixture of joy, relief, and bewilderment. 

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1918.  After months of speculation, the Canadian government begins forcibly enlisting young men in earnest, sparking resistance in expected and unexpected corners of the country.

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December 1917.  Disaster strikes Halifax, one of the busiest ports in the world due to the trans-Atlantic convoy system, as a collision between two ships creates the largest manmade explosion to that point in history.

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December 1917.  Canada holds its most contentious federal election yet, as both sides (Union vs. Laurier Liberals) see the outcome as setting the country down an irrevocable path.

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Summer/Fall 1917.  Arthur Currie takes command of the Canadian Corps, but finds it difficult to replicate the success of Vimy Ridge in the mud of Passchendaele.




























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1917. As Quebec roils with anger over the Military Service Act, French Canadians in Ottawa and Windsor clash with police over French language rights in Ontario's schools and churches.

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1917.  On the prairies, the war reinvigorates the politics of minority rights, as Anglophone majorities restrict the use of other languages in schools, and Francophone and Ukrainian communities organize politically.

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1917.  Prime Minister Robert Borden uses every instrument at his disposal to undermine Liberal party cohesion and form a Union government ahead of Canada's first war-time election.

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1917.  A revolution in China (partially funded by contributions from British Columbia) upends life for Chinese-Canadians.

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1917.  With Black Canadians rejected at recruiting offices in suspiciously high numbers, a campaign emerges to form a distinctly black unit within the Canadian Expeditionary Force. 

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1917. After touring the battlefield at Vimy, Prime Minister Robert Borden determines that conscription is necessary to maintain the Canadian Corps, sparking Canada's most divisive debate since Confederation.

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Spring 1917.  All four divisions of the Canadian Corps work together for the first time, demonstrating a distinctively Canadian approach to the conundrum of trench warfare at Vimy Ridge.

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1916  Faced with war-time budget cuts, the Commissioner of Canada's National Parks system, James Harkin, sees an opportunity in labour provided by interned enemy aliens.

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1916.  The residents of Berlin, Ontario face the challenge of being German-Canadians in a nation mobilized for war against Germany.  

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1916.  After two years (and intense study of battlefield conditions), the Canadian Expeditionary Force begins its evolution from colonial auxiliary to vanguard of the British Imperial Army.

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1916. The Newfoundland Regiment finds itself at the centre of the worst day in the history of the British Army.

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1916.  As the Canadian Expeditionary Force matures, its soldiers, officers, and (eventually) the politicians back in Ottawa come to realize it has outgrown its erratic creator, Militia Minister Sam Hughes. 

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1915. A group of writers, journalists and activists based in Winnipeg, score the first victory for Canada's women's suffrage movement.

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The Canadian economy, still reeling from a post-war recession, struggles to meet the production total war demands.

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Spring 1915.  The Canadian government grapples with the fact that over 100,000 residents in the country are foreign nationals, native to countries Canada is now at war with.

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Spring 1915.  The Canadian Expeditionary Force prepares for its first battle outside the Belgian city of Ypres, where, unbeknownst to the Canadians, the Germans make their own preparations to unleash a terrifying new weapon.  

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Summer 1914.  Canadians prepare for a war far from their shores, that will nevertheless change their lives forever. 

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1867-1914.  How did we get here?  Where are we going next?

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