Canada Enters WWIIIsolationismSS ST. Louis and Jewish RefugeesParliament Votes for WarMobilizing for WarBritish Commonwealth Air Training Program

Canada’s 1930s Policy on Isolationism

• The policy of keeping out of foreign affairs

• King did not want to get involved in another world conflict

- Hoped that Britain's appeasement policy would work

- Knew conscription would divide the nation again

- Economy too fragile

Anti-Semitism in Canada• Anti-Semitism was

mainstream in Canada- Popular theme in

newspapers and public attitudes

• Jewish refugees seen as a burden on the state

- Limited the intake of immigrants from countries other than the US or Britain

- Had to prove finically stable

The SS St. Louis 1939

•German vessel carrying 907 Jewish passengers trying to escape Nazi Germany

•Denied entry in Cuba, US, South America

- Sold fake landing passes to enter Cuba in Germany

“None is too Many”

•Canada was the last hope but still denied entry as passengers did not qualify for entry as immigrants

- F. C. Blair the minister of immigration

- Ship forced to return to Europe

- Many passengers died in Nazi concentration and extermination camps

Canada Declares War

Canada Votes for War

•Germany invaded Poland on Sept 1st 1939•Britain and France Sept 3rd 1939•Canada declared war against Germany on

Sept 10th

•Canada declared war after a vote in Parliament

- Different from WWII when we automatically went to war because we were part of the British Empire

King Appeases Quebec Liberals• King knew that

conscription divided the country in WWI

• Promised Parliament and Quebec

“So long as this government may be in power, no such measure (conscription) shall be enacted”

Mobilizing for War

•The Canadian Army was not prepared for war

- Forces were small in number and unfit for combat

- Only 4300 troops, few tanks, no modern artillery

- Air force and navy had outdated equipment

Volunteers for War• Everyone knew this

war would be long and horrific, yet men still volunteered

• September 1939 more than 58000 volunteered

• Why Volunteer?- Strong ties to Britain- Sense of national pride- Need for steady income

Minority Volunteers• African Canadian

originally rejected due to racial prejudice

- Later this policy did a 180 as African Canadians were encouraged to join the armed forces

• Just like in WWI, Aboriginals had high levels of enlistment

WindTalkers

Navajo Marines who use their native language as an unbreakable radio code.

British Commonwealth Air Training Program 1939 Canada

•Pilots and other flight personal came from all over the Commonwealth to Canada to train with British instructors

- Airfields built on the prairies

- Over 130 000 pilots, navigators, engineers ect

- Total cost 2.2 Billion and Canada paid 70%