World War IIWAR ON THE HOME FRONT

Pacifists: those who oppose war on moral groundsThese people were seen as “un-Canadian” and led to hostility towards these groups

Conscientious Objectors: People who refuse to participate in military service b/c of their moral or religious beliefs Mennonites were the most widely accepted group

OPPOSITION TO WAR

C.D. Howe, was in charge or the war production effort (guns, tanks, trucks, uniforms, ships, etc.)

Howe asked businesspeople across Canada to take a “holiday” from work and become civil servants until the war ended

Factories that made refrigerators started making tanks or Bren guns, railway shops made tanks, automobile makers made army trucks

WARTIME PRODUCTION

Canadians were making more money than ever before, but Canada’s resources were going into wartime production

The result was fewer consumer goods on shelves. King worried that “so many dollars chasing so few goods” would cause prices to rise

To combat inflation the government restricted the amount of money Canadians had in their pockets (through taxation), which left Canadians with less money to spend

PROBLEM OF INFLATION

Food rationing was introduced in 1942, quotas (limits) were placed on everyday commodities

Canadians were limited to: 250 grams of sugar 250 grams of butter 30 grams of tea 115 grams of coffee 1 kilogram of meat, per

person, per week

RATIONING

11 million ration books were handed out, ration coupons became part of Canadian life

Women’s groups taught cooking classes on how to make nourishing meals with fewer supplies

Huge salvage campaigns were run. The motto, “Dig in and dig out the scrap was used” Salvaged papers, rags, aluminum, iron,

edible fats, & bottles Meat bones used for aircraft glue Milkweed for life preservers

RATIONING

At the beginning of the war King promised no Canadian would be forced to fight

However, as the war dragged on more men were neededKing decided he would hold a plebiscite (vote on a public

issue). King asked Canadians if they would release him from his earlier promise of no conscription. On April 27, 1942, 4 million Canadians voted and the plebiscite passed. King was now free to bring in conscription

King’s famous motto “Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary”

Quebec was outraged by the decision In total 16,000 men were conscripted. However, at this

point the war was winding down, fewer than 2500 conscripts reached the front

CONSCRIPTION