Home Front

Doing your bit on the Home Front in Canada
Canadians at home went through many struggles in order to make it possible to win The Great War in Europe. Many Canadians were paid very little for their labour and the government imposed high expectations on the workers on the home front. Throughout the war, Canada produced food, raised money, and advanced their technology, which made the war successful.
One of the most important jobs at the home front was done by farmers. Crops were sent to Europe for the soldiers. The shortage of workers was largely due to the lack of men in the workforce as they were almost all enlisted in the army as soldiers (Livesey par 1). The deficit grew as the war went on when more and more men were conscripted and enlisted. Female workers largely filled a massive amount of these positions with a smaller number of prisoners of war doing farming work (Veterans Affairs Canada, par 4). Food had to be produced for the army, and sent to Europe(War Museum par1). Everyone in the family, women, children, and even the elderly would be helping out on the farms (Livesey par 3). Farmers were growing different types of grains such as wheat to send to Europe. The “Soldiers of Soil Movement” encouraged 25,000 people to work out on farms in the summer, there were 7000 boys, 1300 girls that volunteered to work on the fields (Livesey par 3). Many worked side-by-side on the farms, meaning mothers and their children had to ensure farms were stable (Veterans Affairs, par 2).
The First World War also embraced charitable funds and other projects in support of the Canadian and allied effort. This was important to support the war because the government needed money to pay for all the expenses for the war, without them, things like A Canadian Patriotic fund was established at the beginning of the war to supply the family loss of a male at home (Rutherdale par 3). These were called Victory Bonds and raised millions of dollars to support Canadian Soldiers and war effort. This money covered over 80% of the total cost of war (Rutherdale par 2). However, they did give the government an additional headache - a sizable national debt for the government. Propaganda posters were put up everywhere to advertise Victory Bonds, and Canadians of all ages and locations participated to raise money (McLoad par 3). Kids saved up money to buy War Savings Stamps, which were redeemed for cash after the war, and some children even bought savings bonds with their own money (McLoad, par 5 6). I think that the Propaganda posters had an effect on children; they influenced both youth and adults to give to charity, or buy bonds to help out the war. Savings bonds helped the war by providing military appliances; clothing and food across the ocean to the soldiers, without this money from Canadian families the soldiers on font would not be successful in battle.
1 Canadian Savings Bonds Propaganda Poster
1 Canadian Savings Bonds Propaganda Poster

During the First World War, Canada advanced their technology, and had many factories to manufacture things for the war. Women filled in many of job positions that were left vacant by departing soldiers. Factories needed workers to make guns, bullets, uniforms, ships, tanks and planes. Over 30,000 Canadian women worked in factories to build supplies (Ciment par 3). With the strength in numbers, these workers made enough inventories for all the soldiers at war. Five years in war, almost a million women employed in male factory jobs. Apart from working in factories, many women worked on knitting socks and other things soldiers needed to survive in the trenches fighting war. By the end of the war, women proved to the country and to themselves that they can do any job a man could, and do it well. With all the women working in factories, working full time men on front wouldn’t have the equipment to fight on the battlefields, and to keep warm and healthy. World War One was a time of great loss, sadness and hardships. It was a time where Canadians had to work together to pull through and everybody had jobs to do. Without the effort of Canadians at home front, the Great War would not be defeated. The majority of Canadians never came close to a battlefield, but the government, their neighbours, and usually they themselves nonetheless believed they had important contributions to make to the war effort. Through their work, donations of money and goods and to a wide range of behaviours and guidelines, Canadians patriotically “did their bit” and proclaimed their place in Canadian society, and made the years 1914-1918 truly ones of “total war”.

Works Cited
Bolotta, Angelo, Dennis Gerrard, and Denise Shortt. Canada, Face of a Nation. Scarborough, Ont.: Gage Educational Pub., 2000. Print.
"Farming and Food." WarMuseum.ca - History of the First World War - Life at Home During the War. Canadian Culture Online of Canadian Heritage., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/guerre/inflation-e.aspx>.
"First World War (WWI)." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/first-world-war-wwi>.
Livesey, Robert, and A. G. Smith. "Home Front." The Great War. Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2006. 39. Print.
McLeod, Sussana. "Canadians Invested Millions in Victory Loans in WWI and WWII." Suite101.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/canadians-invested-millions-in-victory-bonds-in-wwi-and-wwii-a304679>.
Rutherdale, Robert Allen. "Fundraising and Properties of Voluntary Relief." Hometown Horizons: Local Responses to Canada 's Great War. Vancouver: UBC, 2004. 96-98. Print.
"Veterans Affairs Canada." Canada Remembers Women On The Home Front. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/women/history/homefront>.
"WarMuseum.ca - History of the First World War - Life at Home During the War." WarMuseum.ca - History of the First World War - Life at Home During the War. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/guerre/farm-food-e.aspx>.

Doing Your Bit on the Canadian Home Front

Research Essay

Noyemi Ohanyan
CHC 2D
Friday October 19, 2012.

Cited: Bolotta, Angelo, Dennis Gerrard, and Denise Shortt. Canada, Face of a Nation. Scarborough, Ont.: Gage Educational Pub., 2000. Print. "Farming and Food." WarMuseum.ca - History of the First World War - Life at Home During the War "First World War (WWI)." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. &lt;http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/first-world-war-wwi&gt;. Livesey, Robert, and A Friday October 19, 2012.