1. World War I Canada at War

2. 1914
Princip assainates
June 28: Arch Duke
Ferdinand
Germany offers
July 6: “blank cheque” to
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
July 23: sends ultimatium to
Serbia

3. 1914
Russia promises to
July 24: help Serbia,
mobilizes troops
Austria-Hungary
July 28: declares war on
Serbia
Germany declares
Aug. 1:
war on Russia

4. 1914
Germany declares
Aug. 3:
war on France
Great Britain
Aug. 4: declares war on
Germany
Canada is at war

6. Canada at War
• Canada became a political dominion in 1867,
however Britain still controlled foreign policy
• When Britain declared war on Germany, Canada,
along with the rest of the British Empire was
automatically at war
• Most English-speaking Canadians were of British
origin, and supported the war out of patriotic
feelings for Great Britain

7. • Prime Minister Robert
Borden offers Britain
25,000 troops
• However, more than
30,000 volunteer
within the first month
• Believed the war
would be short
• Exciting adventure
• A way to escape
financial hardships at
home

8. The War on Land
• In earlier wars, infantry soldiers fought in armed
units supported by cavalry (soldiers on horses)
• They charged at their enemies across open fields
firing rifles equipped with bayonets
• By 1914, advances in weapon technology
demanded a new style of warfare
• Machine guns were able to fire at unprecedented
speed, and changed the way war was fought

9. The War on Land
• Commanders failed to
understand how new
technology demanded new
tactics
• Engaged in a war of
attrition, each side
repeatedly attacking the
other until one was
completely exhausted and
unable to continue

10. Life in the Trenches

11. Life in the Trenches
• Began as primitive fortifications, and developed
into a complex system of trench lines, machine gun
and artillery positions
• By December, 1918, the line stretched for 750
kilometers from the Belgian coast to the Swiss
frontier
• “No man’s land”: the area of land between two
enemy trenches that neither side wishes to openly
move on or take control of due to fear of being
attacked by the enemy in the process

12. Life in the Trenches
• Trenches were cold and
damp, often flooded
during heavy rain
• Became stinking cesspools,
overrun by rats
• Soldiers clothing was
infested with lice
• Many men developed
trench foot

13. Life in the Trenches
• Relatively minor injuries could prove fatal through
onset of infection and gangrene
• The Germans recorded that 15% of leg wounds and
25% of arm wounds resulted in death, mainly
through infection
• The Americans recorded 44% of casualties who
developed gangrene died
• 50% of those wounded in the head died and 1% of
those wounded in the abdomen survived