Canadian Influence, Reaction Paper Example

Lesson 1

The greatest Canadian influence on the defense policy for the country was definitely political.  As James stated, much of the country wanted to have the country return to the way things were before the World War.  While fewer resources were poured into the military, greater resources were applied to the political realm of the country.  Canada began to improve and build upon relations with the League of Nations and the United States.  Therefore, the defense policy took a back seat to trying to rebuild the nation and improving the morale of the citizens.  For this reason, the politicians and leaders around Canada determined that it was best to work towards peace and not concentrate on matters that were “an ocean” away from them in Europe.  This involved reducing the military and concentrating on a defense policy that was more defensive rather than offensive.  It was determined by politicians that Canada was not a threat or likely military target; therefore, the attention began on focusing on domestic defense.

Lesson 2

The generals and military leadership for the Canadian troops was quite ineffective and often very harmful to the success of the military forces.  Because of the political decisions made by King in the early 1920s, the military leadership and troops were very poorly trained and often not adequate to become involved in such a heated combat scenario as the World War.  Canada did not have enough military resources to sustain such a tremendous war and the troops suffered as a direct result.  Much of the military leadership refused to agree on the power and authority that McNaughton had to make strategic decisions, which caused great dissention amongst the military forces.  The lack of strong military leadership negative impacted the soldiers and often times much of the Canadian forces were detrimental to the success of the allied forces, which culminated in the slaughter of Canadian troops at Dieppe.  Fortunately, the military leadership was able to learn important lessons from Dieppe, but the Canadians were not prepared for such a heated war.

Lesson 3

The World War is sometimes referred to as the “Good War” and it is definitely worth receiving the title for being a good war for the Canadian economy.  As Canada began to come out of its own depression in the late 1930s, most of the men were sent to Europe to fight in the war as soldiers.  The need for manufacturing jobs to be worked remained, which is why women became a necessary part of the Canadian workforce.  Although restrictions still remained on whom women could supervise and the wages they could earn, this period of time took great steps towards forcing equality in the Canadian work force.  Furthermore, as the previous post explained, Canadian men returned from World War II with having learned a trade to advance in the economy in a skilled profession unlike World War I.  For the Canadian work force, the World War can definitely be called the “good war.”