Conscription crisis of 1944
The 1944 conscription crisis was a political and military crisis that occurred in Canada during World War II as a result of the introduction of conscription . It had similar causes to the conscription crisis of 1917 , but the political consequences were far less serious. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King (from 1935 to 1948) had promised in the 1940 election campaignto renounce conscription. Two years later the government called a referendum on the matter. Compulsory military service was accepted by a large majority by the Anglo Canadians, while the French Canadians just as clearly opposed it. Compulsory military service was finally introduced at the end of 1944, but only very slowly. Ultimately, only 2,463 conscript soldiers made it to the front, so this measure was of little importance from a military point of view.
background
Canada declared war on the German Reich on September 10, 1939 and sent a division to Europe, which could no longer be used before the conquest of France . In 1940 Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King promised to restrict Canada's direct military intervention. Many Canadians backed King's promise even as it became apparent that the war would last.
As stated during the First World War , young joined French Canadians the few traditional French-speaking infantry -Regimentern the Canadian army to. In the barracks life and the training was French speaking, only the command and radio language was English . The other units of the army, however, were Anglicized, since training in technical units was only available in English-speaking centers.
Numerous francophone units could have been combined into a division, but due to the lack of French-speaking instructors, these were divided into English-speaking divisions. This missed the chance to create a politically more favorable climate for consenting to war in the province of Québec and other francophone areas. In June 1940, the government passed the National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA), which allowed it to register women and men and use them in war industries; however, use overseas was not permitted.
Referendum in 1942
In 1941 there were enough volunteers to form five overseas divisions. The Conservative Party put pressure on Prime Minister King to ask the Governor General to introduce conscription. However, King did not want to take this step without the support of the people and called a referendum on April 27, 1942 . The government did not ask the population directly for the immediate introduction of compulsory military service, but rather to withdraw the promises made before the 1940 general election . King's famous quote conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription ("conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription") reflected the ambiguous nature of the vote.
The approval rate in Canada was 63.3%, in the English-speaking part of the country it was 83%. However, the bill met with rejection in the francophone part, especially in Québec, where opposing committees (including one of Henri Bourassa , the bitterest opponent of conscription in 1917) were able to convince almost three quarters of the population. As a result, the government tabled a bill repealing those parts of the NRMA that concerned the prohibition of conscription for missions overseas. The approval of the immediate introduction of compulsory military service, however, was not unanimous, so riots broke out in Montreal . In Toronto , actually a stronghold of conscription supporters, the former Conservative Prime Minister Arthur Meighen was defeated in a by-election.
Results of the referendum of April 27, 1942:
| Yes | proportion of | No | proportion of | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 186,624 | 71.1% | 75.880 | 28.9% |
| British Columbia | 253,844 | 80.4% | 62,033 | 19.6% |
| Manitoba | 218.093 | 80.3% | 53,651 | 19.7% |
| New Brunswick | 105,629 | 69.8% | 45,743 | 30.2% |
| Nova Scotia | 120,763 | 77.1% | 35,840 | 22.1% |
| Ontario | 1,202,953 | 84.0% | 229,847 | 16.0% |
| Prince Edward Island | 23,568 | 82.9% | 4,869 | 17.1% |
| Quebec | 375,650 | 27.9% | 971.925 | 72.1% |
| Saskatchewan | 183,617 | 73.1% | 67,654 | 26.9% |
| Yukon Territory | 847 | 74.4% | 291 | 25.6% |
| Civil voices | 2,670,088 | 63.3% | 1,547,724 | 36.7% |
| Military voices | 251.118 | 80.5% | 60,885 | 19.5% |
| Total | 2,921,206 | 64.5% | 1,608,609 | 35.5% |
Introduction of conscription
After the campaigns in Italy in 1943 and the invasion of Normandy in 1944, the number of new volunteer recruits proved insufficient to compensate for the depletion suffered in Europe, especially among the infantry. When a brigade was dispatched to the battle for the Aleutians in 1943 , there were also several hundred conscripts in their ranks, as the Aleutians are in North America and therefore the deployment did not take place "overseas".
French-Canadian cabinet ministers and the French-speaking population in general deeply distrusted Secretary of Defense James Ralston . Prime Minister King was therefore convinced that it was necessary for political reasons to replace him. Ralston's place was on November 1, 1944, General Andrew McNaughton , who was considered an opponent of conscription. While the Navy and Air Force were in target, McNaughton was unable to recruit enough volunteers for the Army. Some cabinet members threatened to resign, which would have toppled the government.
Finally, 12,908 conscripts involved in the NRMA program were sent to Europe. Only 2463 got to the front at all; of these, 79 lost their lives. No one from the general population was made to serve. With his delaying tactics, King prevented a serious political crisis because he had not clearly sided with him. Nonetheless, the relationship between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians worsened, though not nearly as much as in 1917.
literature
- JL Granatstein: Conscription in the Second World War, 1939-1945: A Study in Political Management. The Ryerson Press, Toronto 1969. ISBN 0-7700-0249-8 .
- JL Granatstein, JM Hitsman: Broken Promises: A History of Conscription in Canada. Oxford University Press, Toronto 1977. ISBN 0-19-540258-8 .
Web links
- Conscription ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
- Results of the 1942 referendum