The response was enthusiastic throughout the British Empire. In Canada, a first contingent of 33,000 men sailed for Britain on October 3rd. But the situation was not as simple as it seemed. Of those 33,000, most had been born in Britain and had been in Canada only a few years. Most still regarded England as home, and only a thousand of the first volunteers were French Canadians. Nobody paid too much attention to this in the excitement of the moment, but it was to become more of a problem as the war dragged on.
Robert Laird Borden
Was Canada’s eighth Prime Minister. A teacher and lawyer from Nova Scotia, he was in office from 1911 to 1920. As well as overseeing Canada’s involvement in the First World War, he did a lot to achieve recognition for Canada as an independent member of the British Commonwealth rather than just another part of the Empire. He also introduced income tax to Canada as a temporary measure to raise money to finance the war.
Defence Minister Sam Hughes refused to allow Quebec volunteers to form their own units, and the men were spread through the English-speaking units, a policy that caused much bad feeling.
Prime Minister Robert Borden promised 500,000 volunteers from Canada’s population of only eight million. By 1916, only 300,000 men had volunteered in Canada, and the enthusiasm of 1914 had vanished. Borden thought the time had come to force Canadians to fight in the war.
The Governor General, The Duke of Connaught, inspects Montreal Volunteers as they prepare to depart for Europe, 1915.