Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of citizens for their country’s military service. This involves leaving any education, work and family behind in order to go to military training camps. World War Two was a time that saw unprecedented levels of damage and destruction. This put many countries in a state of economic and political desperation. During this period the Canadian government chose to introduce conscription in order to help the allied countries win the war. Canada’s use of conscription in World War Two was unjustified as it violated citizens’ rights, caused more domestic tension, and was not needed in order to win the war. Conscription was a direct violation of people’s rights, as it took away a person’s right to life and liberty.
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These heightened levels of hostility eventually led to threats of violence in Canadian military camps. Further evidence as to why Canada did not need conscription during World War Two is the very small amount of men who were used in battle compared to the number on men conscripted. Due to all of this, Canada’s use on conscription in World War Two was unjustified.
During World War Two, Canada was a divided nation. Conscription intensified this divide and created more domestic tension. Many French-Canadians opposed the war as they felt “a war in Europe was no threat to Canada” (Colyer, Cecillon, Draper, Hoogeveen, 2010, p. 255). French-Canadians felt no allegiance to Britain and therefore had no interest in fighting in a war just to support Britain. On the other hand, most English-Canadians did support the war effort, as they wanted to help protect and defend their country of heritage. The …show more content…
Very few of the conscripted soldiers were used in battle. Of the almost 13,000 conscripted soldiers, less than 2,500 reached the front lines (“Reveal 12,000 N.R.M.A.,” 1945). This number makes up a fraction of and dwindles in comparison to the total number of Canadian soldiers used in World War Two, which was approximately 1 million (Canada at War, 2009). This means that over 10,000 men were forced to leave their home lives for no reason. These men were conscripted for no reason when the number of necessary of men could have been raised through the previous system of voluntary enlistment. Military support at the time was high enough that the number of conscripted soldiers could have been raised with volunteers. 64% of Canadians supported conscription (Colyer et al., 2010), which shows that there was enough military support that the number of conscripted soldiers could have been raised through voluntary enlistment. By Canada introducing conscription unnecessarily they risked the lives of many men needlessly, instead of using willing
These heightened levels of hostility eventually led to threats of violence in Canadian military camps. Further evidence as to why Canada did not need conscription during World War Two is the very small amount of men who were used in battle compared to the number on men conscripted. Due to all of this, Canada’s use on conscription in World War Two was unjustified.
During World War Two, Canada was a divided nation. Conscription intensified this divide and created more domestic tension. Many French-Canadians opposed the war as they felt “a war in Europe was no threat to Canada” (Colyer, Cecillon, Draper, Hoogeveen, 2010, p. 255). French-Canadians felt no allegiance to Britain and therefore had no interest in fighting in a war just to support Britain. On the other hand, most English-Canadians did support the war effort, as they wanted to help protect and defend their country of heritage. The …show more content…
Very few of the conscripted soldiers were used in battle. Of the almost 13,000 conscripted soldiers, less than 2,500 reached the front lines (“Reveal 12,000 N.R.M.A.,” 1945). This number makes up a fraction of and dwindles in comparison to the total number of Canadian soldiers used in World War Two, which was approximately 1 million (Canada at War, 2009). This means that over 10,000 men were forced to leave their home lives for no reason. These men were conscripted for no reason when the number of necessary of men could have been raised through the previous system of voluntary enlistment. Military support at the time was high enough that the number of conscripted soldiers could have been raised with volunteers. 64% of Canadians supported conscription (Colyer et al., 2010), which shows that there was enough military support that the number of conscripted soldiers could have been raised through voluntary enlistment. By Canada introducing conscription unnecessarily they risked the lives of many men needlessly, instead of using willing