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L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia
Canada and the Second World War
[This text was written by Lt.-Col. Wilfrid BOVEY in 1948. For the full citation see the end of the document. Parts in brackets [.], and links have been added by Claude Bélanger]
The causes of World War II may be summarized as follows:
(1) The historian of the future will probably see as the main cause of World War II [see the entry at the Wikipedia encyclopedia ] the failure of the victors in World War I [consult the article at the Wikipedia encyclopedia ] to realize the need of constant vigilance in guarding the democratic system for which they had fought. The former "allied and associated powers" - the British Commonwealth, the United States, and France - watched with apparent unconcern the renaissance under their very noses of the philosophies based on force which were the basic causes of World War I, and of the political practices stemming from those philosophies which made the second war inevitable. The three powers, if we classify the British Commonwealth as one, devoted the years of so-called peace to economic development, mainly under private enterprise, and the United States in particular, in spite of a period of terrible depression, made a most remarkable advance towards the hegemony of the West. At the same time they paid little heed to what was going on elsewhere. The British government, which in 1930 arrived at a naval agreement with the United States and Japan, had no figures of rearmament in Europe , and when the first figures were obtained had no information regarding the new German organizations. The French government built the so-called " Maginot Line ", a supposedly impregnable wall against Germany, but in spite of lessons of the past and in spite of the definite announcements of German strategists, left the Belgian border undefended. The United States in 1935 passed a neutrality act based on the assumption that a future war would be no business of the United States .
(2) The second cause of World War II was the immense strengthening of the forces of Communism and of the U.S.S.R., in which Communism was the gospel. The basis of the Communist philosophy was " dialectical materialism ", the theory that capitalism must bring about its own destruction by revolution. Both Lenin and his successor Stalin attributed the success of the Russian revolution to an inevitable trend in human affairs. By 1936, when the present constitution of the U.S.S.R. came into force, Russia had been politically and economically organized under the N. E. P. ( New Economic Policy ) and was in course of conversion to a completely socialized industrial state. At the same time the central government had enormously increased its authority by the liquidation of opponents and the obstinately persisting private interests. The "classless society" which Marx had preached had by 1936 ceased to exist in the U.S.S.R. The present constitution provided for control by the comparatively small Communist Party, the senior bureaucrats of which constituted an aristocracy. Stalinism was no longer Marxism . The central government organ, the " politburo ", was non-responsible and non-elective. From this point of view there was very little distinction between the U.S.S.R. and the totalitarian governments which were destined to oppose it.
From another point of view there was a great distinction between the Soviet ideology and that of the fascist régimes, the difference between a socialized and non-capitalistic economy on the one hand and an economy based on capitalism allied with bureaucracy on the other. Even this difference might not have led to war had not the U.S.S.R. inherited from Lenin, the founder of the new nation, a peculiarly Russian notion, a dream of world-revolution. At first, in Lenin's earlier days, the dream was not imperialistic ; it did not involve world control, but only world leadership. The Comintern , the Communist International controlled by Moscow, extended its tentacles into every country in the world, particularly into European nations and most notably into Germany and Italy . As this extension continued, the attitude of Moscow changed: the possibilities of success in stirring up world revolution aroused the thought of world hegemony . The perception of this menace aroused antithetic counter movements in Germany and Italy, which were themselves destined to be Frankenstein monsters.
(3) The third cause of World War II was dual, the development of National Socialism in Germany and the simultaneous growth in the same country of a political theory of global strategy and of a doctrine of war mentality.
(i) The rise of the National Socialist Party, the " Nazis ", under the leadership of Hitler , was a sinister and remarkable phenomenon. In January, [1933], after a long period of violent disturbances, Hitler - an Austrian ex-corporal - became chancellor of Germany . In the March elections the Nazi party had far the strongest group. Its theses may be summarized as (a) the complete subordination of the individual to the state and (b) the myth of a Teutonic Aryan race of supermen. The last notion was completely false, since Germans (even apart from the Jews) were mostly of very mixed origin. Nevertheless, as a propaganda weapon, the myth was highly effective. As soon as the Nazi party attained parliamentary supremacy it was made legally all-powerful. Then began the reign of terror initiated by Goering , which led to the open seizure of Jewish property and to the murder of thousands of Jews and Communists. Next year Hitler was proclaimed " Fuehrer " or "leader", and the last vestiges of parliamentary control disappeared; the Reichstag became nothing but a sounding board for the Fuehrer and his band of ruffians. No government in world history has ever been marked by such brutality, immorality, and greed. The Nazis, with the complete support of German capitalists and of most university authorities and economists, as well as of munition firms and other manufacturers, without any delay commenced a huge programme of rearmament entirely contrary to the terms of all treaties. The idea was developed that the Germans in Europe, including Austrians of German tongue, the so-called South East Germans of Czechoslovakia, and indeed Germans all over the world, must unite to build a new all-powerful and world-wide community. At the same time, the Nazis effectively abolished the minor states within Germany and effected political and psychological unification of the German people on the basis of its own theses, aiming particularly at youth. They established a new religious outlook, flouted Christianity as Jewish and cowardly, preached a return to the old German gods, and above all built up Hitler as a near-deity. Anti-semitism and accompanying brutality became part of the law . The rearmament programme was speeded up at an unbelievable rate, and in spite of the Versailles Treaty Hitler had by 1936, not only the regular army, but well over 2,000,000 men of other categories (S.A. and S.S.), and was building an air force of 5,000 planes. The culmination of the Nazi régime was the seizure of Austria , in cooperation with Austrian Nazis. [On Canadian attitudes to Hitler, consult the Memorandum by Prime Minister William L. Mackenzie King on his Interview with German Chancellor Herr Adolf Hitler in Berlin on June 29, 1937 .]
(ii) The development and use of "geopolitics" as a potential weapon and the recreation in Germany of a war mentality were the contributions of the German academic world to the catastrophe of 1939. The former is of particular interest because at one stage as we shall see, it turned out to be a deadly boomerang. The German school of geopoliticians was led by General Haushofer . Its fundamental theory, developed from English writings, was that whatever power controlled the great north central land mass of Eurasia, the Heartland, as it was named, would of necessity control the world, that the powers of the "peninsular" and "insular" areas, Europe and the Americas and the island fringes of the Pacific, could not prevent such a process. The German General Staff was quite certain that it could defeat the U.S.S.R. and thus ensure control of the Heartland and world conquest. Entirely as a result of Haushofer's continued pressure, and in spite of the strong anti-Asiatic prejudices of Hitler and the Nazis, Germany and Japan signed an Anti-Comintern pact in 1936, and in 1940 Japan became a German ally. Haushofer it was too who proposed the uniting of China , Indo-China, and India under Japan , a project which determined the Japanese master plan for the war. Other German teachers, working at the same time, sedulously built up in Germany a war mind. Most notable of these was Professor Banse, who held the Nazi chair of Military Science. In one work, published in 1933, he declared that the new Germany "from Flanders to the Raab, from Memelland to the Adige , will only be born through blood and iron. Thought, labour, and armies must march and die before the Third Reich will raise its proud head on the fields of the West." In the same book he foretold, with the anticipation of a hungry cat, the invasion of France through Belgium and of Britain through the Low Countries . The preparation of future wars, he said, "must include spiritual as well as material preparedness". A host of German writers dealt with psychological preparation, strengthening of German and weakening of enemy mentality; even the bibliography of their works is a considerable volume. The whole German educational system was transformed into a factory for turning out young Nazis thoroughly impregnated with all these principles and with an insane devotion to their Fuehrer. There was no toleration for free thought of any kind, and thousands of scientists such as Albert Einstein , either liberal-minded or Jewish, were driven into exile.
(4) The fourth cause of the war was Italian-Fascist Imperialism. This began partly as an antithesis to Communism and partly as a result of the failure of Britain and France to carry out secret but definite engagements to allow Italy to acquire more lands in Africa after World War I. Communist activities had nearly brought about defeat in World War I and thereafter Socialists and Communists between them, by creating endless disturbances, practically wrecked Italian industry, prestige, and credit. One of several counterrevolutionary organizations was Benito Mussolini's [see also the Wikipedia Encyclopedia ] "Fascio di Combattimento" (Union of Ex-Service men). It was divided into "squadrons", small well-drilled and violent gangs who fought communists everywhere and finally seized on local governments.
In October 1922, these "squadrons" united in an orderly march on Rome and Mussolini, called upon by the King, formed the first Fascist cabinet. A campaign of violence against all opponents followed at once. Some of the more ardent fascists went too far even for Mussolini, making little of political murders; Mussolini took steps to get rid of them. He then faced the economic problems. By 1927 he had stabilized the currency, made financial arrangements with the United States and Great Britain which put Italy back on her feet, and under the title of Duce had become virtual dictator.
The following statements of Mussolini set out the "fascist" theory:
"Never before have the peoples thirsted for authority, direction, order, as they do now. If each age has its doctrine, then innumerable symptoms indicate that the doctrine of our age is the Fascist."
"The key-stone of the Fascist doctrine is its conception of the State, of its essence, its functions, and its aims. For Fascism the State is absolute, individuals and groups relative."
"The State, as conceived and realised by Fascism, is a spiritual and ethical entity for securing the political, juridical, and economic organization of the nation... "
"The Fascist State expresses the will to exercise power and to command."
"The Fascist State is,.... not reactionary but revolutionary, for it anticipates the solution of certain universal problems which have been raised elsewhere, in the political field by the splitting-up of parties, the usurpation of power by parliaments, the irresponsibility of assemblies; in the economic field by the increasingly numerous and important functions discharged by trade-unions and trade associations with their disputes and ententes, affecting both capital and labor; in the ethical field by the need felt for order, discipline, obedience to the moral dictates of patriotism."
Such a conception naturally led to a war complex, and Mussolini said "War alone keys up all human energies to their maximum tension and sets the seal of nobility on those peoples who have the courage to face it."
In 1928 supreme control of the country was vested in the Fascist Grand Council, composed of nominees of the Duce. The Senate and Chamber of the former democratic constitution continued to exist, but the Chamber was nominated en bloc by the Fascist Grand Council.
In the meantime all available Italian youths were organized, under the Ministry of Education, into a Militia of Avanguardisti (over 14) and Balilla (under 14). To give the impression of a new Roman Empire (which was Mussolini's idée fixe), they were divided into the "legion", "cohort", "century", "manipulum", and "squadron". Their training was both military and naval. The entire educational system of Italy, like that of Germany, became subordinate to the state and a part of the Fascist machine. Labour was reorganized into syndicates, and employers into federations, all under a complicated system of state control; lockouts and strikes were forbidden. The nation was divided into "Corporations" called "National Federations of Fascist syndicates", controlling respectively arts and crafts, agriculture, commerce, sea and air transport, land transport and banking. Membership of these was compulsory. Their representatives, with other persons, formed the Provincial and National Councils of Corporations. The essential difference between this system and that of the western democracies was that all these "corporations" were organs of the State-whence arose the name of "the Corporate State".
Italians and people of Italian origin outside Italy were encouraged to form Italian associations under the Aegis of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of Italian ambassadors and consuls. Moreover, there were constant and successful, though secret, efforts to control all members, even those who were not Italian subjects. Thus there were thousands of "fascio" groups in many different countries, all supporting Italian activities by arousing sympathy and even, later on, by preparing for sabotage in case of war.
As sympathy-rousing propaganda among citizens of foreign countries, free "educational" classes were offered, and fascist movements encouraged. As the result of an arrangement with the Pope , the Vatican became a separate state, and thereafter the Fascist government provided for strong adherence to Catholicism in all its sections.
The whole fascist system was a tyranny sedulously described as a new variety of "government-by-the-people", and certainly upheld by a very large group of citizens blinded by the new glories under authoritarianism foretold by its leader.
(5) The fifth cause of World War II was the rise of another authoritarian power. This was Japan . Soon after World War I, Major General Sir James MacBrien, then Chief of the General Staff of Canada, foretold the inevitable conflict between Japan and North America in a report which received too little attention at the time, and which later disappeared. In the same report he foretold the final defeat of Japanese sea-power by aircraft from carriers. Japanese political philosophy was unique, although its net results were identical with those of German and Italian "kultur". The basic factor in Japanese thought was the doctrine of Shinto , worship by the nation of themselves as descendants of the "Sun goddess", and most particularly of their Emperor, thought of and treated as a god on earth. (The main formal religion was a form of Buddhism , but it was so twisted as to fit into the Shinto framework.) This attitude ensured (1) the belief that the Japanese were a race superior to all others, destined to the conquest of the world or at least of the Pacific area; (2) the complete subordination of the individual to the collectivity, the state (so absolute was this that suicide, in accordance with ancient custom, was practised as part of duty or as the price of failure, in public life or military effort, by all ranks of the population from premiers to privates). And (3) the complete domination of the top groups in army, navy, and commerce. There was set up before the end of the nineteenth century a constitution on western lines, but it was a shadow rather than a reality. The net result was an authoritarian national machine designed for aggression.
After World War I industrialization went on at an incredible rate under the leadership of half a dozen financial and commercial groups, each run on authoritarian lines. Armaments and armed forces were enormously increased. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1921 established a ratio of 5-5-3 in capital ships for Britain, the United States, and Japan . The Japanese cheated by building duplicates in secret shipyards so that the other powers never knew what ships the Japanese had. Japanese naval officers, on the other hand, spied throughout the world; every western move was known.
There was no secret about their long-range plan. In 1927 was published the Tanaka Memorial , written by a former premier. It called first for the capture of Manchuria . This would provide coal and iron, lacking in Japan, and provide an outlet into North China and Siberia. In another memorial of 1931 General Honjo said that the next step was to drive Britain, the United States, and Holland out of the Pacific, taking over their Dominions and possessions. The project they named the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere". The operations actually began with the taking over of German islands in the Pacific after World War I. Subsequent conquests were a prelude to World War II.
It is almost unbelievable in view of all these developments, none of which were concealed, that the democratic powers should have followed such an apathetic course as they did, even when open aggression succeeded boastful prophecy. It is inaccurate to blame the United States for not joining and so strengthening the League of Nations ; the League was never anything but a machine for voicing opinion and unable itself to apply any of the economic pressure against aggressors which it recommended. It would probably have been no more efficient with the United States as a member. It must be observed, however, that right-wing organizations in Britain tended to favour the European Fascists and Nazis, that commercial interests in North America profited largely by Japanese militarism, and that the overseas Italian and German organizations worked unceasingly at propaganda.
PRELIMINARY HOSTILITIES
World War II began with aggressions by the totalitarian powers in Europe and Asia . Although there is no evidence of concerted action the timing of these aggressions is remarkable. At the same period the Spanish Civil War provided a field of Right versus Left combat.
1931. Japan seizes Mukden and occupies Manchuria consisting of three Chinese provinces. The U.S.S.R. prepares for trouble by strengthening the neighbouring border.
1932. Japan sets up a puppet kingdom of Manchuria called Manchukuo under Pu Yi , dethroned Emperor of China.
1933. Japan seizes neighbouring province of Jehol, which is added to Manchukuo . The U.S.A. refuses to recognize the change. Germany withdraws from League of Nations . Revolutionary outbreaks in Spain , at first suppressed.
1934. Dispute between Italy and Abyssinia over Somaliland border. Crisis in Spain . Catalonia attempts secession, but is defeated. Japan denounces Washington Naval Treaty ( 5-5-3 ratio).
1935. The Saar reunited with Germany after a plebiscite. Japan acquires Chinese Eastern Railway (through Manchukuo ). Communists attack Chinese regular forces in Chahar (N.W. China). Efforts at conciliation between Italy and Abyssinia. Mobilization in Abyssinia and Italy . League of Nations declares Italy an aggressor, and recommends economic sanctions, which are applied.
1936. Italy begins full scale attack on Abyssinia , ending in complete Italian victory. Annexation of Abyssinia . Constitution of a "New Roman Empire" promulgated by Mussolini. Military coup d'état in Japan , four ministers murdered, military dictatorship complete. Germany reoccupies the " Rhineland " (with no opposition, although this was contrary to treaty), and demands return of colonies taken away by Treaty of Versailles. Soviet-Mongol pact. Chinese protest but without avail. New U.S.S.R. constitution, as now in force, promulgated. General Franco commences right wing revolt in Morocco against Republican government. The Army joins him, and with 55,000 Moors he lands at Algeciras . Receives strong Italian reinforcement. In November he attacks Madrid , opposed by an " International Brigade " and Soviet tanks and aeroplanes. Both right and left wing troops are guilty of atrocious violence. Other powers make an agreement for a neutral "naval patrol" to prevent intervention. In October the Berlin-Rome axis is established at Berchtesgaden . Japan and Germany sign an anti-Comintern pact. Goering appointed director of a Four Year plan of economic development. (He was already head of a huge group of undertakings known collectively as the Reichswerke Hermann Goering.)
1937. Civil War continues in Spain Italy openly provides reinforcements for Franco's right-wing " Falange ". German warships shell Almeria (ending the "naval patrol"). Pirate submarines (German and Italian) sink neutral shipping supplying republicans. "Left-wingers" from many parts of the world, including Canada , go to aid of Republicans. Japanese Diet dissolved by military influence, a militarist cabinet formed. Japanese provoke and announce an attack on one of their detachments in North China , and begin full-scale operations against Chinese. 38,000 Italian troops embark for Libya in October. Italy withdraws from the League of Nations .
1938. Austria annexed to Germany . Austria out of the League of Nations. " Sudeten " (Czechoslovakian) Germans occupying border areas of Czechoslovakia on N. W. and S. W. frontiers, formulate demands for self-determination, led by Henlein, "the little Hitler". Britain and France urge Czechoslovakia to accept a peaceful settlement. Sudeten Germans press claims. Chamberlain , prime Minister of Britain, visits Hitler. Britain and France advise transfer of Sudeten areas to Germany . Chamberlain, Daladier (French premier), Mussolini and Hitler meet at Munich (September 29), and give Germany a free hand. On his return to London Chamberlain is met by cheering crowds and announces that he has brought peace with Germany [For Canadian attitudes to the Munich Agreement, consult the Telegram from Prime Minister William L. Mackenzie King to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain regarding Great Britain's Appeasement Policy towards Germany ] . Between October 1 and 9 Germans occupy Sudeten territories. Benes , the democratic premier of Czechoslovakia, resigns. (The seizure by Germany of the Sudeten areas of Czechoslovakia marks the lowest point of the democratic powers subservience to the Nazis. With neither Britain nor France offering any support, the U.S.A. and the British Dominions hold completely aloof. It can only be said in justification of Britain 's yielding that her armaments are at their weakest and that there are not enough guns or aircraft to deal with a German air attack. Isolationism and Nazi influence in the United States are at their peak.) Poland occupies Teschen area of Czechoslovakia which includes railway lines running south from Germany into Hungary. This act sets the final seal on Poland 's later fate. OPERATIONS IN CHINA
The war between Japan and China, which began in July, 1937, was the first large conflict of World War II.
(1) The Japanese advanced northwestwards from Tientsin (occupied July 30) to Peiping , on to the railway junction of Kalgan and into the Province of Sui Yuan . One part of the force then turned south into Shansi . By the end of 1937 they controlled most of the roads of North China and towards Mongolia and Sinkiang as well as the railways. At the same time, they had occupied Shanghai , and advanced up the Yangtse River to Nanking , then the capital. Here was the first sample of the mass atrocities which characterized the Japanese and their German allies. They showed their newly acquired scorn of the west by machine-gunning the British ambassador and sinking the small U.S.S. Panay. The Chinese army was extricated, and the Chinese capital moved west to Hankow.
(2) It is important at this point to realize the logistic problems presented by transportation limitations in China. The only practicable route west to Hankow lay up the Yangtse river ; the only through route north and south was a single railway line passing through Hankow. There were few branch lines or roads. The Japanese were very successful in river-borne operations, landing, surrounding, and seizing intermediate strong points; the experience gained was of the utmost value in their later warfare against the Americans and British. But they never controlled any territory out of reach of their narrow lines of communication.
(3) By October, 1938, the Japanese had overrun all northeastern China and the Yangtse valley up to and including Hankow, as well as Amoy and Canton in the southeast and south. At this point there appears an indication of collaboration with the European Axis powers. There had always been some difference of opinion between the Japanese army and navy staffs, the latter wanting to advance south-westward along the coasts. With this in mind, in 1939, Japan attempted to make peace with China , expecting to exploit in the Pacific the Axis attack in Europe . The effort ended in failure, and the war in China seemed stalemated.
THE AXIS IN EUROPE
(1) Axis Psychology . The Munich surrender marked the zenith of Axis superiority. Hitler, Mussolini, and their crews, backed by a good deal of real force, strutted and shouted; they were as successful as well organized gangsters in a city with no police force. Of the few voices raised in protest one was that of E. W. Herrold of the Ottawa Journal, who said concerning Munich that "only the fatuous can believe that a peace thus bought can be anything but temporary". But the work of the Axis psychologists had been well done, and for almost a year Hitler and Mussolini had a free hand.
(2) A New Fascist Power. In Spain the Civil War drew to a close; on March 21, 1939 , Madrid surrendered, and General Franco became the undisputed head of a new Fascist power. From this time on Spain was a threat from the south to Britain and France .
(3) Seizure of Czechoslovakia and Memel . In March, 1939, Hitler seized on what was left of Czechoslovakia , establishing a "protectorate" [ Bohemia and Moravia ]. So far the Germans had maintained the fiction that they were aiming at bringing under one rule people of German birth. The grab of Czechoslovakia was the beginning of a new policy, the domination of Europe whether German or not. In the same month Hitler seized the Lithuanian port of Memel on the Baltic.
(4) Seizure of Albania. Three weeks later Mussolini added Albania to the "New Roman Empire".
(5) Germany and Poland . Poland had been given, by the Treaty of Versailles , a corridor through Germany to the Baltic and the port of Gdynia. Danzig , formerly a German port close to Gdynia, had been made a "free city". Poland had depended for help on Czechoslovakia, France, and Britain. The fall of Czechoslovakia left half of Poland surrounded, and prevented France and Britain, quite unready in any case, from bringing help. As soon, therefore, as the Czechoslovakia grab was completed Germany commenced demands for the return of Danzig and the Polish corridor and redress of a dozen other grievances, mostly imaginary, including Poland 's Teschen grab.
In August, 1939, the Western World was astonished and frightened by a non-aggression pact [ Brest-Litovsk Treaty or Pact ] between Russia and Germany. The final German demands were transmitted to Poland on the last day of August, 1939, and without waiting for an answer the Germans attacked on September 1 from north, west, and south, with mechanized divisions and aircraft [For an analysis of the German invasion of Poland , consult this page]. This was the 1939 version of the Blitzkrieg ("lightning war"), developed by the Germans from what the Canadians had taught them at Amiens. Dive bombers, a new weapon, blasted tracks through Polish defences; tank columns poured through these, and charged forward into rear areas. They were followed by motorized infantry. In a month the Polish forces were wrecked, and Poland was prostrate.
Without delay Hitler took over the western half of the new territory-most of it under the name of a " General Government ". The atrocious anti-semitic activities of Germany were extended to Poland , the system of concentration camps for political prisoners was undertaken. Starvation, torture and death were the share of thousands; mass killings by machine guns and poison gas chambers grew into what was later named the crime of genocide [or Holocaust ; see also this page ], the killing of a race.
(6) U.S.S.R. exploits German victory. The U.S.S.R. acted almost as fast as Germany and promptly seized the east part of Poland, approximately to the present U.S.S.R. boundary, also the independent states of Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania . In the course of the following winter, the U.S.S.R. reclaimed Bessarabia from Rumania (see World War I), and drove a Finnish force back from near Leningrad into Finnish territory [See this page about the Russian operations against Finland ].
(7) The Democracies Waken. On September 3, 1939 , Great Britain and France declared war on Germany . On September 10 Canada did the same [See the Diary Entry by Prime Minister William L. Mackenzie King Recording Cabinet Discussions about the Possibility of War with Germany (August 1939). Consult Canada's Declaration of War on Nazi Germany ] . The first step taken here was the seizure by the R.C.M.P ., at the earliest possible moment, of a host of carefully listed German agents and sympathisers. This and their internment in camp was so efficiently done that there was never a known case of sabotage.
One point must be made at once. As in the 1914-1918 war, British sea power played an essential part from the beginning, holding the Axis within Europe and hindering essential supplies from reaching Germany and Italy. Even in the Mediterranean ("our sea", as Mussolini called it), the British, even against appalling odds, maintained the offensive and were undefeated. There were times when the blockade weakened, after Italy stabbed France in the back and France surrendered to Hitler, but all in all it was a most effective weapon.
BRITAIN AND THE DOMINIONS
"Once more into the breach". Britain at the earliest possible date despatched to France an Expeditionary Force which undertook part of the defence of that threatened country. For the first few months nothing happened; the period was known as " the phony war ". The war at sea began not on September 1 or September 10, but on August 26, when control of all British merchant ships passed to the Admiralty. Canada's first contribution was made by the Royal Canadian Navy, which put to sea in September, 1939, with six destroyers and some small craft. These were to grow by 1945 to 378 warcraft and more than 400 smaller vessels; the personnel of 3,604 increased to 95,705. By 1945 Canada was the fourth naval power, and did the major share of convoy work in the western Atlantic , successfully escorting 25,343 ships with more than 181 million tons of cargo. Canadian destroyers were part of the escort of the Canadian army to Britain. In December, 1939, the First Canadian Division and auxiliary troops crossed to Britain in two "flights", under heavy naval escort, and commenced their long training.
HITLER MOVES WEST
On April 9, 1940, Hitler, without warning, seized Denmark; then, with the help of his accessary, the notorious Norwegian leader Quisling , overran Norway. A detachment of Canadians were part of a force designed to counterattack, but never embarked. Allied troops who did counter-attack from the sea, were unsuccessful and evacuated by June. On May 10, 1940 , the Germans, following the Haushofer plans, plunged into Holland and Belgium . On May 15 the Dutch surrendered and the government moved to Britain . By May 20 the German blitzkrieg troops had cut through France to Amiens; by May 21 they were on the Channel coast. On May 27 the Belgians surrendered, leaving the British flank in the air. The Belgian and Luxemburg governments also moved to Britain. [For a description of the operations on the Western front, consult this page ] By this time the French army and French government were completely disorganized, and the British army left in an impossible position. In one of the most extraordinary joint operations ever undertaken, involving thousands of large and small craft, manned by professional and amateur sailors, and carried on with unbelievable heroism, 338,000 British and allied troops were withdrawn to Britain through Dunkirk, leaving all their equipment in France . [The Dunkirk operation is described at this site ]
Early in June a new mixed force was despatched from Britain to France in the hope of stemming the disintegration of the French army. Part of this was Canadian. It was too late; the movement was reversed and by good luck the Canadians found a transport at St. Malo which took them back to Britain. On June 14 the Germans entered Paris ; on June 18 France surrendered; within a very short time the Germans occupied the whole of the north and west leaving the French only the southeastern section of their country. In this south-eastern section was set up an authoritarian (non-republican) government under Marshal Pétain . The title of the state was changed to État Français. The capital of the new organization was at Vichy .
A large group of French men and women, largely naval and military personnel, set up a Free French government in London ; the leader of this movement was General de Gaulle. This new government was soon recognized by Canada and other British powers.
COMMONWEALTH AIR WAR
Within an hour after the declaration of war the R.A.F. commenced attacks on the German fleet which continued for several months with varying success; the best result was stopping the work of vessels laying magnetic mines. Land operations were at first limited to reconnaissance.
When the Germans attacked Norway most gallant efforts were made; the transfer of a large section of the Luftwaffe to Norway made success impossible but attacks on docks and airports. were continuous. Another task came in May and June during the German advance to the Atlantic. The R.A.F. was able, mainly by bombing bridges and rail lines, to delay the enemy considerably and contribute to the successful evacuation of Dunkirk.
The R.C.A.F.[Royal Canadian Air Force], which was to play so great a part later on, was in September 1939, nothing but a handful of first class enthusiasts with a few long outmoded machines. Nevertheless in December the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was launched in Canada . It was managed by the R.C.A.F. and aimed at first at training 25,000 aircrew per year. The Dominion was soon covered with airdromes with all the necessary adjuncts. The final total of aircrew trained was 131,553, of which 55.4% were R.C.A.F., 32% R.A.F., the balance from Australia and New Zealand. Hundreds were American. The importance of this work was immeasurable, and it is fair to attribute to it a very large share of the Allies' final success.
BATTLE OF BRITAIN
Hitler's pattern for the conquest of Britain was based on the seizure of Norway. It was clear that land-based bombers would prevent the British navy from protecting the Channel so that an infantry-tank invasion would be possible. The plan, as frankly described by Goering to a British visitor, involved a heavy low-flying attack by bombers and fighters which would first engage, then destroy, the R.A.F.; next, a higher altitude attack on industrial centres; finally, an invasion for which 3,000 self-propelled, and many thousands of other barges, were ready. The only striking force in Britain was the so-called Canadian Force under General A. G. L. McNaughton ; for the British had left their equipment in France and it had not been replaced. The monkey wrench in the German machinery was the R.A.F., which - thanks not to the British government, but to private generosity - now had the famous Spitfires as well as 8-gunned Hurricanes . From August 8 to October 31, 1940 , Britain was bombed first by day and then by night, but at terrible cost to the Luftwaffe. The R.A.F., with a handful of pilots and in the later stages with the help of one Canadian squadron, destroyed an enormous number of Nazi bombers, as well as of the protecting fighters, until the attacks petered out. Throughout the period R.A.F. Bomber Command was attacking and destroying the invasion barges. The Battle of Britain was Hitler's first major set-back. As Churchill said later, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few." Much was owed to himself. No single man ever did so much to maintain the morale of an entire nation.
The British never lost heart, as had other nations.
MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS
After the fall of France the French fleet was immobilized at Toulon and Dakar , their best battleship at Dakar crippled by a British operation. Admiral Darlan remained in North Africa as the ranking officer. The Axis now aimed at the Suez Canal and the control of the Near East. The Italians in September, 1940, started a drive towards Egypt which stopped at the western border and was subsequently knocked back half way through Libya by the British. At the same time the British invaded Ethiopia. Early in 1941 the tables were turned. Britain had sent a force to Greece, small but all that could be spared. Germany attacked Jugoslavia and Greece, and in three weeks was successful. The British retired to Crete and were thrown out very quickly by a glider-borne invasion, something then novel.
Britain countered further Nazi plans by taking over Syria, theoretically under the new French government now operating at Vichy, and intervened to end fifth-column activities in Iran.
The Italians had managed to cripple seriously the British fleet at Alexandria by bombs attached to ships by divers in frog-swimming outfits, but did not know of their own success; their considerable fleet was chased out of the Eastern Mediterranean by a light cruiser and a few destroyers. But the only British stronghold in the western Mediterranean was now Malta (which resisted all bombing attacks, and was finally decorated with the George Cross). The German air cover made transport to Central North Africa from Italy simple. In March, 1941, the Germans attacked eastward in North Africa , outfoxed the British armour, and drove the British force back to the Egyptian border. There the move ended for lack of supplies.
NAZIS ATTACK RUSSIA
The German operations against Poland had been marked by brutality until then unparalleled in human history; the operations against Russia were still worse. In the occupied areas conditions were unbelievable - one Soviet commentator wrote, "They burned people alive and called it an 'illumination'. They buried living people and called the graves 'flower-beds'. They slaughtered wholesale. They invented murder vans [trucks fitted with asphyxiating gas]. They condemned oneyear old infants to death. They did what no human being can do." The most violent critic of Soviet Russia cannot but sympathize with the Russian hate of fascism.
In June, 1941 [see Operation Barbarossa ], six German army groups broke through the Soviet lines and began driving eastward. Their plan was for a vast circling movement which would carry them to the Caspian sea, and then north beyond the Ural mountains, as planned by the professors. Within a year their line ran east of Leningrad, west of Moscow, then far east to Stalingrad on the Volga, and south again into the Caucasus. At this stage many optimists among the Nazis, their allies and collaborators, thought the war was over.
JAPAN CHANGES FRONT
In June, 1940, after the fall of France, Japan seized French Indo-China and the island of Hainan in preparation for later campaigns. In the spring of 1941 American volunteer airmen commenced carrying supplies to China from the west. By the fall of that year the Japanese realized that they could never conquer China without control of the rich supplies of south-east Asia , and these could not be gained without the conquest of Singapore . On December 7, 1941, while their envoys were talking peace at Washington, Japan bombed the U.S. fleet in Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, and put it out of action. Three days later they dive-bombed and destroyed two British warships which were the mainstay of British forces in South East Asia. Then they started land-sea-air warfare carried on at high speed, jumping from one island and airport to another. They seized Midway , Wake , and Guam Islands, also the British base of Hong Kong . At this last spot a small Canadian force formed part of the heroic garrison which held out until December 26 [On Canada and the battle of Hong Kong , see this page; the battle is also described at this site .]. The Japanese took Manila on January 2, 1942 , Malaya and the great naval base of Singapore by February 15, Sumatra , Java and Rangoon in Burma by March 9.
In three months the Japanese had conquered 1,500,000 square miles of land and 125,000,000 people. They were on the Indian Ocean , where they threatened British sea routes, and had a jumping off place for Australia and New Zealand . Their warfare had been marked by the violence and brutality which they had shown in China , and which were part of their training.
The United States now undertook defence operations in the Pacific. They strengthened all their bases in the U.S.A., established a strong line of island bases to Australia and New Zealand and by June, 1942, had 150,000 troops in the threatened areas. On May 3 and 4 the Americans defeated a Japanese seaborne invasion force in the Battle of the Coral Sea , the first naval operation in which an attack was carried on entirely by carrier-borne aircraft, and one month later attacked, partly destroyed and drove away, another Japanese force in the Battle of Midway . These were the first effective naval operations in the Pacific.
The Americans and Australians now turned to the offensive, and drove the Japanese, by tough jungle fighting, out of the Solomon Islands and out of New Guinea . From this moment the initiative was with the allies.
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
The Germans depended mainly on submarines to attack the food convoys to Britain . There were also a few surface raiders, of which one "pocket battleship" was chased into Montevideo by cruisers and scuttled. There were not nearly enough escort vessels for the heavy convoy duty although the United States traded fifty old and shaky destroyers for long leases of bases on the Atlantic, the most important in Newfoundland . Time and shipyards in Canada were insufficient to build destroyers, and the high-speed construction of "corvettes" was started, later followed by the slightly larger "frigates", also "algerines" and minesweepers. All were fitted with detection devices of a new type.
The Germans developed the "wolfpack" attack on convoys, using about 400 submarines. One or more reached the St. Lawrence, and the river had to be virtually closed. They benefited incalculably from the fall of France (which gave them bases at Brest and St. Nazaire and enabled the Luftwaffe to close the Channel), and from the neutrality of the Irish Free State (which allowed submarines shelter on its west coast). The Vichy French in St. Pierre and Miquelon provided first-class information, obtained from spies in Newfoundland , leading to many sinkings, until a Free French flotilla seized the islands, with the collusion of President Roosevelt . The Royal Navy had lost many destroyers at the time of Dunkirk and, had it not been for the Canadian Navy, the Allies could not have kept control of the Atlantic .
The hardships of continuous warfare in the small convoy ships, particularly in cold and storm, were very great, and the dangers considerable, but the stake was high. To quote an official writer,
The R.C.A.F. Home War Establishment cooperated in the anti-submarine war with bomber-reconnaissance craft. Their main job was to keep U boats submerged, but they also had many fights. Overseas the R.A.F. Coastal Command bombers also played a part in keeping submarines out of the way and attacking coastal convoys; in this work too, R.C.A.F. formations took a share.
The most picturesque fight of the Atlantic battle was in 1941 when the German super-battleship Bismarck , crammed with sailors and troops, set out, presumably for Newfoundland . After a stirring chase she was caught and sunk by the Royal Navy. Another German battle ship was knocked out in 1943 and thereafter, though the risks never ended, the Battle of the Atlantic was a slow but victorious progress.
CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS
(i) Manpower. Early in 1942, after a plebiscite , the National Resources Mobilization Act was amended to allow conscription for overseas. This was not put into effect till November, 1944 but the call up for home defence was greatly speeded. Atlantic and Pacific Commands were established, women's divisions were formed in all three armed services and were to turn out of the utmost value. The conscription law met with a great deal of passive resistance, particularly in Quebec , where "no conscription" had been an election pledge since World War I. The objections were fostered by a number of leaders, by emissaries of Vichy, France, as well as by some newspapers, and were aided by the facts that the population of Quebec knew little or nothing about the war and that no real efforts at information were made [The opinions expressed here are debatable and would need clarification and nuances. See Serge Bernier's text at this address ]. A National Selective Service was organized, which controlled placements and postponements of military service for essential workers. 247, 336 postponements were granted, the majority for agriculture. Over 7,000,000 non-combatant placements were effected, and at the peak there were the following in the armed services: Navy 95,705; Army 481,500; Air Force 206,350.
(ii) Auxiliary Services. "Auxiliary Services" were set up by the Canadian Legion , the Salvation Army , the Y.M.C.A ., and the Knights of Columbus. These provided recreation and sometimes lodging for men and women and without any doubt were an invaluable factor in maintaining morale, their supervisors following the troops into every theatre of war. The Canadian Legion Educational Services provided much of the service and all the general educational facilities needed by service men, in Canada and overseas, in a highly scientific war, including three million library books and hundreds of thousands of school texts. The Canadian Red Cross made a remarkable contribution, mainly in the provision of food parcels for prisoners of war, of which 16,000,000 were sent through the agency of the International Red Cross at Geneva. This last agency also forwarded books from the Canadian Legion to allied prisoners of war in Europe. The work of the Canadian Red Cross was coordinated with the larger efforts of the British and American societies. Other activities were the provision of voluntary ambulance drivers in Canada and overseas, and of blood-donor clinics. The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire furnished clothing and other comforts to the people of Britain and to Canadian armed services, notably the Navy and Merchant Marine. They also organized welcome to many women and children evacuated from Britain .
Special organizations were set up for Civil Defence (against sabotage, etc.) and fire-fighting, and remarkable efforts in many directions were made by the Women's Voluntary Services .
The above-mentioned Auxiliary Services were coordinated by a special Ministry of War Services, and on the suggestion of the banks were mainly (except for the Red Cross) financed from public funds, eliminating a large number of confusing private appeals.
(iii) Internment Camps. Two important developments were the shipment to Canada of thousands of Axis prisoners of war and the moving away from the B.C. coast of hundreds of Japanese and many Canadians of Japanese origin. Internment camps held not only these, but also Germans and Italians who had been placed under guard as potentially dangerous [On the internment of the Japanese in Canada , consult this page . For bibliographical information, see this site ].
(iv) Provision for Rehabilitation . A considerable contribution to the morale of the services came from the establishment (as the result of pressure from the Canadian Legion and veterans in the Parliament and civil service) of a special Department of Veterans Affairs . The most generous of all national programmes of assistance in the reestablishment of veterans was set up in Canada . It included provision for educational benefits which enabled a very large number to attend schools and universities after release. The Canadian Legion Educational Services enabled the troops to prepare for this in wartime. [ Canadian legislation pertaining to Veterans ]
(v) Science and Industry. Canada , by an enormous industrial development, became the fourth allied power in war production, 70% of its war materiel going to other nations. Canadian products were of all kinds. The final totals in money may as well be given here. The figures are in millions of dollars: Merchant ships 614, naval ships 541, aircraft 1,151, mechanical transport 1,582, armoured vehicles 525, guns and small arms 552, gun ammunition 655, small arm ammunition 239, explosives, etc. 492, instruments, signals 600 (see below), miscellaneous 1,665.
To ensure proper channeling of activities, almost every commodity was controlled . About 5,000 aircraft were delivered to the United Nations and 12,000 used at home. Canadian armoured vehicles helped the British to win the final North African campaign and the Russians to defeat Germany . First and last, Canada provided supplies to United Nations to the value of about $2,000,000,000, while total annual exports rose from $573,000,000 to $1,323,500,000. The total cost of the war to Canada was over $15,000,000,000, of which two-thirds was met by taxation.
Canada took a leading part in the development of equipment involving scientific discoveries and know-how; many types of radar, some of which enabled the allies to counter German air attacks; "asdic" apparatus for submarine detection; and much improved telephone and telegraph instruments, wired and wireless. In all almost $600,000,000 worth of instruments were produced, of which 75% went to allied powers. It would be quite impossible to estimate the war value of this effort.
(vi) Transportation. Rail transportation in such a country as Canada offered many problems which were successfully met. In the seven war years, 291 million passengers and 889 million tons of freight were carried, the load increasing enormously in the later years. Aircraft in the same period carried 1,824,500 passengers, the load more than doubling.
CONQUEST OF NORTH AFRICA
Throughout the summer of 1942, the Axis supply lines across the Mediterranean were raided by British submarines and British and U.S. aircraft operating from Malta and from Egypt . On October 23 the British, with Australian, New Zealand , and Indian troops, all now well supplied by air and the Red Sea , with R.A.F. and R.C.A.F. air support, attacked the Germans under Rommel on the Egyptian border and within a fortnight drove them half way through Libya . Thereafter the advance was slower, but by March, 1943, the Germans had been pushed west to Tunisia . In November, joint U.S.-British forces under General Eisenhower , landed at Casablanca and Oran from 850 ships; the French put up little resistance, and by April joined the allied forces. By May 7 the two armies, with strong air-force cooperation, had destroyed the German Africa Corps. These battles finally ended any hope of a junction between Germany and Japan, secured the allied life line through the Mediterranean and gave a jumping off spot for the invasion of Europe .
ATTACK ON SICILY
There was little pause after the African victory. The Italian islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa were bombed into submission, and an enormous armada of 3,200 ships in two convoys, one fast and one slow, invaded Sicily on July 10. For the Sicilian operation the 1st Canadian Corps was reconstituted in Africa from the 1st Canadian Division, the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade and the 5th Canadian Armoured Division. The move of the Canadian troops alone called for 92 vessels (exclusive of escorts) from Britain to North Africa .
The invasion, when it did take place, was commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander , directing a Western Task Force (American) under General Patton and an Eastern Task Force (British-Canadian) under General Montgomery . The technique was new; landings were effected all along the south coast of Sicily, supported by naval and air bombardment. The Sicilian fighting was very difficult, the Canadian tasks were particularly arduous throughout the early part of the operation, but the casualties were not excessive compared with the rate of loss in World War I. Prior to and during these operations air forces played a considerable part; they included one Canadian fighter squadron and three Canadian night bomber squadrons. They were kept busy, as attacks were practically nightly. Sardinia as well as Sicily was attacked, but the main targets were airports in Italy, Salerno, and the Naples docks.
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