The Coming of Age

Canada was thrust into the war as a country with little warfare experience and came out with one of the most respected military units in the world. The start of the war was slow. Britain reluctantly entered the war more than a month after the actual assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, an event that was the spark that set off the War to End All Wars, thereby pulling Canada, as one of its dominions, into war as well. Although the decision to enter the war was not Canada’s, the country still had the ability to decide the scale of her involvement. Canada chose to contribute fully and wholeheartedly. Before the war started, the Canadian forces were small, having “a maximum of 5000” soldiers that even so, were “never fully recruited”. At the start of the war in 1914, the Canadian troops consisted of only 3110 men and 684 horses. However, support for the war was tremendous in Canada. At the start of the war, people were rushing to enlist, resulting in nearly 620,000 men and women who served by the end of the war, an incredible feat for a country with a population of only eight million people. The Canadian Corps were created, a military unit that consisted wholly of Canadians. Throughout the war, the Canadian Corps “earned the reputation of being an organized, disciplined and enormously effective fighting force” mainly due to the “brilliant participation in such battles as Ypres, Vimy Ride, Passchendaele as well as the liberation of Mons”. Not only did the creation of the Canadian Corps result in a more militarily experienced Canada, but also a Canada that was internationally recognized as such.