Vimy Ridge: The Epitome of Canada

‘The prowess at Vimy Ridge led to Canada finally being recognized on an international scale. As said by W.S Wallace in his 1920 publication ‘The Growth of Canadian National Perspective’ “In the Great War the maple leaf badge came to be recognized as the symbol of a strong national spirit which never failed before any task with which it was confronted and which contributed in a substantial measure to the breaking down of the German defences in the latter half of 1918”   The Canadian forces were revered by many, and from that newfound respect was born. The victory, gave Canadians reputations of being “heavy hitters” and being able to break through seemingly impenetrable defense lines, such of that in Vimy Ridge. In 1919, at the Paris Peace conference which officially put an end to the fighting, representatives of all of the winning countries met to discuss terms. Canada was among those countries, sitting independently at the peace table, thanks to Canadian Prime Minister Borden’s argument that the wartime record, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and ‘Canada’s Hundred Days’, meant that Canada deserved to sit unaccompanied. Canada was even allowed to sign the Treaty of Versailles on its own behalf, signifying that the country was distinct from Britain. Following the triumph in Vimy, France awarded Canada the battlefield, 250 square acres of land. A memorial was constructed upon it in 1922, memorializing the members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force killed during WWI. France did not grant this land to Britain, but instead to Canada as [its] own independent nation, despite the fact that they were not yet in control of their own foreign affairs. The victory of Vimy Ridge was a principal factor in the beginnings of Canada being accepted internationally as an unmistakably independent state.’