C. Canada, 1929–1945 · Canada, 1929–1945: Depression, Extremism and the Second World War

The Road to War: Appeasement, Canada's Independence and the North Atlantic Triangle

C2.3 C2.2 C3.2 C3.1 A1.5About 75 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain the main causes of the Second World War.
I can explain how Canada's 1939 declaration of war differed from 1914, and why.
I can describe how Canada and Canadians responded to international crises in the 1930s, including the Spanish Civil War and the Nanjing Massacre.
I can analyse how Canada's relationships with Britain and the United States changed between 1929 and 1945.

Words to know

appeasement
Giving in to an aggressive country's demands in the hope of avoiding war; Britain and France's policy toward Hitler until 1939.

isolationism
A policy of staying out of other countries' conflicts and alliances.

League of Nations
An international organization created after the First World War to keep peace through collective action. It failed to stop aggression in the 1930s.

sanctions
Penalties, such as trade bans, placed on a country to pressure it to change its behaviour.

Statute of Westminster
A 1931 British law that recognized Canada and other dominions as fully self-governing, including in foreign policy.

North Atlantic Triangle
A term for the close relationships among Canada, Britain and the United States.

Ogdensburg Agreement
A 1940 agreement between Mackenzie King and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt creating the Permanent Joint Board on Defence for North America.

Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion
A unit of Canadian volunteers (the "Mac-Paps") who fought for the Republic against Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War.

Hook: a week of waiting

On September 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. In 1914, that would have meant Canada was at war that same day. But in 1939 Canada waited a week. Parliament met, debated, and on September 10, 1939, Canada declared war on its own. Why the difference? And why did the world go to war again just 21 years after the "war to end all wars"?

Long-term causes of the Second World War

The Treaty of Versailles (1919). Many Germans resented losing territory, paying reparations and taking the blame for the First World War. Hitler promised to undo the treaty.
The Great Depression. Economic despair helped extreme leaders win support (Lesson 5).
Extreme ideologies and expansion. Nazi Germany wanted "living space" in eastern Europe; fascist Italy and militarist Japan also wanted empires.
The failure of the League of Nations. Without the United States, and without its own army, the League could not stop aggression.
Appeasement and isolationism. Britain and France gave in to Hitler's demands to avoid another war; the United States stayed out of European affairs; Canada wanted no foreign commitments.

Each act of aggression that went unpunished encouraged the next one. (Events evenly spaced, not to scale.)

Canada and the international crises of the 1930s

Ethiopia, 1935. When Italy invaded Ethiopia, Canada's delegate at the League, Walter Riddell, proposed adding oil to the League's sanctions against Italy. Mackenzie King's government publicly disowned his proposal. Canada did not want to lead.
Spain, 1936 to 1939. In the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco's nationalists, helped by Hitler and Mussolini, fought the elected Republican government. About 1,700 Canadians volunteered to fight for the Republic, many in the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion, even after Canada made volunteering illegal in 1937. Hundreds of them were killed. Montreal doctor Norman Bethune organized a mobile blood transfusion service in Spain, then went to China, where he died in 1939.
China, 1937. Japan launched a full-scale war on China. In December 1937, Japanese troops captured the city of Nanjing (Nanking) and killed very large numbers of civilians and prisoners of war; estimates range widely, from tens of thousands to more than 200,000. Some Canadian missionaries and doctors in China reported on the war; in Canada, Chinese Canadians raised funds for China's war relief. In 2017, Ontario's legislature recognized December 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.
Appeasement, 1937 to 1938. Mackenzie King met Hitler in Berlin in 1937 and, like many leaders, misjudged him. King supported the Munich Agreement (September 1938), in which Britain and France let Germany take the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

In March 1939 Germany seized the rest of Czechoslovakia, and appeasement was over. After the Nazi–Soviet Pact (August 1939), Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.

In 1939 Canada made its own decision to go to war, a sign of how much its independence had grown since 1914.

Canada between Britain and the United States (C2.2)

With Britain:

The Statute of Westminster (1931) recognized Canada as fully self-governing. That is why Canada's Parliament could choose its own declaration of war in 1939.
At the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa (1932), Bennett negotiated trade preferences within the Empire.
In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured Canada, the first visit by a reigning monarch. It strengthened ties with Britain just before the war.
In the war, Canada hosted the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (next lesson) and gave Britain huge financial aid, including a "Billion-Dollar Gift" in 1942.

With the United States:

King signed trade agreements with the U.S. in 1935 and 1938, lowering tariffs.
In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt said in a speech at Kingston, Ontario, that the U.S. would not stand idly by if Canada were threatened.
After France fell in 1940, King and Roosevelt signed the Ogdensburg Agreement (August 1940), creating a Permanent Joint Board on Defence. The Hyde Park Declaration (April 1941) had the U.S. buy more Canadian war materials, helping Canada pay for the war.
The U.S. built bases in Newfoundland (then not part of Canada) and, in 1942, the Alaska Highway through Canadian territory. Thousands of American soldiers worked in the Canadian North, raising concerns about Arctic sovereignty.

By 1945, Canada was moving from Britain's orbit into a much closer partnership with the United States.

Canada's ties to Britain (left) were historical and emotional; its ties to the United States (bottom) grew rapidly for defence and trade. Historians call this the North Atlantic Triangle.

Cause and consequence: underlying causes, triggers and turning points (A1.5)

For the Second World War:

Underlying causes: Versailles, the Depression, extreme ideologies, the failure of the League.
Turning points: the Munich Agreement (1938) and the seizure of Czechoslovakia (March 1939), which ended appeasement.
Trigger: Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.

Ask: Could war have been avoided? At which point? This makes you weigh causes rather than just list them.

Worked example

Let's evaluate appeasement

Was appeasement a reasonable policy in 1938, or a mistake? Use historical perspective and evidence.

Perspective in 1938: memories of the First World War's millions of dead were fresh; Britain and France were not ready to fight; many people thought some of Germany's complaints about Versailles were fair; public opinion, including in Canada, strongly opposed war.
Evidence against: Hitler broke the Munich Agreement within six months by seizing the rest of Czechoslovakia; each concession encouraged more demands; Nazi persecution of Jews (Kristallnacht, November 1938) showed the regime's nature.
Consequence: appeasement bought about a year, which Britain used to rearm, but it also let Germany grow stronger and convinced Hitler that the democracies would not fight.
Judgement: understandable in its context, but based on a misjudgment of Hitler's goals.

Appeasement was understandable given the fear of another world war, but it was a mistake: Hitler's goals were not limited, and each concession encouraged further aggression.

Hands-on activity

Map the North Atlantic Triangle at home

You need: three sheets of paper, a marker, string or yarn, and tape.

Label the sheets Canada, Britain and United States and tape them to a table or wall in a triangle.
For each link in this lesson (for example the Statute of Westminster, Ogdensburg Agreement, Hyde Park Declaration, Billion-Dollar Gift, Alaska Highway), tape a piece of string between the two countries involved and attach a small label with the event and year.
Use two colours of labels if you can: one for military links, one for economic links.
Look at the result: which side of the triangle has more links from 1939 to 1945? Write two sentences explaining what changed.

What to look for: more wartime links between Canada and the United States, and an explanation that defence and trade pulled Canada closer to the U.S. even while it fought alongside Britain.

Your turn

Give three long-term causes of the Second World War.

What was appeasement?

Why did Canada declare war on its own on September 10, 1939, instead of automatically?

What did Walter Riddell propose in 1935, and how did the government respond?

Who was Norman Bethune?

What was the Ogdensburg Agreement?

Why did the Alaska Highway raise concerns about Arctic sovereignty?

More practice: warm-up

On what date did Germany invade Poland?

On what date did Canada declare war on Germany?

What was the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion?

Which city did Japanese troops capture in December 1937, followed by a massacre?

Which three countries make up the North Atlantic Triangle?

More practice: on your own

How did the League of Nations' response to Ethiopia encourage further aggression?

Why did Canada support appeasement?

Explain how Canadian volunteers in Spain showed a different response from the Canadian government.

Give one economic and one military example of growing Canada–U.S. ties.

Why do historians call September 1939 a sign of Canadian autonomy, even though Canada went to war alongside Britain?

Challenge

Rank the causes of the Second World War and justify your most important choice.

"By 1945, the United States had replaced Britain as Canada's most important partner." Do you agree? Use evidence from both relationships.

Using historical perspective, explain why many Canadians did not see the danger of Nazi Germany clearly in the mid-1930s, and why some did.

Check your understanding

Quiz

When did Canada declare war on Germany?

What made it possible for Canada to decide on its own to go to war in 1939?

What was appeasement?

Who organized a mobile blood transfusion service in the Spanish Civil War?

What did the 1940 Ogdensburg Agreement create?

Which event was the immediate trigger of the Second World War in Europe?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: This lesson covers the causes of the Second World War (C2.3), Canada's changing relationships with Britain and the United States (C2.2), Canadian responses to international events such as fascist aggression, the Spanish Civil War and the Nanjing Massacre (C3.2), and individuals such as Norman Bethune (C3.1). It practises cause and consequence (A1.5).

Sensitive content: The Nanjing Massacre is mentioned factually without graphic detail. There is no "Just for fun" box because the lesson deals with mass atrocity and war.

Common difficulties:

Dates: Britain declared war on September 3; Canada on September 10.
Listing instead of explaining causes. Ask "How did this lead to the next step?"

How to help: Do the string activity together; it makes the shift toward the United States visible. Ask your teen whether that shift is still true today.