Kevin Wang

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Manliness, Patriotism, and Other Factors Relating to World War I

Tutorial 04

TA: Dr. Catherine Swenson

AP HUMA 1740The Roots of Modern Canada

Word count: 2468 (excluding citations and bibliography)

In World War I, there were many factors that encouraged individuals to participate. There

were many reasons why Canadians responded so willingly and enthusiastically to participate in

World War I, but the strongest were because of media and the cult of manliness, patriotism to

Canada and the British empire in the form of imperialism and nationalism, and other factors such

as the role of women in the war effort and conscription.

Firstly, Canadians were so willing to participate because of the pressure of being manly.

“’The cult of manliness’ was one of ‘the principal features of Victorian Canada.’” (Moss, 21).

This was the ‘dominant stereotype’ of this time, and the “pressure to be manly” at this time was

inescapable (Moss, 21). At that time, young men usually hung out in public where they would

often rebel against the “values of the evangelical Protestant moral code” (Moss, 112). In

addition, peer pressure was a big deal. Anyone who did not conform to the standards of

“manliness” were often branded degrading names such as “sissy”, or “wimp”, just to name a few

(Moss, 17). The fear of being looked down on was enough for a man to prove how tough he is

(Moss, 17). When it came to the war, it was also another way to find something to do, especially

for the lower class who often had nothing to do (Moss, 112). Enlistment posters were also put up,

with some of them presenting deceptive and misleading statements. One veteran told a crowd in

Toronto that “there’s some fun, too. We’ve got lots of baseballs and we need pitchers” (Berton,

160). Another demonstrated sense of duty stated that “Britain has given you freedom…she has

given you peaceful years…will you help her now?” (Berton, 160). Sports were other ways to

“develop not only the physical abilities required of a warrior but the qualities of character that

seemed to be in decline among Canada’s young people” (Moss, 17). In essence, sports are

battles. In ancient Greece, where the first Olympic Games took place, athletes were

acknowledged as much as soldiers (Moss, 30). However, the main reason sports became so

popular was because of urbanization (Moss, 126). Sports had started in rural areas, but they were

modified and bound by rules and regulations in the urban environment (Moss, 126). Games such

as chess and poker were important because in chess, one must muster a strategy where all

information is given (Dolk, 3). Chess is purely about a player’s skill with no luck affecting the

outcome, while poker is the opposite (Dolk, 3). In poker, players only know what cards they

have and what is on the field, and have no knowledge of what the opponents have (Dolk, 3). The

result is usually determined by the luck of the cards dealt (Dolk, 3). In addition to sports and

games, literature has influenced the ways of thinking of people because during this period, many

books were written about the male protagonist being the hero. The male protagonist runs away

from home and experiences the outside, and become honoured by becoming manly men by

achievement of difficult tasks (Moss, 67). The purpose of this is to turn boys into men and

prepare them for the struggles of life such as business and war (Moss, 67). One example of this is

Tom Sawyer (Moss, 67). Another example is Naruto, a young boy who lost his parents when a

demon fox attacked his village, known as Konoha (IMDb). As a child, he dreamt of being the

leader of his village, known as the Hokage (IMDb). However, he has had a rough life ever since

the demon fox was defeated and sealed inside of him, and the rest of the villagers shunned him

while seeing him as the “demon fox” (IMDb). As bad as it was, he never gave up, and slowly but

steadily, the villagers and other people started to acknowledge and respect him (IMDb). Both of

these books promoted manliness and showed society what it means to be manly and tough. Being

able to endure, persevere, and accomplishing big things in the outside world. This was beneficial

for the men and women in society, because it enforces norms set by them, as well as encouraging

more people to sign up for war. It was also beneficial for the authors and publishers because their

sales increased as long as they kept focusing on manliness, which was the benchmark of this

period in time (Moss, 67). One other aspect is the ability that the protagonists overcome their

fears, which eventually was seen as what a true hero possesses, after the publication of The Red

Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane in 1895 (Moss, 45). In addition to fiction, there were also

many non-fiction magazine articles which provided instruction on key survival skills, such as

how to start a fire, how to swim, or how to register for the army. (Moss, 84-85) Some of these

stories also possessed signs and themes of patriotism, which further influenced individuals to

participate.

Next, Canadians were willing to participate because of patriotism. In the early years, the

patriotic fervor to defend their country was strong. Sir Wilfrid Laurier declared that if the British

was at war, so were the Canadians (Berton, 109). As mentioned in the first paragraph, messages

such as “Britain has given you freedom…she has given you peaceful years…will you help her

now? She is in the gravest peril she has ever known and only her men can save her” and “This is

Canada’s War. If Germany wins, your freedom will be lost” appeared frequently on posters

relayed the themes of imperialism and nationalism to others (Berton, 160). These messages sent

feelings of imperialism to the English-Canadians for the British Empire, while for the French-

Canadians, it sent feelings of nationalism for Canada. T.J Jackson argues that people, especially

from the lower classes wanted “to escape the demands of bourgeois domesticity and reintegrate a

fragmented sense of self by embracing a satisfying social role” (Moss, 37). The fact that the

Canadians participated in the Boer War signified the rising of both imperialism and nationalism.

For the English-Canadians, this war employed a “cult of empire” which is associated “with

Britain’s commercial success, power, and ‘prestige’” (Moss, 40). This signified that the English-

Canadians saw this war a conquest for the British. Sir Wilfrid Laurier could have chosen not to

commit to the Boer War. In fact, Berton specified that Laurier did not want to get involved in

this “petty tribal conflict” with the Boers (Berton, 20). This implied that he had no business

whatsoever with the Dutch. However, Colonel George Taylor Denison, George Munro Grant,

and George Parkin further promoted imperialism, and their supporters believed this battle was to

strengthen ties between Canada and the British empire, thus influencing Laurier to send soldiers

to Cape Colony (Moss, 40). Laurier decided to compromise, as it was his only exit from this

problem. This war “caught him in a trap” (Berton, 23). No matter which side he chose, he would

lose a ton of support. If he did not send a single troop, the English Canadians would think he is a

traitor to the British Empire. Had he sent too many troops on the other hand, the French would

think he is selling out the French-Canadians who had been on the same side as him for years.

This was one of the worst possible situations to be in, because no matter what he did, it was a

lose-lose situation. This compromise was the best he could do because it was the choice that

would result in the smallest quantity of loss of votes. The Boers believed Great Britain was “a

greedy, imperialistic nation” who evicted the Boers out of Cape Colony, while the British

believed the Transvaal was a dictatorship, robbing of the basic freedoms of their people (Berton,

27). Both of them had their own reasons, from different viewpoints. However, Berton mentioned

the dictatorship “jeopardized British control over the largest gold-mining complex in the world”,

one can assume that the British wanted to defeat the Transvaal for its gold rather than for the

freedom of their people. Carl Berger also recommended the more extreme imperialists to

increase militarism and obligations within the empire and in North America, which was related

to nationalism (Moss, 41-42). Nationalism is a strong sense of pride in one’s nation, which in

most cases, was associated with war. Another thing which was a key factor was “a threat of an

American invasion” (Moss, 22). This influenced Canada to forge their own army because the

Americans could and would take advantage of any opening the Canadians gave so they can

further expand themselves. Both media and patriotism were key factors, however, there were

also other factors which were just as important in influencing participation in the war effort.

Finally, there were several other influences which led to the enthusiastic (and less

enthusiastic) responds to participate in World War I, but the more important ones were the roles

of women and conscription. It all started on a rainy day on Parliament square February 13, 1907,

where about 400 women sang whilst marching “Rise up women! For the fight is hard and long,

Rise in thousands, singing loud a battle song…” (Hochschild, 44). This was between the time

when the British were victorious over the Dutch in the Boer War, and before the Great War has

started. Charlotte Despard, the one leading the march, argued that the song they sang could be a

foreshadow telling her another war may happen (Hochschild, 44). During the war, in August

1914, the first patriotic task women had to do was to let their husbands, siblings, or sons to enlist

in the war (Miller, 106). This was an act of generosity because it was allowing the women to

indirectly serve the British Empire as well (Miller, 106). Some helped because they

“demonstrated their enthusiastic support of the war”, while others did not want to stay in their

homes while their family members are fighting in the war (Miller, 106). In order to satisfy their

cravings for leaving home, nursing was an option for several other women, despite the massive

demand for it (Miller, 106). For example, in August 1914, the Red Cross had a quota to recruit

100 nurses, however, there were over 600 people who signed up (Miller, 106). This ratio is an

understatement for the amount of support women provided for the war effort (Miller, 106). Even

if the women did not sign up to be nurses, some of them are either founders or members of the

Women’s Patriotic League, which was an organization who assisted those who are in the war

(Miller, 106). One woman who demonstrated such excellence was Mrs. H.P Plumptre (Miller,

109). She worked for the Canadian Cross and was a member of executive organizations such as

the Young Women’s Christian Association (Miller, 109). During the war, the women felt the

same feelings for “glory and grief” as the men did (Miller, 108). When the Canadians found out

the Germans were using toxic gas as a chemical weapon, the women secured permission from

the militia to create gas masks, with instructions on how to do so on the women section of

newspapers (Miller, 110). Women was as dedicated as men were in the war effort too. To prove

this, even as time passed, women were still playing a key role in helping recruitment (Miller,

114). On August 9, 2015, 200000 people was at Riverdale park (Miller, 114). Of the 200000,

half of them were women (Miller, 114). This event at Riverdale Park was a patriotic rally. The

many women who were present shamed men for not serving by giving white feathers to those

who are not in a uniform (Miller, 114). That was embarrassing for men, because they were not

used to being shamed. This implied that usually it was the men who were shaming women.

Miller argues that one reason many, if not all of those men enlisted was because of the fear of

being looked down by society (Miller, 114). In addition to this shaming, a “tag day” that was

discussed at this same time was implemented in November of the same year (Miller, 116).

Women knew that the monetary cost of recruiting was high, so they organized their “tag day” to

happen at the same time as the downtown parade. This was called “Khaki Day”, where women

sold their tags to men, who would be a much more visible target for recruitment officers (Miller,

116). The only exception were soldiers who did not need to be tagged, because they already

show their loyalty with that uniform of theirs (Miller, 116). With all this recruiting going on,

there were many open spaces and gaps in the labour force, because the men were fighting in the

war. It has been stated that ‘a patriotic appeal must be made to the young women to take the

places left vacant wherever it is possible to substitute’ (Miller, 121). Societal standards still

played a big part on women and their families, who declared that women belong in the homes, as

mothers or housewives (Miller, 120). This called for a campaign in order to persuade women to

enter the empty labour force, and to let society encourage it, which foreshadows the weakening

of the sexual division of labour (Miller, 121). Women, for the time being, is now more equal

with men. All kinds of ‘temporary’ jobs, from salespeople, to office clerks, even the dangerous

job of the manufacturing of munitions were in high demand for workers because of the shortage

of labour created by war (Miller, 121). They were temporary jobs, but it was another way women

can prove to society their allegiance and patriotism to both Canada and the British Empire. The

Women’s Emergency Corps, which was a service organization to assist towards the war effort

had tasks to enlist women for the labour force, but also to make sure women convinced men to

join the army (Miller, 123). Women made a valiant effort to continue helping in the war effort,

including recruitment, but it did not last forever. By June 1916, recruitment numbers dropped

substantially (Miller, 127). This led to Robert Borden, the current prime minister, to implement

conscription. Many people supported this idea entirely. On June 2, 1917, ten thousands of people

went to Queen’s Park to rally for the support of conscription (Miller, 137). Labour leaders agreed

for it, with some negotiations, as long as “the government also conscripted wealth” (Miller, 136).

They wanted not just a military leader but an economic one too (Miller, 136). There were also

some groups who were against conscription, however, many returning soldiers confronted those

who were against it (Miller, 137). When Quebec failed to contribute as many recruits as the other

provinces, one ex-soldier labelled them ‘traitors’ (Miller, 140). In addition, Wilfrid Laurier also

was against the conscription bill, and because of that, nobody would even discuss about opposing

conscription (Miller, 140). The aftereffects of conscription, while they had their benefits, it also

had their risks. For example, the summer of 1917 yielded good crops because of several factors

such as soil quality and weather, but the high demands for labour because of conscription meant

that there was a shortage on food because there were not enough farmers to produce and sell it.

(Miller, 141)

In conclusion, there were many reasons why Canadians joined the war effort so

enthusiastically, but the strongest were because of media, patriotism, and other influential factors

such as the roles of women and conscription.

Bibliography

Moss, M. (2001), Manliness and Militarism: Educating Young Boys in Ontario for War,

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/stable/10.3138/j.ctt1287t3m

Miller, I.H.M. (2002), Our Glory and Our Grief: Torontonians and the Great War, Retrieved

from http://books2.scholarsportal.info.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/viewdoc.html?id=/ebooks/

ebooks0/gibson_crkn/2009-12-01/6/418219

Berton, P. (2001), Marching as to War: Canada’s Turbulent Years, 1899-1953. Toronto, ON:

Anchor Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited.

Hochschild, A. (2011). To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918. New

York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Dolk, B. (2013). Back to the Basics: Chess, Poker & the Future of Warfare, Part II. Small Wars

Journal. Page 3.

Naruto Plot Summary. (1990-2016). In IMDb. Retrieved from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409591/plotsummary