Notes

Fifteen years earlier, during the rather disastrous Boer War, the British Empire had issued a desperate call for men to the dominions of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Only 7,368 Canadians responded. The soldiers were drawn largely from English Canada and the cities. The war was front-page news in the newspapers for some time but had little impact on most Canadians, who went on with their lives untroubled by the overseas battles.

But on that warm day on August 4, 1914, as most Canadians were off work enjoying a long weekend, thousands of men in suits and bowler hats clamoured around newspaper offices in major cities in expectation of war. As breaking news came in from overseas along trans-Atlantic telegraphic wires, often in little more than 140-character bursts, extra-large sheets containing the latest nuggets of information were hung outside newspaper buildings. Crowds grew larger by the hour.

By the time war was declared at 8:55 p.m., there was wild cheering and excitement. Patriotic songs were shouted until throats were hoarse. The Union Jack, Red Ensign and the Tricolor were waved.

Frank Jamieson, then a militia man in the 48th Highlanders of Canada from Toronto, recounted, “I’ll always remember the first night war was declared. The 48th Band came out, played Rule Britannia, and that was the spark that ignited the thing. Away we went in crowds down through the streets. You’d have thought we was coming back from the war, let alone going there.”

Much of this excitement can be attributed to the long build-up of war. But the conflict was also shaping up, unlike the imperial adventure in South Africa 15 years earlier, to be a war in defence of liberal values and for control of Europe. The militaristic Germans, with their Austrian-Hungarian allies, were blamed for starting the war. While historians over the last 100 years have apportioned plenty of blame to Russia, France and Britain, as well as to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire – all of whom slipped to war through mistakes made, wild hubris, or reckless action – in August 1914 it was Germany’s forces that broke Belgian neutrality as they marched through that nation. Canadians sought to defend Britain, which had gone to war at Belgian’s side, while also believing that the German militarists had to be turned back.

There was also a naiveté regarding how modern nations might fight an industrialized war. While there was much wishful thinking that the war might be over by Christmas, Canadian newspapers throughout July warned of a coming Armageddon. Reporters revealed that the European nations could field million-man armies and were armed with thousands of machine guns and artillery pieces. This seemed to indicate a long and bloody war. But the soon-to-be raised Canadian Expeditionary Force would consist of farmers, clerks, bankers and students, most of whom had never contemplated how to fight a modern, industrialized war.