Canada and the Twenties

1. Canada and the Twenties Socials 11 October 12, 2011

2. Jazz Age http://www.squidoo.com/1920s-dance

3. Charleston http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNAOHtmy4j0&feature=related

4. Fashion

5. Speakeasies

6. Art • Group of Seven • Emily Carr

7. Slang of the 1920s • http://local.aaca.org/bntc/slang/slang.htm

9. Canada After WWI

10. Treaty of Versailles • Document that set out the terms for the peace agreement of 1919 • Important points: • Germany’s “guilt clause” • Germany to pay huge reparations • Germany divided, lost territory, map of Europe redrawn • German army restricted to 1000 men, not allowed U-boats or an air force

11. League of Nations • Established by the Treaty of Versailles • Collective security • Idealistic vision rather than practical solution • Could impose economic sanctions, but had no military force • United States refuses to join even though it was their idea

13. Aftermath of War • Famine in Europe – much of agricultural land destroyed • Spanish Inluenza – killed more people than the war itself • World had to rebuild in many ways

14. Labour Unrest • Soldiers return home in 1919 only to find: • No steady pensions for veterans • No special medical services for the wounded • Few jobs • Employers had grown rich, so workers suffered

15. Labour Unrest • Canadians also dissatisfied: • Agreed to reduced pay during war • Cost of goods soared after the war • Wages no longer covered food and shelter

16. Workers Respond • Workers begin to demand higher wages, better conditions, and the right to join unions. • Many strikes across Canada • Maritimes: • Single-industry communities (British Empire Steel Corporation) • Strikes and unemployment meant economic hardship

17. Workers Respond • Strikes began to turn violent • Western Canada • Union leaders were more socialist – influenced by the Bolsheviks and communism in Russia • Disagreements between Eastern and Western Canada • Found One Big Union (OBU) in 1919 that aims to represent all Canadian workers • Weapon for change: general strike – walkout by all workers

18. Winnipeg General Strike 1919 • May 1919 – all metal and building workers walked off their jobs • 30 000 people went on strike • Demands of the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council: • Higher wages • Shorter work week • Right to collective bargaining – would allow union leaders to negotiate with employers on behalf of union members/workers

20. Winnipeg General Strike • Paralyzed the city – no firefighters, postal workers, telephones or telegraphs, newspapers, streetcars, or deliveries of bread or milk. • Many business leaders, politicians and industrialists opposed the strikers – they came together to form the Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand.

21. Winnipeg General Strike • Union leaders seen as a communist conspiracy • Federal government feared that it would spread, so they amended the Immigration Act in order to deport foreign-born union leaders. • Mayor of Winnipeg had workers fired and strike leaders arrested.

22. Bloody Saturday • June 21 – parade to protest the mayor’s actions. • Royal North West Mounted Police charged into the crowd and things turned violent. • Casualties: one dead, 30 injured, many arrested. • Strikers returned to work after 43 days.

24. Negative results: • Leaders imprisoned • Many strikers lost their jobs • Rift between working class and businesses grew deeper • Positive results: • Royal Commission found grievances to be valid • J.S. Woodsworth was arrested, later founded the CCF • Set a precedent

25. Questions? • Handouts: “The Workers’ Revolution” and “Cynicism: The Second Coming”