Supporting War Efforts: WW1 and WW2

July 4, 2016
Supporting War Efforts
Introduction
There are quite a number of negative impacts that are associated with war, such as death, sicknesses, famine, life threatening injuries, economic collapse and destruction. These are all impacts that have been experienced in various wars large or small. The first and second world are some of the largest wars in the world as their names suggest and ones that have massive impacts. One of the most intriguing aspect of the war despite the fact that it brings pain and destruction, is that it also brings about cohesion and nationalism among the people (Pierson). People tend to rally behind the war efforts in their country in a bid to make sure that their heritage and culture are not overrun by the enemy forces. It is for this reason that people tend to volunteer in numbers when a chance to defend their country comes calling. For the Canadians supporting their allies was a crucial commitment. Giving the British the support they needed was a cause enough for thousands of Canadians to join the army and head for England. The first and second world wars were no different, as when the people were asked to volunteer and take part in the war among other military activities, they came out in numbers, men and women(W. St.G.WALKER). Other than the overarching reasons associated with nationalism, there are quite a number of reasons that people joined the war efforts in the first and the second world wars. Some are quite unique to either of the wars while others are common in the two wars, in Canada. For the Canadians fighting along allied forces was a crucial aspect. Much like most wars, the parties involved will form allies and join forces based on their matching interests.
Section One
The First World War
This is a war that was thought as the one that would bring an end to all the wars in the world. It was considered a war that would bring the elements of democracy to the world governments (W. St.G.WALKER). Gender disparity was a common issue during the First World War and it also meant that the soldiers were divided along the racial lines and so were their obligations. As such, for the minorities, in most of the incidences at the start of the war, were not considered to be qualified to fight. This was a common phenomenon among the European nations and then borrowed and practiced in Canada. Killing the Germans was for example considered to be a white man's job (W. St.G.WALKER). The Canadians as such aligned their war efforts along their British allies and made their commitment to the union.
There was also the aspect of unemployment that prompted the army to enlist the service of more than 25,000 volunteers to the war efforts. The number of the people that were willing to join the army were more than the positions that were available (Glassford). As such, the military had the luxury of picking who they wanted to enlist in the force. This was a clear indication of the level of support that the people were willing to give to the war efforts in support of the British.
Those who joined the army at the time from the various minorities groups, gained recognition in their communities (Glassford). As such, for most of the recruits, this was a chance to help their communities gain the recognitio...