An anti-conscription parade in Montreal on May 17, 1917
Date
1917–18
Location
Quebec
Caused by
Military Service Act, Conscription
Goals
Repeal the Military Service Act
End conscription in Canada
Methods
Mass protests, riots
Resulted in
Parliament passes the Military Service Act
Parties
Imperialists
Prime Minister's Office
Conservative Party
Liberal–Unionists
Ministry of Militia
Nationalists
His Majesty's Opposition
Laurier Liberals
Pacifists and anti-war protesters
Lead figures
Sir Robert Borden Sir Albert Edward Kemp
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Henri Bourassa
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (French: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relations between French Canadians and English Canadians. The vast majority of French Canadians opposed conscription; they felt that they had no particular loyalty to either Britain or France. Led by Henri Bourassa, they felt their only loyalty was to Canada. English Canadians supported the war effort as they felt stronger ties to the British Empire. On January 1, 1918, the Unionist government began to enforce the Military Service Act. The Act caused 404,385 men to be liable for military service, from which 385,510 sought exemption.
The most violent opposition occurred in Quebec, where anti-war attitudes drawn from French-Canadian nationalism sparked a weekend of rioting between March 28 and April 1, 1918. The disturbances began on a Thursday when the Dominion Police detained a French-Canadian man who had failed to present his draft exemption papers. Despite the man's release, an angry mob of nearly 200 soon descended upon the St. Roch District Police Station where the man had been held. Rioters then ransacked the conscription registration office as well as two pro-conscription newspapers within Quebec City. The final and bloodiest conflict happened Easter Monday when crowds once again organized against the military presence in the city, which by then had grown to 1,200 soldiers. The soldiers were ordered to fire on the crowds, immediately causing them to disperse. Though the actual number of civilian casualties is debated, official reports from that day name five men killed by gunfire. Dozens more were injured. Among the soldiers are 32 recorded injuries that day, with no deaths. Monday, April 1, marked the end of the Easter Riots, which totalled over 150 casualties and $300,000 in damage.
and 24 Related for: Conscription Crisis of 1917 information
The ConscriptionCrisisof1917 (French: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly...
for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the ConscriptionCrisisof1917, but not as politically damaging. Canadian Prime Minister William...
A conscriptioncrisis is a public dispute about a policy ofconscription, or mandatory service in the military, known in US English as a "draft". A dispute...
The ConscriptionCrisisof 1918 stemmed from a move by the British government to impose conscription (military draft) in Ireland in April 1918 during the...
Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue ofconscription (see ConscriptionCrisisof1917). The election resulted in Prime Minister Sir Robert...
avoid conscription (and, it is thought, winning the election on that very point). The majority of English Canadians voted in favour of the conscription, while...
They were mostly volunteers, as conscription was not implemented until the end of the war (see ConscriptionCrisisof1917). Ultimately, only 24,132 conscripts...
labour strife and farm tariffs in the Prairie provinces, the ConscriptionCrisisof1917 had a lasting effect on Tory fortunes by making the party virtually...
leader of the Opposition. During World War I and the ConscriptionCrisisof1917, Laurier faced divisions within the Liberal Party as pro-conscription Liberals...
Crisis (French: Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (French: Résistance de Kanehsatà:ke), was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk...
the implementation of compulsory military training and service in the first years of Australia's nationhood. Military conscription for peacetime service...
bill passed on September 20, 1917 by the Conservative government of Robert Borden during the ConscriptionCrisisof1917 and was instrumental in pushing...
introduce conscription during the ConscriptionCrisisof1917. Canada portal Politics portal Socialism portal List of political parties in Canada Mardiros...
laws. Conscription had been a dividing force in Canadian politics during World War I, and those divisions led to the ConscriptionCrisisof1917. Canadians...
death of Laurier in 1919, King acceded to the leadership of the Liberal Party. Taking the helm of a party torn apart by the ConscriptionCrisisof1917, he...
one of a handful of Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs) elected from Quebec during the ConscriptionCrisisof1917. Even before the inquiry into the Halifax...
government did not allow it. Conscription in Australia Compulsory military training in New Zealand ConscriptionCrisisof1917 in Canada Recruitment to the...
The crisisof1917 is the name that Spanish historians have given to the series of events that took place in the summer of1917 in Spain. In particular...
were wounded. The ConscriptionCrisisof1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with...
Quebec: Quebec had been largely Liberal since the ConscriptionCrisisof1917, but upon the resignation of former Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, the province...
what is now called the ConscriptionCrisisof1917, which eventually led to the Quebec riot [fr]. In 1919, the prohibition of spirits was enacted following...
(which resulted in prohibition) and the extension of the vote to women. During the conscriptioncrisisof1917, Sifton supported the Conservative prime minister...
obstruct the draft. The No Conscription League in the United States was founded by anarchist Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman in 1917 in response to the draft...
Global Information