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Embattled Nation explores Canada’s tumultuous wartime election of 1917 and the people and issues that made it a pivotal moment in Canadian history.
Embattled Nation explores the drama of Canada’s tumultuous election of 1917. In the context of the bloody battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, and of the Halifax explosion, Sir Robert Borden’s Conservative government introduced conscription and called for a wartime election. Most Liberals, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, opposed compulsory military service, while in Quebec a new movement emerged to contest the Canadian government’s attitude and policy. To survive and win the election, Prime Minister Borden resorted to unprecedented measures that tested the fabric of Canadian democracy.
Embattled Nation explores the drama of Canada’s tumultuous election of 1917. In the context of the bloody battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, and of the Halifax explosion, Sir Robert Borden’s Conservative government introduced conscription and called for a wartime election. Most Liberals, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, opposed compulsory military service, while in Quebec a new movement emerged to contest the Canadian government’s attitude and policy. To survive and win the election, Prime Minister Borden resorted to unprecedented measures that tested the fabric of Canadian democracy.
Price: $29.99
Pages: 360
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Imprint: Dundurn Press
Publication Date:
31 October 2017
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781459737266
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
Embattled Nation is a timely re-examination of the hard-fought and bitter election campaign that shaped modern Canada by two exceptional historians, who have spent their careers immersed in the Laurier-Borden era. Presented in breezy and accessible prose, their frenzied account is the first sustained study of Canada’s first wartime election, and taps an extensive range of new private and public sources in its detailed look at the string of blunders and missed-opportunities that put Canada’s national unity on the line in 1917. A sobering reminder that politics matters!
Patrice Dutil is professor of politics and public administration at Ryerson University and the president of the Champlain Society. He is the author and editor of many books on Canadian politics. He lives in Toronto.
David MacKenzie is professor of history at Ryerson University and the author of several books on Canadian history and international relations. He lives in Toronto.
David MacKenzie is professor of history at Ryerson University and the author of several books on Canadian history and international relations. He lives in Toronto.
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 The Conundrum: Robert Borden, War, and the Call for an Election
2 The Response of French Canada: Henri Bourassa, Schools, and Nationalities
3 The Issue: Conscription
4 The Liberals in Opposition: Wilfrid Laurier’s Leadership Tested
5 Creating Divisions, Choosing Sides: The Great Gerrymander
6 Framing the Campaign
7 The Campaign: French Canada
8 The Campaign: English Canada
9 The Results
10 The Aftermath: Union without Unity
11 Conclusion
Appendix 1: Results of the 1917 Election
Appendix 2: Winners of the 1917 Election
Appendix 3: Electoral Maps
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Image Credits
Index
Acknowledgements
1 The Conundrum: Robert Borden, War, and the Call for an Election
2 The Response of French Canada: Henri Bourassa, Schools, and Nationalities
3 The Issue: Conscription
4 The Liberals in Opposition: Wilfrid Laurier’s Leadership Tested
5 Creating Divisions, Choosing Sides: The Great Gerrymander
6 Framing the Campaign
7 The Campaign: French Canada
8 The Campaign: English Canada
9 The Results
10 The Aftermath: Union without Unity
11 Conclusion
Appendix 1: Results of the 1917 Election
Appendix 2: Winners of the 1917 Election
Appendix 3: Electoral Maps
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Image Credits
Index