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Dispute with US over Alaskan borders
During Gold Rush dispute over the two key ports of Dyea and Skagway.
US got control of the ports -
Period: to
Mexican civil war
led by Carranza and other leaders
Lost of 900,000 inhabitants in Mexico (plague, famine, emigrate)
100,000 people in army, consume 60% of budget
Railroads were bankrupt
1,000/20,000 mi of telegraph wire destroyed
50% of estate were wasted
$1 billion of foreign debt -
Naval Service Act
Laurier passed the Naval Service Act to gain a little independence from Britain (there were only 2 cruisers).
The consevatives saw this Navy as a joke, and wanted a joint navy with the British Imperial Fleet. -
Borden's Conservative Party won the federal elections
Conservative Robert Borden wanted Canada to be the leader of a British imperial federation dominated by Britain and the white dominions of the empire -
Canada enters WWI
Canada entered WWI as a dominion of Britain. There was a huge patriotic response, and hundreds of thousands of people volunteered to fight in Europe. This war helped created Canada as a nation. -
Period: to
WW1
Britain (&Canada as a dominion) and France are known as the Allied powers. They go to war against the Central Powers, which are Germany and its allies. -
Opening of Panama Canal
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Declaration of Neutrality
US did not want to take part of the war because:
1. It was too far, and the civilians did not want to go to war
2. Wilson wanted to be part of the peace-negotiations
3. There were immigrants from both sides of the conflict within the country -
Wartime Measures Act
Written enactment of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. -
Pan-American Financial Conference
Date unclear -
Germany declares British Water a war-zone
-reserved the right to sink any ships travelling to Britain (including those with a neutral flag) --> this method of fighting is known as unrestricted submarine warfare. -
British ship RMS Lusitania is sunk
128 Americans among the 1200 dead
Germany agreed to end unrestricted submarine warfare after Wilson threatened them. -
Brazilian vessel Rio Branco sunk
Brazil had sizeable merchant fleet that suffered due to damages of unrestricted submarine warfare. -
German Resumption of Unrestricated Submarine Warfare
The Sussex Pledge was signed in March 1916 where Germany promissed to evacuate all ships before sinking them. However, on February 1st 1917, it resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Zimmermann Telegram
coded telegram intercepted by British Intelligences from German Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German Ambassador to Mexico Heinrich von Eckart.
proposed Mexico to be in a secret alliance with Germany and if they won the attack on the USA they would get back New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona
Mexico knew nothing about it, and was not in a position to declare war on the US anyways, however it was a further pretext for war.
British Intelligences intercepted the message and sent it to the US -
New constitution under Carranza
Article 27: Foreigners could not buy Mexican land unless they were prepared to accept Mexican law, subsoil deposits belonged to Mexican government (taxed)
Response to foreign interest in mining and oil interest
Consequence: US restrict its imports to Mexico -
The Parana Sunk
Brazil had sizeable merchant fleet that suffered due to damages of unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Decleration of War on Germany
After the augmenting pressure from Germany on the US people due to:
1. The Zimmerman Telegram
2. Black Tom's munition factory explosion
3. Unrestricted submarine warfare
and Wilson's desire to take part in the post-war peace-making agreements, The United States joined the conflict in 1917. -
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge but suffered 10,600 casualties.
the success of this capture was seen as a significant achievement and a defining moment in the creation of Canadian identity. -
Failure to organize Neutrality Conference in Buenos Aires
Date unclear
Irigoyen called for all South American states to convene in order to discuss of continent-wide neutrality. He believed the war was an opportunity to extend its power in Latin America. This was a deliberate snub towards the US -
Sao Paulo strikes
Date unclear
massive strikes bring Sao Paulo to a halt, workers successful in better wages and working hours. Civil unrest result of crippling inflation. -
Espionage Act
Wilson distrusted many German-Americans and accused them of espionage and sabotage.
the extent and impact of these activities may have been exaggerated however it fueled more resentment against Germany -
German offensive letter towards Argentine leaders leaked
Unclear date
a letter from the German Minister in Buenos Aires was intercepted and published in US newspapers. This insulted many Argentine leaders calling them “pompous ass”, and insinuating that Argentine ships should either be completely left alone or “sunk without a trace” → this meant all survivors could be machine gunned to death so there would be no witness of the sinking and no blame towards Germany. -
Brazil Declares war on Germany
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Brazil enters the War against Germany
Brazil declares war on Germany because another ship the Macau being sunk. Was fed up with submarine Warfare. -
Controversial Federal Election returned Borden as Prime Minister
The Federal election should have been held in 1916 but Borden postponed it and sought a coalition government to give the impression of unity during a conflict
Borden called his party the Unionist Party made up of Conservatives and Liberals and called for a federal election in December 2017 -
Announcement of the Fourteen Points
President Woodrow Wilson proposed a 14-point program for world peace. These points were later taken as the basis for peace negotiations at the end of the war. -
Sedition Act
an Act that extended the Espionage Act which stated that people or countries could not say negative things about the government or the war. -
Armistice Signed
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Tragic week
lowest point on the post-war industrial unrest
Jan 3rd- British owned Vasena strikers became violent when they fired on police. Jan 7th- battled with the police again and lost 5 of their members. Jan 9th- at the funerals there were riots and attacks on property throughout the city -
Paris Peace Converence opened
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Senate rejected US membership of League of Nations
Senators were afraid that membership in the League of Nations would reduce the sovereignty of the United States and its ability to have complete control over its own foreign policy and military actions.
