Canadian History Post Confederation: Robert Borden’s and W.L.M. King’s War-Time Leadership

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Robert Borden’s domestic policy
W. L. M. King’s domestic policy
Robert Borden’s international affairs
W. L. M. King’s international affairs
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The first half of the XX century was a critical period issuing the nations and their leaders new and more profound challenges. For Canada, as the World Wars have come into public attention focus, handling the country’s inner processes and its relations with the world has become a crucial matter. The two remarkable Canadians, Sir Robert Borden and W. L. M. King, have achieved significant results in terms of managing the country in military situations both on a domestic and international level.

Robert Borden’s domestic policy

During Sir Robert Borden’s administration term, Canada was involved in World War I. On the field of his domestic policy, Sir Borden insisted that the War Measures Act of 1914 should be brought into force, thus remodeling the governmental establishment into a war-time institution. This led to the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and fractioned the country in terms of language. The War and the post-War period in Canada were not peacetimes: the unprecedented Winnipeg strike out broke due to inflation and unemployment and had to be put down, which is what Sir Borden did (Francis and Smith 289). Another factor of Borden’s domestic policy was handling the issue of women’s rights in relation to equal suffrage; a bill granting women the right to vote was introduced in 1918, immediately after the war was over.

W. L. M. King’s domestic policy

In his turn, as far as conscription is concerned, W. L. M. King had to face the second Conscription Crisis as well. King faced the challenge of restricting the conscription for home defense only. Still, the deliberations concerning the matter had a heavy impact on King; in his diary, he wrote:

I mentioned to St. Laurent… how very difficult it was for me all alone at Laurier House with no one to talk to and by myself to face over too long a period the kind of situation I am faced with today. He was very helpful. (Neatby par. 87)

As to women’s rights, following his predecessor and promoting his ideas, King made another important step, that is the appointment of Cairine Wilson as the Senator. She was the first female holding such an appointment.

Robert Borden’s international affairs

In his international affairs, Borden took part in the transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations. The denomination was agreed upon during the Imperial Conference in 1917 (Brown par. 98). He also advocated for Canada as a separate nation which he considered it to have become during World War I, striving for its right to sign the Treaty of Versailles on its own and be an independent member of the League of Nations. This enabled Canada to act as a separate – however minor – military power.

W. L. M. King’s international affairs

In comparison to Sir Borden, to further develop Canadian autonomy, King expanded the Department of International Affairs (Conrad et al. 369). This, in turn, was the main component of his general strategy of separating Canada from Britain, France, and the US. Furthermore, King played a crucial part in supplying the Commonwealth with provisions, armor units, and troops; he showed himself capable of fast and cost-neutral mobilization in war conditions.

Conclusion

To recapitulate, on a domestic level Sir Robert Borden’s and W. L. M. King’s war-time political activity mainly concerned the Conscription Crisis and female rights. On an international level, the Prime Ministers aimed at achieving Canadian autonomy. As compared to Sir Borden, who successfully pioneered in women’s suffrage rights, thus laying the basis for the potential eradication of sexism and misogyny in the future, King declared himself as a more consistent leader, squarely facing the conscription conflict and acting accordingly in the conditions of war.

Works Cited

Brown, Robert Craig. Borden, Sir, Robert Laird. 2003. Web. Web.

Conrad, Margaret, Alvin Finkel, Cornelius J. Jaenen, and Veronica Jane Strong-Boag. History of the Canadian Peoples: 1867 to the present, Toronto, Canada: Copp Clark Pitman, 1993. Print.

Francis, Douglas R., and Donald B Smith. Readings in Canadian History: Post-Confederation, Toronto, Canada: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2002. Print.

Neatby, H. Blair. King, William Lyon Mackenzie. 2005. Web.

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