A Dark Period Of Global Upheaval

Some recruitment posters from World War One, in both official languages, are seen here.

It was a war that had come at great cost. The country would never be the same.

This portrait by William Orpen is of Robert Borden, the Prime Minister of the country through the First World War.

With the amount of things Canadians had done during the Great War, Borden pushed for them to have a place in the peace negotiations, as well as a greater say for their place in the world. This was still a period in which the British decided foreign policy for their dominions, after all.

The Great Depression was a calamity in and of itself, with the collapse of the economy worldwide plunging the world into the darkness. Canada was hit by it as much as any other country. Here, this includes a quilt made by a church congregation women's organization.

The CBC (Radio-Canada in French) is a legacy of this period, founded as a public broadcaster.

World War Two would drive the world into more upheaval, but also bring us out of the malaise of the Depression. Canada joined Britain from the beginning of the war, and again, the country's military would distinguish itself throughout.

Two photographs taken during the war. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King hosted two conferences at Quebec City for the western allies, with Winston Church and Franklin Roosevelt, and the Earl of Athlone, who was the governor-general at the time. At bottom, a photograph of King taken during his radio broadcast on VE Day.

Canadian industrial output for the war was total. The country was dedicated to winning the war.

And when it all came to an end, both in Europe and in Asia, the country would celebrate, welcome their sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers home, and grieve for those who never made it back.