Nearly 100,000 Canadians lost their lives in this war, and the society itself was transformed from a mainly agricultural nation to a modern, industrialized country.
When the 1st Canadian Exbitionary Corps landed in France in 1915, the bloody trench warfare that characterized the Great War was well under way. The Corps was immediately sent to shore up holes in the front lines and to relieve tired British divisions.
In 1914, when the call to arms had been issued, nearly 2 million young Canadian men volunteered. The first 110,000 landed at Paschendael, France, during one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
During this battle, the Germans first used chemical gasses such as mustard and chlorine gas. Many Canadians were killed or maimed during this time, but the Corps gained a reputation for never retreating, and an enterprising young rifleman even had a good idea to urinate on a handkerchief during gas attacks and wrap it around his head. The chemical compounds in his urine filtered out the gas, and this was later turned into the gas mask.
By the time the battle of Paschendael had ended with no victory for either the allies or the Germans, nearly 2 million people were dead, including 21,000 Canadians.
The British High Command decided it was time to push an offensive on the German lines around the Somme River in Western France. About this time, the 2nd Canadian Exbiditionary Corps arrived, and was immediately committed to the center of the British offensive.
During the Battle of the Somme, which was even bloodier than Paschedael, Canadians earned the reputation (at great cost) of being shock troops, and German commanders said after the war that the Canadians were the only other troops besides the Americans that they really feared. The Somme cost Canada nearly 60,000 dead.
As the British offensive ground to a halt in 1917, Canadian command came up with a plan to seize a vital ridge that dominated the Somme River. The name of the ridge was Vimy, and the French had tried taking it in 1915 but had been repelled with nearly 1 million casualties.
The Canadians changed the standard allied tactics, however, advancing under cover of artillery fire instead of waiting for it to stop, and travelling in small squads instead of in a massive wave. The battle lasted for just under 24 hours, and when the smoke had cleared, Canadian forces had absolute command of Vimy Ridge. This broke the German lines, and with the entry of America into the war that same year, the German Army began to crumble.
