Umme Abiha
May 5 2019
Individual project- WWII Conscription
This diorama is on the zombies (Canadian men conscripted as soldiers to fight in WW2)
protesting for conscription that took place in the 1940’s. In early 1940, Prime Minister Mackenzie Lyon
King pledged to limit Canada’s direct military involvement in the war (Conscription). Regardless of this,
many Canadians, both English and French speaking citizens enlisted in it. Again like before, the
French-speaking population of Canada completely opposed conscription and felt no obligation to
participate in the European conflict. Although conscription was promised not to be implemented, the
government did impose the National Resources Mobilization Act in June 1940, which allowed the
government to register men and women to work jobs that contributed to the war effort on the
homefront, but did not force them to serve overseas. Two years later, in 1942, Nazi Germany had
occupied a large portion of Europe and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain, along with the
support of English-speaking Canadians, was pressuring Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King to
impose conscription in order to provide a more active contribution to the war effort.
As a result, Prime Minister Mackenzie King decided to hold a plebiscite (a national vote to ask
for the opinions of the country’s citizens) on whether the government should revoke its promise on not
imposing conscription. Unsurprisingly, most of English-speaking Canada supported conscription if
necessary, while 72% of the French-speaking opposed it. Ultimately, 80% of the country supported
conscription if necessary and passed a bill that authorized conscription. Despite being supported by the
majority of the population, Mackenzie King was hesitant to proceed especia...
