Propaganda and Censorship During Canada's Great WarCanadians entered the Great War in August 1914 viewing armed conflict as a rather majestic affair. But before long, opposing armies were slaughtering each other on the battlefield in numbers never equalled before or since. With victory hanging in the balance, both private and governmental opinion-makers began working to prop up notions of the conflict - and the enemy - that sometimes had little to do with the facts. They were guided by concern for security and morale, but they played upon long-established and war-heightened attitudes of imperialism, romanticism and racialism. The press of the day competed for readers with ridiculously upbeat stories. Patriotic editors killed most of the disheartening reports filed from the front, and Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest J. Chambers, Canada's Chief Censor, killed most of the rest. In November 1918, Canadians waited to welcome home the troops. |
Contents
A Nation Rallies to the Cause | 3 |
Canadas Great War of Deception | 27 |
A Loyal or Muzzled Press? | 65 |
The Censors Extended Scope | 97 |
Newspapers for the Fighting Man | 127 |
Letters and Diaries from Canadian Soldiers | 153 |
Common terms and phrases
Aitken Allied American Anzacs April Archives Arthur Currie Australian authorities Battalion battle Borden Britain British campaign Canada Canadian Corps Canadian Expeditionary Force Canadian soldiers casualties censorship cent Chambers Chambers's Chief Censor Chief Press Censor citizens civilians combat conscription Corps correspondence country's despite Diary Dominion editors enemy ethnic fact federal File Film forces France front-line German Granatstein History homefront Hughes Ibid J.L. Granatstein Johnny Canuck Journal July King's Printer labour London major manly March McClelland and Stewart military Militia Minister Montreal Morton Motion Picture National newspapers Office Ontario Ottawa overseas papers patriotic Police political post-war produced propaganda Quebec records recruits regiments reports Robert Robert Laird Borden Service Social socialist sources tion Toronto Press Toronto Star Trench Warfare trenches troops Ukrainian University of Toronto Unpublished M.A. Thesis veterans Victory War Measures Act wartime William Winnipeg World Ypres