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1914-1945: Overview / War Years / Interwar Years / World War II / Changing Attitudes
War Years
The stereotyping of continental Europeans as political radicals, however, became still more widespread after the peace was signed as demobilized troops began returning to Canada. Labour conditions worsened and organized strikes loomed, especially when unemployment figures began to rise. Labour papers estimated that 10.2 per cent of organized labour was unemployed in 1919. By 1921, the figure had risen to 16.3 per cent. When inflation and working conditions prompted the massive Winnipeg General Strike in 1919, authorities perceived the city's large and diverse ethnic communities as Bolshevik sympathizers, responsible for the strike action.
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National Archives of Canada (PA-163001). |
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Crowd Gathered during the Winnipeg General Strike, Winnipeg, MB, 21 June 1919. According to many Canadians, immigrants initiated the Winnipeg General Strike and the significant upheaval that it caused. The perception was that the strike was at least partly a consequence of the labour and political radicalism that emerged in Canada during the post-First World War period. Immigrants were major contributors to this process of radicalization. |
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