As the nineteenth century ended and the twentieth began, naval technology
passed through a revolution of sorts which made most of the world's war
vessels obsolete. For the British Empire, whose ability to project its
power was based almost entirely on naval supremacy, these changes,
coupled with the sudden rise of industrial Germany, led to a national hysteria.
By the end of the first decade of the twentieth-century, many of the
leading minds in Britain were convinced that for the Empire to survive,
the colonies -- Canada included -- would have to help pay for the construction
of a new class of battleships, called
dreadnoughts.
Canadian
imperialists, by and large English-speaking, agreed that Canada should do its
part to support the costs of maintaining the British Empire. But Canadian
nationalists, mostly French-speaking did not. They loathed the idea of a
direct monetary contribution. And Prime Minister
government was caught in the middle.
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So Laurier settled on a compromise. Canada would build a small navy
-- a Canadian navy -- to satisfy the nationalists. But in times of war --
to satisfy the imperialists -- the Canadian navy would be placed under
British Command.
Naturally, Laurier's compromise
pleased no one. Nationalists complained that a Canadian navy placed
under British command during a British war was, in fact, a British navy.
Imperialists, on the other hand, derided the few aging vessels which Canada
acquired as Laurier's "tin pot navy."
The
naval crisis, coming as it did in the wake of Canada's participation
in the Boer War, sparked the undying opposition of such prominent Canadian
nationalists as
Henri Bourassa and, by 1911, resulted in the defeat of Laurier's government.
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Further reading:
A Delicate Balance:
The Motivations behind Laurier's Imperial Relations, 1896-1911 by Karrie Wolfe.
In Attaché: An International Affairs Journal. Trinity College, University of Toronto.
L'Affirmation du nationalism canadien-français
Par Carl Pépin. Histoire du Québec. Jérôme Oullet.
Imperialism and Nationalism
Lecture (Introduction to Canadian History). University of Victoria.
© Brent Johner. Originally published on Canadian History
on About.com, August 2000. Reprint rights available.
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