During the Battle of Ypres, Canadian soldiers shed their sidekick status as an extension of the British Army. They also changed the way a country saw itself.

Now this summer, an intensive five-week course by Brock University historian Daniel Samson will discuss how the First World War altered Canada’s national psyche. It will also let students consider similarities between Canada’s role in that conflict a century ago, and its willing, some would say eager, entry into present-day conflicts of the Middle East.

Recruitment poster reflects the end of an era, as the First World War gave Canada a sense of identity that was more Canadian and less British.

At Ypres in 1915, French troops were devastated by the first chlorine gas attacks of the war, and left a huge hole in the Allied line. The Canadian Division, outmanned and outgunned, fought with fierce determination for nearly a week, slowing the German offensive long enough so replacement troops could come up from the rear to hold the line.

It was a defining moment that also resonated back home. Among English-Canadians it unleashed an unprecedented wave of pride and Canadian self-identity. But for many French-Canadians, as well as many immigrants, pacifists, and others, this was a foreign war whose interests did not seem aligned with Canada. The war united many Canadians, but the 1917 federal election was one of the most divisive in Canadian history.

“At the start of the First World War, most English-Canadians believed in imperialism, that their future, like their past, was directly tied to advancing the ideals and practices of the British Empire,” says Samson. “Periods of war were crucibles for defining and redefining that commitment”.

“The argument can be made that today we’re trying to please America, compared to the First World War when we were trying to please the British. Today some ask, just as many did during World War I, are these military actions in Canada’s interests? Such a question is vital, as it compels us to ask, what are Canada’s interests?”

Samson says most historians conclude Canada effectively bought its independence by contributing to the First World War, but the price was steep: more than 60,000 Canadians killed, and hundreds of thousands physically or mentally scarred.

It was also an era of social and political advances for Canada: women getting the vote, greater autonomy on the international stage, increased industrial productivity, improvements in the emerging welfare state, and a new place for immigrants and visible minorities in the country. Did the war cause these?

“Obviously the war hurried these outcomes,” says Samson, “but most were coming into place anyhow. Perhaps we emphasise factors like the victories at Vimy and Passchendaele as a way to justify the loss of so many young lives.

“Discussing such questions is what history is all about. Often times students think history is about another world, that it has no relevance to their lives. But the young men and women of 1914 were very much like young people today. Young and hopeful for a bright future, their thoughts were more on love and marriage than the fate of the Empire. That changed”.

Samson’s course — HIST 2Q90, Canada: Nationalism, War, and Empire — begins July 13. For information, or to register, go to brocku.ca/springsummer