The Winnipeg General Strike The year of 1919 has been one of the most influential years of strikes
in Canadian history. The event that occurred on this year still
lingers in Canadian minds and continues to be one of the most
meaningful and powerful effects of labor protest and the struggle of
people to create trade union rights. As it is stated it is “the first
and the only time in Canadian history that a major city was split
clearly into two opposing classes.” (McNaught, 1963). The implications
of The Winnipeg General Strike were far more reaching that just
Winnipeg alone. It is argued that: “it involved the federal state,
which threw its whole weight behind the business interests of
Winnipeg, and aroused deep and bitter feelings in the ranks of labor
all over the country. Its impact was far wider than the immediate
economic issues of the strike. In the end, the six weeks that shook
Winnipeg also shook the politics of Canada, and the legacy of the
strike is more to be seen in its political consequences that in any
other of its many aspects.” (Penner, 1975).
During WWI, which began in 1914, Canada showed its loyalty to Britain
by sending many Canadian soldiers to fight in the battlefield. Canada
was also a big supplier of ammunition and food to Europe during the
war. This created many jobs during the war and even the unskilled and
unemployed were able to find employment. Although war proved to be
go...
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...rtially achieve their goals.
Reference
Abid, May 20, 1919.
Abid., May 30, 1919.
Belawyder, A. (1967). The Winnipeg General Strike. Toronto, ON: The
Copp Clark
Publishing Company.
Bercuson, D.J., McNaught, K. (1974). The Winnipeg General Strike: 1919.
Toronto, ON:
Longman Canada Limited.
Masters, D.C. (1950). The Winnipeg General Strike. Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto
Press.
McNaught, K. (1963). A Prophet in Politics. Toronto, ON: University of
Toronto Press.
Penner, N. (1975). Winnipeg 1919: The striker’s own history of the
Winnipeg General
Strike. Toronto, ON: James Lorimer & Company Publishers.
Rea, J.E. (1973). The Winnipeg General Strike. Toronto, ON: Holt,
Rinehart and
Winston of Canada Limited.
Robson, K.C. (1970). Royal Commission. Manitoba.
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