Canada and the First World War

Introduction

From 1914 to 1918, thousands of Canadian men and women were called upon to contribute to the effort required for the First World War, an event that transformed our nation, culture, economy and identity. This exhibition is designed to illustrate, through Library and Archives Canada collections, the many roles that Canadian men and women played during the First World War, and the definite mark the war left on our society.

The documents selected are not intended to rewrite the history of the conflict but rather to present the variety and wealth of the sources held at Library and Archives Canada. You will notice that most of the documents on record are in English; we must remember that at that time, fifty years before the institution of official bilingualism, the affairs of state were conducted exclusively in English.

The large scale digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) attestation papers that are part of this project was realized in part through the generous contributions of Industry Canada [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/E/view.html], since 1996.