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The outbreak of the First World War in August, 1914 marked the end of the first and largest wave of Ukrainian immigration to Canada. As a colony of Great Britain and a member of the British Empire, Canada was allied with France, Russia and later Italy. War was declared against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Imperial Germany and the Ottoman Empire. Most of the Ukrainian immigrants had arrived from Halychyna, then under the administration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and as such, those who were not naturalized were classified as 'enemy aliens'. This led to the internment of some 5,000 Ukrainian Canadians in internment camps all across the country. The internment experience viewed by the Ukrainian Canadian community as unjust and unnecessary, caused resentment against the federal government in the Ukrainian community which continues to this day. As well, the Ukrainian press was heavily restricted and the bilingual schools were closed. Nevertheless, some 10, 000 Ukrainian Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces and served in England and France. Some were obliged to anglicize their names to avoid discrimination. With the prosperity of the war years and increased education, the early homesteads gradually developed into farms with frame houses, agricultural machinery and specialized farming methods. In July, 1918 the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church emerged from a church council which decided to create an autocephalous Orthodox Church with its own bishops and church hierarchy. The collapse
of the Imperial Russian Empire in 1917 and the Austro-Hungarian Empire
in 1918 and especially the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia brought about
many changes in Ukraine and in eastern Europe. These years were characterized
by war, invasions, political instability, chaos and famine. Ukraine managed
to gain independence on January 22, 1918, which was supported by many Ukrainian
Canadians. A delegation representing the Ukrainian Canadian community was
sent to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 in the hope of promoting the
independence of Ukraine. However, after years of internal unrest
and foreign invasions, Ukraine was incorporated into the Soviet Union
in 1922. Parts of Ukraine came under the administration of
neighboring countries, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Roumania and Ukrainian
Canadians became divided in their support or opposition to the new Soviet
Union. This question of supporting or opposing the Soviet Union and
Soviet Ukraine became the dominant question among Ukrainian Canadian individuals,
institutions and organizations.
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