Military History of Canada During World War II - Declaration of War

Declaration of War

In 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, Canada was still a quasi-independent Dominion of the British Empire and automatically went to war when Britain did, albeit with full autonomy to decide the form and extent of its involvement. However, the 1931 Statute of Westminster had transformed Canada into a fully sovereign state, theoretically co-equal with Britain and the other Dominions of the British Commonwealth. Despite this, some commentators at the time suggested that Canada was still bound by Britain's declaration of war because it had been made in the name of their common monarch, but Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King was unshakable, and repeatedly declared that "Parliament will decide".

As late as 1936 King had told Parliament "Our country is being drawn into international situations to a degree that I myself think is alarming." Both the government and the public remained reluctant to participate in a European war, in part because of the memories of the Conscription Crisis of 1917 that divided French and English Canada. Both King and opposition leader Robert James Manion stated their opposition to conscripting troops for overseas service in March 1939. Nonetheless, King had not changed his view of 1923 that Canada would participate in a war by the Empire whether or not the United States did. By August 1939 his cabinet, including French Canadians, was united for war in a way that it probably would not have been during the Munich Crisis, although both cabinet members and the country based their support in part on expecting that Canada's participation would be "limited".

After the United Kingdom declared war on 1 September 1939, Parliament was called in special session and both King and Manion stated their support for Canada following Britain. Unlike 1914 when war came as a surprise, the government had prepared various measures for price controls, rationing, and censorship, and the War Measures Act passed in 1914 was still in effect. After two days of debate, the House of Commons approved an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne on 9 September 1939 giving authority to declare war to King's government. A small group of Quebec legislators attempted to amend the bill, and CCF party leader J. S. Woodsworth stated that some of his party opposed it, but the bill passed by acclamation. The Senate also passed the bill that day. The Cabinet drafted a proclamation of war that night, which Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir signed on 10 September. Canada later also declared war on Italy (June 11, 1940), Japan (December 7, 1941), and other Axis powers, enshrining the principle that the Statute of Westminster conferred these sovereign powers to Canada.