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History Post-confederation (1867-)

Boosters and Barkers

Financing Canada’s Involvement in the First World War

by (author) David Roberts

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2023
Category
Post-Confederation (1867-), Military Policy, Canada, World War I
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774869614
    Publish Date
    Nov 2023
    List Price
    $125.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774869584
    Publish Date
    Nov 2023
    List Price
    $99.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774869591
    Publish Date
    Jun 2024
    List Price
    $39.95

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Description

“Stick it, Canada! Buy more Victory Bonds.” The First World War demanded deep personal sacrifice on the battlefield and on the home front – and it also made unrelenting financial demands. Boosters and Barkers is a highly original examination of the drive to finance Canadian participation in the conflict. David Roberts examines Ottawa’s calls for direct public contributions in the form of war bonds; the intersections with imperial funding, taxation, and conventional revenue; and the substantial fiscal implications of participation in the conflict during and after the war. Canada’s bond campaigns used print, images, and music to sell both the war and public engagement. They received an astounding response, generating revenue to cover almost a third of the country’s total war costs, which were estimated at $6.6 billion – a dramatic charge on a dominion so far from the front. This story is one of inexorable need, shrewd propaganda, resistance, engagement, and long-term consequences.

About the author

Contributor Notes

David Roberts is a retired editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada. In addition to writing many entries for the DCB, he is also the author of In the Shadow of Detroit: Gordon M. McGregor, Ford of Canada, and Motoropolis. He lives in Don Mills, Ontario.