Wolseley Reinvented: Narratives About Nation-Building and Empire in Rural Saskatchewan During the First World War

In the early twentieth century, the community of Wolseley, Saskatchewan had a majority Protestant population with strong ties to the British empire. Despite being an agricultural settler community, when the First World War broke out, many of the men who enlisted had the opportunity to access an exemption as a farmer but felt a duty to enlist in the war and fight on behalf of the British Empire. Throughout the war, the community showed a high level of social and financial support for the war. The high enlistment numbers put a strain on agricultural production and the death or injury of young people brought trauma and grief to the community. One of the measures that the community took to commemorate their war dead and come to terms with their losses was the construction of a war memorial, the design of which reflects both traditional British memorials and the community’s Protestant identity. In the later years of the war and its aftermath, rhetoric surrounding the war increasingly favoured a narrative that the war’s purpose had been nation building. Because the Dominion of Canada, and the province of Saskatchewan especially, were relatively young at the start of the war, a national identity had not yet coalesced. Wolseley became one of many western Canadian communities who came to understand their participation in the war as a pillar of their civic identity and remembered their participation in the war as a contribution to Canada. Despite initial support for the war being rooted in an interest in supporting the empire, it became a source of pride in Wolseley that Canada had made valuable contributions to the war that were distinct from their connection to Britain.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.