“Stick it, Canada! Buy more Victory Bonds!” The First World War
demanded deep personal sacrifice in the field and at home – even
when home was far from the front. It also made unrelenting financial
demands on both the governments and populations of Canada and
Newfoundland. 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 six bond-selling campaigns received an astounding
response, generating revenue that covered almost a third of the
country’s total war costs, which were estimated at $6.6 billion.
This amount was modest in comparison with the burdens placed on
European countries, but it was still a dramatic contribution from a
dominion so distant from the front. This story is one of inexorable
need, shrewd propaganda, resistance, engagement, and long-term
consequence. Boosters and Barkers mines a wide range of sources in
Canada, the United States, and Britain to reveal how bond campaigns
used coercive, modern marketing techniques – encompassing print,
images, and music – to sell both the war and wide public
participation.
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Financing Canada’s Involvement in the First World War
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780774869614
Publisert
2024
Utgiver
University of British Columbia Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter