Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Canadian history|European history'

<p>?The Canadian News is Unimportant? analyzes the anomaly of Canada in the British Empire in the nineteenth century by seeking to understand the role that Canada played in the production of empire abroad and understanding of empire in the metropole. The study is situated between the periods of the American Civil and the Canadian confederation movement and explores metropolitan newspapers and parliamentary debates to develop the themes of imagined identities, paternalistic language, and rhetoric of empire. Such explorations illustrate just how difficult it would become for the British metropole to reconcile their constructed image of a dependent and child-like colony with the reality of increasing Canadian autonomy. This study expands imperial historiography by showing just how important the Canadian news was in the constructions of the British empire in the nineteenth century.

When Canada's entry into the First World War was announced on 4 August 1914, thousands of men rushed to volunteer. From October 1914 to late 1919 tens of thousands of Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) soldiers travelled overseas to Britain to await deployment to the Western Front. Dozens of camps were established, predominantly in southern England, where men spent time training for battle. During this time, leave was much sought after by soldiers who were eager to escape the tedium of camp life. Extended leave passes as well as weekend passes allowed men to frequent the local village and also travel to more remote locations. Men at the front were also eager to return to England, often wishing to earn a 'Blighty' in order to escape the fighting on the Western Front. Unable to journey back to Canada, for all of these men Britain became their 'home away from home.' Despite this isolation, neither the Canadian federal government nor the military authorities involved themselves in the men's off-duty time. It was left up to Canadian volunteers to help support the men. It was in this spirit that the King George and Queen Mary Maple Leaf Club was established. Founded by Lady Julia Drummond, a Montreal philanthropist, the Canadian-only Maple Leaf Club catered to the men's many social and recreational needs. Founded upon middle-class moral standards, and promoting the virtues of Canadian nationalism and British imperialism, this, and other privately funded clubs, embodied the notion of public patriotism of the time. As such, these social clubs also symbolize elements of early twentieth-century Canadian social and political culture. Soldiers' leave time also allowed some men an opportunity to reconnect with distant relatives. As a large percentage of CEF soldiers were of British ancestry, quite a number of men were able to visit family still residing in Britain. For others, leave was an occasion to travel the country as tourists. These soldier-tourists journeyed throughout the British Isles, visiting as many tourist sites and popular landmarks as possible, often returning to camp exhausted from their adventures. This off-duty time helped shape Canadian soldiers' experiences of the First World War, yet these experiences are overlooked in the Canadian historiography. Seeking to fill this void, this thesis aims to contribute to a more thorough understanding of the CEF men's time overseas.

This thesis is the first study to examine Canadian and Italian interactions in Ortona from December 1943 until April 1944. The Canadian presence in Ortona is not remembered by the people of the town simply in the context of military operations. As the Canadians occupied Ortona and the surrounding areas for four months, interactions occurred within the context of combat operations, periods of relaxation, and throughout the process of rebuilding infrastructure and developing an economy. Canadian military historians have largely neglected to provide accounts of the various engagements between Canadian soldiers and Italian civilians before, during, and after the Battle of Ortona, unless they affected operations, intelligence, and civil control. The result of these civil-military relationships provided numerous benefits to Canadian and Italian alike. Italians provided Canadian soldiers with intelligence, shelter, food, and psychological support. In turn, the Canadians provided the Italians with medical assistance, food, financial support, and technical support in the rebuilding of Ortona. The interactions promoted Canadians as separate from the other Allied forces in the region and created unique friendships that defined the liberator and the liberated through their mutual dependencies. As historians have focused entirely on the unfolding of military operations in the region of Ortona, this thesis argues that the value of the interactions and the reconstruction process help explain why most Ortonesi developed a positive collective memory of Canadian soldiers.

<p> Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna, or as she is most well-known, Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793) spent her entire life under the watchful eye of many. Fashioned from birth as an Austrian aristocrat, she was transported to France at age fourteen to meet and marry the future king of France. From the onset of her arrival, French writers made attempts to capture what they observed. However, personal bias, political leanings, and accepted rumor led them to do more than record what they saw. Rather than simply narrate a scene, these early witnesses of Marie-Antoinette became the interpreters of her thoughts, motives and feelings. As these interpretations grew, they became widely accepted as truth and eventually became the agents leading to Marie-Antoinette&rsquo;s demise, as previous biographers and historians of Marie-Antoinette have amply discussed.</p><p> In this dissertation I suggest going beyond an analysis of the literature that led to Marie-Antoinette&rsquo;s death, and examining the numerous times that Marie-Antoinette&rsquo;s story was reinterpreted during the century after her death. I will examine nineteenth-century texts from several different authors and genres, including: the historical biographies of Christophe de Montjoye, Lafont d&rsquo;Aussonne, Alcide de Beauchesne, Edmond and Jules Goncourt, and Horace de Viel-Castel; the eye-witness testimonies of Jean-Baptist Cl&eacute;ry, Henriette Campan, and Rosalie Lamorli&egrave;re; the historical fiction of Elisabeth Gu&eacute;nard Brossin de M&eacute;r&eacute; and Alexandre Dumas; and finally the archival compilations of Emile Campardon and Gaston Lenotre. I will examine each author&rsquo;s choice of genre, as well as how contemporary trends in literature, historical studies and even politics influenced their interpretation of Marie-Antoinette.</p><p>

On March 9, 1995, Canadian officials on fisheries patrol vessels fired warning shots, then boarded and seized the Spanish trawler Estai. Fishing on the Nose of the Grand Banks, but beyond Canada's 200-mile fishing zone, the Estai had been using an illegal net and had resisted previous boarding attempts. The European Union (EU) strongly objected to what it cast as a violation of international law. The objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Estai incident and its implications for Canadian fisheries policy and Canada's relations with the EU. The Estai seizure and subsequent "Turbot War" formed an important chapter in Canada's diplomatic history, arousing national feeling while souring relations with the EU, at least in the short term. However, this action against foreign overfishing helped bring about much needed changes regarding international fish conservation. Agreements came into place with the EU and other NAFO members allowing for full observer coverage on vessels and other improvements. As well, the Turbot War fostered the emergence of the new United Nations Fisheries Agreement dealing with conservation, pollution reduction, and the right of member states to inspect another country's vessels to ensure compliance with internationally-agreed rules of regional fishing. Even so, problems resurfaced in the workings of NAFO, and fish stocks have seen only limited recovery.

This thesis examines the relationship between French female Catholicism during the 17th century and representations of Huron women’s spirituality in Relations des Jésuites. I argue that the nuances of French dévote culture highlight the elevated status of women in Huron indigenous society. These portraits of Huron women by the Jesuits inspired French women to breach the cloister and become missionaries, resulting in newfound religious freedoms for dévotes achieved through imperialistic efforts against the Huron nation.

This study examines long-term Inuit-European and -Euroamerican intersocietal interaction in the central Canadian Arctic. This geographical area encompasses the traditional ranges of the contiguous Copper, Netsilik and Iglulik Inuit societies. Specifically, the study analyzes and discusses changes in intra- and intergroup material trade networks and social relations resulting from indirect and direct contact with the developing capitalist world-system. Through the application of world-system theory and methodology, it is shown that indirect contact in the form of the acquisition of material trade items was a gradual, though constant, process that had a considerable impact on the cultural development of these societies. Both indirect and direct contact were greatly accelerated during the 19th century, increasing the rate of cultural change, and, by the early 20th century, ultimately culminating in the articulation of the Copper, Netsilik and Iglulik Inuit societies within the modern capitalist world-system.

This study examines British-Indian relations in the Great Lakes and Upper Canada between 1783 and 1812 and focuses on intercultural frontier relations and Native responses to Britain's actions and imperial Indian policies as Native Americans explored ways to preserve their lands and cultures while simultaneously attempting to redefine their relationship with their former British allies. Specifically, the project compares British-Indian interaction and diplomacy in three regions throughout Upper Canada and the Old Northwest. These three locales correspond roughly to the areas served by Britain's three principal Indian agencies in Upper Canada at the time—namely Fort St. Joseph, Fort Amherstburg, and Fort George. The Natives of each of these three areas developed unique relationships with the British, and as a result, Britain could not establish a single Indian policy that applied everywhere in its North American borderlands. Government leaders and Indian agents in Canada and the Great Lakes were forced to adapt Whitehall's policies to conditions and circumstances that were prevalent in each of the sectors in which British agents and leaders dealt with indigenous peoples. Several factors affected the evolution of British-Indian relations from region to region. These included the fur trade, Indian relations and warfare with the United States, geographical position, the influence of British-Indian agents, intertribal relations between various Native groups, the degree of Indian acculturation with whites, Native cultural revitalization, and the constitutional issues of Native sovereignty and legal status. As a result, Britain was unable to preserve the unity among its confederated tribal allies that it had enjoyed during the American Revolution, and by the War of 1812, the old “Chain of Friendship” had devolved into a collection of smaller alliances.

This thesis takes a comparative approach in examining the reactions of residents of three seventeenth-century Christian missions: Natick in New England, Kahnawake in New France, and Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico in New Spain, to religious colonialism. Particular attention is paid to their religious beliefs and participation in colonial warfare. This thesis argues that missions in New England, New France, and New Mexico were spaces of Indigenous culture and autonomy, not due to differing colonial practices of colonizing empires, but due to the actions, beliefs, and worldviews of Indigenous residents of missions. Indigenous peoples, no matter which European powers they interacted with, reacted to Christian worldviews that permeated all aspects of European colonial cultures.

La période de l’après-guerre posa d’importants défis commerciaux à l’économie canadienne. Les années entre 1945 et 1950 furent effectivement marquées par la rupture de son système commercial traditionnel et la recherche d’une stratégie alternative. Le pays dut composer avec un déficit commercial croissant à l’égard des États-Unis, ainsi qu’une chute de ses exportations à destination du Royaume-Uni, ruiné par les années de guerre. Ce déséquilibre commercial qui menaçait d’épuiser les réserves canadiennes de dollars américains reflétait l’écart entre les capacités productives des deux rives de l’Atlantique. Le programme de reconstruction des économies européennes, ou plan Marshall, fut accueilli avec enthousiasme à Ottawa puisqu’il devait non seulement rétablir les marchés du Vieux Continent, mais également faciliter la mise en place d’un réseau multilatéral d’échanges et la libéralisation du commerce international. Les tensions de la guerre froide limitèrent toutefois l’ouverture de ces marchés aux marchandises canadiennes, puisque l’endiguement du communisme commanda une consolidation européenne qui privilégia le démantèlement des entraves aux échanges intra-européens, aux dépens du commerce transatlantique. Les préoccupations de Washington en matière de sécurité collective devaient néanmoins laisser place à une stratégie alternative pour le Canada, en poussant la coopération économique des deux pays, dans le but d’optimiser une production de défense destinée aux pays membres de l’OTAN, dont la demande était soutenue par l’aide Marshall. L’incorporation du Canada dans ce dispositif de défense élargie à la communauté atlantique permit ainsi d’assurer un accès privilégié à ses marchandises sur le marché américain, et par conséquent de progresser vers l’équilibre commercial.<br>The postwar years brought many challenges to the Canadian economy in terms of trade policies. Indeed, in the years between 1945 and 1950, Canada experienced growing trade imbalances as imports from the United States market reached new peaks and exports to the United Kingdom decreased dramatically due to financial exhaustion caused by the war. These developments soon raised concerns as the country was faced with the prospect of foreign reserves depletion, a situation mainly caused by the productivity gap existing between the economies of the two sides of the Atlantic. The American sponsored European Recovery Program or Marshall Plan was met with enthusiasm in Ottawa as it intended to restore economic viability of the European markets as well as to establish a multilateral trade system based on non-discriminatory trade practices. The international tensions of the nascent Cold War were to limit these achievements as the need for a strong Europe dictated the elimination of restrictive trade practices between European commercial partners without giving equal treatment to transatlantic trade relations. However, the conflictual Cold War context was to offer an alternative strategy to the Canadian’s quest for dollars, for Washington’s collective security concerns paved the way to closer economic cooperation and privileged access to Canadian exports of strategic materials and other defence related commodities in the American market. The Marshall Plan was a key element of the procurement mechanism of the NATO country whose demand alleviated the pressure on Canadian foreign reserves through greater exports to the United Stated.