War I. Canada sent troops over to Europe to fight "five thousand Canadians travelling in bond, going to Europe" , which caused mixed feeling in Canada. Consequently, Canadians started to disagree with fighting this war, and asking what compelled them to fight for the British Empire, not understanding what bound them to England, a "chain bound Canada to England." Many Canadian's disagreed with Canada's participation in World War I, including the character Neil Macrae: "By reason he disapproved of the war, of Canada's participation in it, of three quarters of the governments which made the policies for the British Empire. He was irratated by most Englishmen he met, and liked Americans better." In this quote, Neil's view reflects his growing disapproval of the war and control exercised by the British government over Canada: this also hints at America as a possible replacement and illustrates a realignment of attitudes from a political allegiance to Britain to a new geographical and economic alliance with the United States. Economically, the war was good for Canada, but in all other times, Britain only abused Canada's natural resources. Heavy industry was only brought over or smaller Canadian industries were advancing in Canada due to the war, but before that, it was all mainly centred in England. As an example, Halifax harbour was only prosperous during wartimes: "This harbour is the reason for the town's existence, it is all that matters in Halifax, for the place periodically sleeps between great wars. There had been a good many years since Napoleon, but now it was awake again." Canada was only economically important enough to allow industry and economic growth when it was in the best interest of the Empire, which upset many Canadian industrialists. Canadians may have been angered by the British political and economic control, but still held fast to British social traditions. Socially, Canada remained proudly British. Canadians still had ...
