By Sarah Glassford, Christopher Schultz, Nathan Smith, and Jonathan Weier August 4th is an important day in the centennial of the First World War. It was on this day a century ago that Britain declared war on Germany, committing Canada to the “Great War” as a British Dominion, confirming its alliance with imperial France and Tsarist Russia, and making enemies… Read more »
By Nathan Smith In a recent post here Jonathan Weier compared official plans in the UK and Australia to commemorate the First World War centennial with the Canadian government’s disengagement with the one-hundredth anniversary of the First World War. Given the interest the federal Conservatives have shown in warrior nationalism and war commemoration, this is surprising. From the government’s memorialization… Read more »
https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Iacobelli-Ottawa-Historical-Association-lecture.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe Ottawa Historical Association welcomed historian Teresa Iacobelli on March 5, 2014. ActiveHistory is happy to feature her talk “Death or Deliverance: Canadian Courts Martial in the Great War”. Iacobelli is a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at Queen’s University. Her talk is based on her book of the same title: Death or Deliverance: Canadian Courts… Read more »
By Jonathan Weier Those who regularly read the British press have been exposed, over the past three months, to a vitriolic war of words over the legacy and meaning of the First World War in Britain. This controversy has become increasingly acrimonious as representatives of the Conservative government and their sympathizers have sought to paint a number of British historians… Read more »
By Jenny Prior Meet Shannon Coles, a conservator at the Archives of Ontario. Shannon’s been stabilizing archival records and preparing them for digitization and reproduction for our on-site World War I exhibit, Dear Sadie, launching this summer. Q: Shannon, what led you to your unique and interesting occupation? A: Going to museums as a kid always frustrated me because I wanted… Read more »
By Jenny Prior So you’re hard at work, creating a World War I exhibit based on hours and hours of archival research. Or maybe you’re not. But doesn’t it sound like a fascinating and daunting task? Just ask Stewart Boden at the Archives of Ontario. As our in-house curator of three interconnected World War I exhibits highlighting our collections, Stewart’s… Read more »
By Jenny Prior At the Archives of Ontario, we’re marking the World War I centenary with three connected exhibits – onsite, online, and travelling – as well as educational programming and other outreach and promotional activities. This post is first in a series giving a glimpse into our work to showcase our collections and shed light on Ontario’s stories from this… Read more »
By Jim Clifford It is very strange to celebrate the start of a war. Nonetheless, this is exactly what we have done here in Canada over the past year. The War of 1812 spanned from June of 1812 through to February of 1815, but this did not stop our government from starting their celebrations of the “Fight for Canada” during… Read more »
by Steven Maynard “What does a queer, sadomasochistic philosopher have to do with the study of Canada’s past?” This is the question I ask students at the beginning of my first-year survey course on Canadian history. Over the years, colleagues have suggested that first-year undergrads aren’t ready for Foucault. But experience tells me that not only are many of Foucault’s… Read more »
