First World War | The Canadian Encyclopedia
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First World War

The First World War of 1914–1918 was the bloodiest conflict in Canadian history, taking the lives of more than 60,000 Canadians. This collection brings together a number of our resources on the First World War.

Image above: Canadians soldiers advancing through German wire entanglements at Vimy Ridge. April, 1917. Canadian Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-001087.

Canadian soldiers at Vimy in German wire entanglements

Featured Articles

The Somme
Editorial

Timelines

WWI-Vimy-troops in wire
timeline

First World War Timeline

The First World War of 1914–1918 was the bloodiest conflict in Canadian history, taking the lives of more than 60,000 Canadians. It erased romantic notions of war, introducing slaughter on a massive scale, and instilled a fear of foreign military involvement that would last until the Second World War.

Primary Sources

Gallery

Vimy Monument
Vimy Monument
Nurse with wounded soldiers
Nursing Sisters
Wounded at the Somme
Nursing Sisters, 1917
Two Black soldiers washing their clothing
Loading Ammunition
Tumpline, First World War
Second Battle of Ypres
Vimy Ridge
A Canadian soldier looking through the south entrance of the Cathedral in Ypres, 1917.
WWI-Vimy-troops in wire
Canadian soldiers, Battle of Somme
Howitzer-Battle of Somme
W.A. Bishop
Cdn. soldiers returning from Vimy Ridge
Houses of Ypres
Cathedral in Ypres, 1918.
Battle of Amiens

Videos

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