Think Like a Historian: Vimy Ridge in Newspapers

THINK LIKE A HISTORIAN: THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE

VIMY IN NEWSPAPERS: WORKSHEETS

29 th Infantry Battalion advancing over “No Man’s Land” through German barbed wire and heavy fire during the Battle of Vimy Ridge (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/W.I. Castle/PA-001020).

Newspapers from the time of Vimy Ridge offer important details and context about what Canadians read about the Battle and the war more generally. The political allegiances of newspaper editors and wartime censorship shaped the content that was published and how events were communicated. Most newspapers supported the war and censored themselves accordingly. Journalists often portrayed the war in a positive light to maintain and raise morale on the home front. In effect, news coverage had a dual purpose — to inform the public and to help win the war. This is something that historians need to keep in mind as they carry out their research. These worksheets accompany the video Think Like a Historian: Vimy in Newspapers , which explores two newspaper accounts from Le Canada and The Globe in the days following the Battle of Vimy Ridge. To mark the centennial of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and help educators and students think critically about primary sources, Historica Canada has created the Think Like a Historian series of videos and worksheets. The Think Like a Historian series was produced with the generous support of the Government of Canada. Historica Canada is the country’s largest organization dedicated to enhancing awareness of Canada’s history and citizenship.

Papers from home (courtesy Canadian War Museum/George Metcalf Archival Collection/ CWM 19920085-137).

GUIDING QUESTION: What can accounts from The Globe and Le Canada reveal about the Battle of Vimy Ridge?

There are five key steps to analyzing primary sources:

1. The 5Ws 2. Context 3. Exploring 4. Reaching Conclusions 5. Finding Proof

TEACHER TIP: To complete these worksheets, students may want to watch the videos more than once. Turning on the subtitles can help second language learners understand the video. Watch the video as a class at least twice before beginning the worksheets. Work through the steps above, starting and stopping the video as needed.

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A project of

A little French paper boy selling English papers in Canadian line (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/PA-001436).

THE 5Ws

The first stage of analysis is asking questions of the primary source. Working in pairs, answer the following questions after watching the Vimy in Newspapers video.

WHO? Who wrote the account?

WHEN? When was the account written and published?

WHERE? Where was the account written and published?

WHAT? What type of account is it?

WHY? Why was the account written?

EXTENSION: Are there any gaps in your answers? Where might you look for more information?

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CONTEXT

Contextualizing a primary source involves trying to place the source in space and time. Examining the context of a source helps us situate one piece of evidence into the wider picture of history. To analyze newspaper accounts as pieces of evidence from the past, it is important to conduct additional research about what else was happening around the time of the event. The French-language daily newspaper Le Canada was founded in 1903 in Montreal. It had a circulation of around 18,000 and supported the Liberal Party. Le Canada was published in Montreal until 1954. The English-language newspaper The Globe was founded in 1844 by George Brown in Toronto. By 1917, it had a circulation of more than 90,000. The Globe merged with The Mail and Empire in 1936 to become The Globe and Mail , which remains one of Canada’s national newspapers.

STUDENT ACTIVITY: Imagine that you are the editor of a Canadian daily newspaper during the war. You are expected to censor the content of your newspaper. Write a short letter explaining why you are either a) in support of censorship to support the war effort, or b) against press censorship during wartime. press during wartime. Indeed, the Canadian press showed little concern for objectivity; they exaggerated Allied victories and minimized German successes. The editors and publishers were explicitly partisan in promoting loyalty to Britain and displayed favourable – even romanticized – coverage of Canadian troops because they wanted to help win the war. During the First World War, censorship was regularly used to maintain or promote morale. Formal control of wireless communication was the responsibility of a Chief Censor in London. Governments also intervened in message control. Canada, for example, banned most left-leaning and foreign-language newspaper publications. Self-censorship was also practiced; the Canadian press, for instance, would sometimes gloss over the number of wounded and dead at key battles. Propaganda was also used by the Canadian newspaper

Montreal Gazette, 10 April 1917 (courtesy Toronto Star Newspaper Centre/Toronto Reference Library).

TEACHER TIP: Discuss and define key words as a class, to ensure any new vocabulary terms (censorship, propaganda, partisan, etc.) are understood by all students.

La Presse, 10 April 1917 (courtesy Media Commons/Robarts Library/University of Toronto).

EXTENSION: For additional reading, look at Newspapers , War Measures Act , and Censorship on The Canadian Encyclopedia.

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EXPLORING Investigating the details of newspaper accounts can reveal important details. The words, phrases and symbols used can tell us about the meaning of the account. Even the location of an article or editorial within the newspaper can offer insight into its importance to the newspaper and to the audience of the day. A single primary source may not answer all the questions we have, and exploring it can lead to further questions. Use the comparison chart on pages 4 and 5 of this worksheets package to complete the following activity. ⊲⊲ Working in groups of three or four, complete each section of the comparison chart below, using the accounts from The Globe and Le Canada . Read the original newspaper accounts in the “Primary Sources” section of thinklikeahistorian.ca . ⊲⊲ Discuss your findings as a class. LE CANADA EDITORIAL

VOCABULARY LIST: Create a list of terms or phrases you are unfamiliar with. Try to identify their meaning. SYMBOLS: What symbols or metaphors are used in the account? What do they mean? MAIN IDEAS: What is the account about? List three key ideas communicated in the account. PLACEMENT IN NEWSPAPER: Where is the account located? What might the location of an account suggest about its importance? QUESTIONS: What questions do you have?

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EXPLORING (continued)

THE GLOBE ARTICLE VOCABULARY LIST: Create a list of terms or phrases you are unfamiliar with. Try to identify their meaning. SYMBOLS: What symbols or metaphors are used in the account? What do they mean? MAIN IDEAS: What is the account about? List three key ideas communicated in the account. PLACEMENT IN NEWSPAPER: Where is the account located? What might the location of an account suggest about its importance? QUESTIONS: What questions do you have?

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REACHING CONCLUSIONS

As you gather information about a primary source, start to develop an interpretation based on what you can infer from your observations. Consider the following questions when arriving at your conclusions: ⊲⊲ What can these sources reveal about the Battle of Vimy Ridge? ⊲⊲ What can these accounts tell us about how Vimy Ridge was communicated to Canadians at the time? ⊲⊲ What can these accounts tell us about different perspectives on the Battle of Vimy Ridge? ⊲⊲ How are the perspectives of the French-Canadian and English-Canadian newspapers similar or different?

STUDENT ACTIVITY:

1. Working individually, make a list of five conclusions you have reached based on your analysis. 2. Working in pairs, share your findings with your partner. Compare the conclusions you have each arrived at. In your pair, come to a yes or no answer about the following question: Because something was published in a newspa per, does that make it factual? 3. Come together as a class and take a vote on the above question. Be prepared to explain your decision!

Soldiers leave for war, Union Station (courtesy of City of Toronto Archives/Fonds 1244, Item 827).

Newsboys selling papers in Toronto, King St. and Yonge St. (courtesy City of Toronto Archives/Fonds 1266, Item 6981).

Sleeping newsboy (courtesy of City of Toronto Archives/ Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 1950).

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FINDING PROOF Before we reach a final conclusion about what newspaper coverage can tell us, we need more information beyond the reports from The Globe and Le Canada . We need to compare our conclusions about French and English attitudes towards Vimy Ridge with other primary and secondary sources. By comparing these accounts to others of the time we can develop a better understanding of the past in order to interpret the source. ⊲⊲ Compare the newspaper accounts in this video to the article on the Battle of Vimy Ridge on The Canadian Encyclopedia . ⊲⊲ Create a T-chart. On one side, make a list of the conclusions you have drawn about the newspaper accounts you have studied from The Globe and Le Canada . On the other side, create a list of facts from the account that support your conclusions. Can your conclusions be corroborated?

CORROBORATION: Evidence that confirms a conclusion.

NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS - CONCLUSIONS

THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE - CORROBORATION

EXTENSION: Write a half-page summary that assesses the benefits and challenges of working with newspapers as a primary source. ⊲⊲ Compare the stories from Le Canada and The Globe with other sources of the time located in the “Primary Sources” section at thinklikeahistorian.ca . Do you think one type of source is a more reliable representation of the Battle of Vimy Ridge? ⊲⊲ Come together as a class and take a vote on the above question. Be prepared to back up your decision! ⊲⊲ Using examples from the Battle of Vimy Ridge article, write a half-page reflection on whether you were able to confirm your conclusions about the accounts from Le Canada and The Globe . ⊲⊲ Discuss the findings as a class.

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SUMMATIVE ACTIVITY

⊲⊲ Select a controversial event covered in newspapers today. ⊲⊲ Choose two newspapers, and compare their coverage of the same event. ⊲⊲ Answer the following questions: • What is similar about the accounts? • What is different? • What might this tell you about the perspective of the writer, or the political leanings of the newspaper?

The Calgary Daily Herald , 9 April 1917 (courtesy Toronto Star Newspaper Centre/ Toronto Reference Library).

The Halifax Herald , 10 April 1917 (courtesy Toronto Star Newspaper Centre/ Toronto Reference Library).

MODIFICATION: Have a class discussion about how social media has disrupted news reporting. We used to rely on professional journalists at national dailies to report on the news. Now, as a result of social media and Internet connectedness, we are all reporters. In your opinion, what is more reliable as a primary source: a major national daily newspaper, or someone on the street capturing events as they happen? Don’t forget that both perspectives may involve political leanings of which we are unaware.

The Morning Leader [Regina], 10 April 1917 (courtesy of the Toronto Star Newspaper Centre/ Toronto Reference Library).

The Toronto Daily Star , 10 April 1917 (courtesy Media Commons/Robarts Library/ University of Toronto).

EXIT CARD: 3-2-1

⊲⊲ What are three new things that you learned about the Battle of Vimy Ridge? ⊲⊲ What are two new things that you learned about primary sources? ⊲⊲ What is one question that you have now?

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THINK LIKE A HISTORIAN: THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE

VIMY IN NEWSPAPERS: PRIMARY SOURCES

29th Infantry Battalion advancing over “No Man’s Land” through German barbed wire and heavy fire during the Battle of Vimy Ridge (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/W.I. Castle/PA-001020).

MESSAGE TO TEACHERS: This collection of primary sources accompanies the Think Like a Historian series of videos and worksheets. Find the entire series at thinklikeahistorian.ca . This package accompanies the Vimy in Newspapers video and worksheets. It includes a full transcript of The Globe and Le Canada reports, and a reproduction of the original newspapers. Find the classroom worksheets at education.historicacanada.ca. ABOUT THE GLOBE: The English-language newspaper The Globe was founded in 1844 by George Brown in Toronto. By 1917, it had a circulation of more than 90,000. The Globe merged with The Mail and Empire in 1936 to become The Globe and Mail , which remains one of Canada’s national newspapers.

The Globe , 11 April 1917 (courtesy of Media Commons, Robarts Library, University of Toronto).

ABOUT LE CANADA The French-language daily newspaper Le Canada was founded in 1903 in Montreal. It had a circulation of around 18,000 and supported the Liberal Party. Le Canada was published in Montreal until 1954.

Le Canada , 10 April 1917 (courtesy Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec).

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The Globe , 11 April 1917 (courtesy of Media Commons, Robarts Library, University of Toronto).

The Globe, Toronto, Wednesday, April 11, 1917 ARRAS VICTORY A STAGGERING BLOW TO INVADERS OF NORTHERN FRANCE Teutons Sustain Tremendous Losses in Men, Guns and Position – Retreat South of Vimy Ridge to Defensive Lines Farther Back – Canadian Triumph is Complete – Plains to Douai Dominated by Haig Special Cable Despatch to The Globe by Philip Gibbs. War Correspondents’ Headquarters, April 10. – The Battle of Arras is the greatest victory we have yet gained in this war and is a staggering blow to the enemy. He has lost already nearly 10,000 prisoners and more than half a hundred guns, and in dead and wounded his losses are great. He is in retreat south of Vimy ridge to the defensive lines farther back, and as he goes our guns are smashing him along the roads. It is a black day for the German armies, and for the German women who do not yet know what it means to them. During last night the Canadians gained the last point, called Hill 145, on Vimy ridge, where the Germans held out in a pocket with machine guns, and this morning the whole of that high ridge which dominates the plains to Douai was in our hands, so there is removed from our path the great barrier for which the French and ourselves fought through bloody years. Enemy Wiped Out. Yesterday, before daylight and afterwards, I saw this ridge of Vimy all on fire with the light of a great gunfire. The enemy

was there in strength and his guns answered ours with a heavy barrage of high explosives. This morning the scene was changed as by a miracle. Snow was falling and blowing gustily across the battlefields and powdering the caps and helmets of our men as they rode or marched forward to the front, but presently the sunlight broke through the storm clouds and flooded all the countryside by Neuville-St. Vaast and Thelus and La Folie Farm up to the crest of the ridge, where the Canadians had just fought their way with such high valor. Our batteries were firing from many hiding places, as was revealed by short, sharp flashes of light, but few answering shells came back, and the ridge itself, patched with a snowdrift, was as quiet as any hill of peace.

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Deadly Menace Ended. It is astounding to think that not a single German stayed up there out of all those who held it yesterday, unless some poor wounded ones still cower in the great tunnels which pierce the hillside. It is almost unbelievable to me, who have known the evil of this high ridge month after month and year after year, and the deadly menace which lurked about its lower slopes, yet I saw proof below, where, of all the Germans who had been there at dawn yesterday, thousands of them were now in our lines, drawn up in battalions, marshalling themselves, grinning at the fate which had come to them and spared their lives. Canadian Attack Astounding. The Canadian attack yesterday was astounding, successful, and carried out by high-spirited men, the victors of Courcelette, in the battles of the Somme, who had before the advance an utter and joyous confidence of victory. They went away at dawn, cheering and laughing, through the mud and rain which made scarecrows of them. They followed close and warily to the barrage of our guns, the most stupendous line of fire ever seen, and by 6.30 they had taken their first goals, which included the whole front line system of German trenches above Neuville-St. Vaast, by La Folie Farm and La Folie Wood, and up by Thelus, where they met with fierce resistance. The German garrisons were for the most part in long, deep tunnels, pierced through the hill as assembly ditches. There were hundreds of them in the Prinz Arnault tunnel, and hundreds more in the great Volker tunnel; but as the Canadians surged up to them, with wave after wave of bayonets, the German soldiers streamed out and came running forward with hands up. They were eager to surrender, and their great desire was to get down from Vimy ridge and the barrage of their own guns. That barrage fell heavily and fiercely upon Tuco trench, but too late to do much damage to our men, who had already gone beyond it. Canadian Losses Light. The Canadian casualties are not heavy in comparison with the expected losses, but the German prisoners are glad to pay for the gift of life by carrying our wounded back. The eagerness of these men was pitiful, and now and then laughable. At least the Canadian escorts found it a great laughing matter, in the enormous numbers of men they had to guard, and in the way the prisoners themselves directed the latest comers to the barbed wire enclosures, and with great satisfaction acted as masters of ceremony to their own captives. Very Cheerful Prisoners. I have never seen such cheerful prisoners, although for the most part they were without overcoats, and, despite the cold blizzard of snow, they were joking with each other, and in great humor because life, with all its hardships, was dear to them, and they had the luck of life. They were of all sizes and ages and types. I saw elderly bewhiskered men with big spectacles, belonging to the professor tribe, and young lads who ought to have been in the German high schools. Some of their faces looked very wizened and small beneath their great shrapnel helmets. Many of them looked ill and starved, but other tall, stout, hefty fellows, who should have made good fighting men if they had any stomach for the job. There were many officers, standing apart. The Canadians took over 200 of them among whom were several forward observing officers, very bad-tempered with their luck, because the men had not told them they were going to bolt, and had left them in the front positions. Officers Left “in the Air.” All the officers were disconcerted because of the cheerfulness of the men at being taken. I talked with some of them. They told me of the horrors of living under our bombardment. Some of them had been without food for four days, because our gunfire had boxed them in. “When do you think the war will end?” I asked one of them. “When the English are in Berlin,” he answered, and I think he meant that would be a long time. Another officer said, “In two months,” and he gave no reason for his certainty. “What about America?” I asked one of them. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “America can’t send an army across the ocean.” At this statement the Canadian soldiers standing around laughed loudly and said, “Don’t you believe it, old sport. We have come along to fight you, and the Yankees will do the same.” ``

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Canadians Do Quick Work. By 3 o’clock in the afternoon yesterday the Canadians had gained the whole of Vimy ridge except the high, strong post on the left of Hill 145, captured to-night. Our gunfire had helped them by breaking down all the wire, even round Heroes’ Wood and Count’s Wood, where it was very thick and strong. Thelus was wiped utterly off the map. This morning Canadian patrols pushed in the snowstorm through Farbus Wood and established outposts on the railway embankment. Some of the bravest work was done by the forward observation officers, who climbed to the top of Vimy ridge as soon as it was captured, and through a sea of heavy barrage reported back to the artillery all the movements seen by them on the country below. In spite of the windy day our flying men were riding the storm, signalling to the [ illegible ] who were rushing up their field guns. “Our 18-pounders,” said a Canadian officer, “had the day of their lives.” They found many targets. There were troops massing on the sloping ground, and they were scattered. There were guns and limbers on the move, and men and horses were killed, in addition to all the prisoners taken yesterday by the English, Scottish and Canadian troops. Enemy’s Losses Frightful. The enemy’s losses were frightful and the scenes behind his lines must have been, and must still be, hideous in the slaughter and terror. I have not time to-night to tell the full story of the battle of Arras, of all the great fighting on the right, where it was very hard; in Blangy, and onward toward Feuchy. On this side the Germans fought most fiercely, and our men were held up at Chapeel re-doubt and other strong points until our gunfire knocked out these works and made way for them. Fifty-four guns were taken here on the east side of Arras, and to-day the pursuit of the beaten enemy continues.

The Globe , 11 April 1917 (courtesy of Media Commons, Robarts Library, University of Toronto). 4

Le Canada, Montreal, Saturday, April 14, 1914 Courcelette and Vimy THE GLORIOUS ROLE OF FRENCH-CANADIAN VOLUNTEERS

In the past few days, the press from all around the world has been filled with the stories of the exploits of the Canadian volunteers who have, in a spectacular impulse last Monday, taken from the German the ridges at Vimy. It is the winners at Courcelette that we are praising everywhere, and amongst them is the glorious 22nd French-Canadian Regiment. Our heroes from the 22nd have, without a doubt, not conquered or scared away an entire German army on their own. Besides, our volunteers on the Front are not all part of the 22nd, and those of our French-Canadian Battalions that were spread out in other units certainly do not deserve any less, thanks to their valour and strength, the glorious praises of which they are covered. The French blood in their veins could not lie and their example must have dragged with them, in this immortal assault, their comrades of a colder blood. We do know, from diverse sources, including French Officers who know each other in gallantry, that our French-Canadians are considered, on the Front, to be elite troops to whom we entrust the most dangerous operations. The winners at Courcelette are therefore also the winners at Vimy, and it will once again be to these valorous phalanges, where French-Canadians and English-Canadians fight side to side, that the campaign against Prussian autocratic militarism will owe its new achievements. In Picardie now, like before in Flanders, both races of Canadians are brothers who share only one ambition: to do better. When they will come back to Canada after the victory, the heroes of St-Julien, Festubert, Courcelette and Vimy will be outraged to learn that in some of the papers in Ontario and in the West, the French-Canadians have been accused of disloyalty and cowardice.

Le Canada , 14 April 1917 (courtesy Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec).

Oh! When they will be back, they will soon have disproved those who spread prejudice and calumny — some of which wear the khaki but don’t leave abroad — and they will shame the slanderers who are bribed and financed by the Orange Lodges - with the electoral money of the Conservative Party. Glory, then, to our volunteers of the 22nd and from the other Regiments of our Canadian contingents who avenge us so well on the battlefields and who, once back to peace, will still avenge us, thanks to the reputation they will have gained with their comrades of another race!

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