Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
32741723
Author
McLellan, Derek John,1965-
Title
Canada-France relations, 1940-1947.
Degree
M.A. -- University of New Brunswick, 1993
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1994.
Description
2 microfiches.
Notes
University Microfilms order no. UMI00489093.
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
This thesis surveys Canada-France relations from 1940 to 1947 from the Canadian perspective. The fall of France in 1940 splintered the French into two rival factions: the pro-Allied Free French and the ostensibly neutral Vichy French. In Canada, many French Canadians rallied to Vichy France while the vast majority of English-speaking Canadians supported Free France. This, coupled with diverging British and American policies toward France, compounded the difficulties for Ottawa in formulating a coherent French policy. As well, in the early war years, Canada was a semi-colonial, small power whose relations were primarily with Britain and the United States. Consequently, Canada's French policy tended to be ambiguous, circumspect, and provincial. However, by 1945 the emergence of Canada's internationalism and middlepowermanship changed its policy to one more world-minded and constructive. Between 1940 and 1947, Canadian policy regarding France was guided by the precept that relations with the French should neither jeopardize Canadian unity nor disrupt Canada's exceptional relationship with Britain and the United States. From 1940 to 1942, Canadian policy aimed to prevent a breach between Canada and Vichy France while cultivating friendly relations with Free France. Between 1942 and 1944, the Canadian government promoted French unity under Free French leadership, but Ottawa refused to go beyond the common Anglo-Saxon policy regarding French recognition. After 1944, through extensive foreign aid, the Canadian government aimed to stabilize France and keep it oriented to the democratic West.
ISBN
031589282X
9780315892828