The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Each generation has a day of infamy, a square on the calendar that will forever be looked at with a sense of fear and sorrow. For the current set, it's Sept. 11, 2001. For their grandparents, it was Dec. 7, 1941, when over 1,000 people lost their lives at Pearl Harbour. The passage of time has made today's infamous anniversary somewhat obscure, but its impact on history cannot be understated. It was on this day 90 years ago that the First World War broke out. The terrifying conflict began with the declaration of war on Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian empire on July 28, 1914, a month to the day after the assassination of the heir to the imperial crown in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist. The European powers gradually entered the war because of their alliances and territorial rivalries. The battle would eventually embroil 35 countries from every continent. The fact that Britain was at war meant Canada was at war, a sentiment that went unquestioned across the latter nation. "It is our duty to let Great Britain know and to let the friends and foes of Great Britain know that there is in Canada but one mind and one heart and that all Canadians are behind the Mother Country," said Prime Minister Sir WIlfrid Laurier. The first Canadian contingent, numbering 33,000, reached England soon after the outbreak of war. By 1916, the Canadians had formed four divisions that earned the country great respect on the world stage. By the war's end, at least 619,000 Canadians had enlisted, more than 60,000 of whom did not make it home. During the more than four years of battles, a total of about 10 million people lost their lives and another 20 million were injured. What became known as "The Great War" ended on Nov. 11, 1918, when Germany signed the armistice at Rethondes in France.
