Peace and the Post-War World

The government and the military authorities took measures to prevent the slow demobilization and return to Canada that had resulted in riots overseas after the First World War. Thus, the return to peace, both in terms of demobilization and economic decontrol, was relatively efficient. However, the failure to provide outlets to channel the enthusiasms of V-E Day in Halifax resulted in looting and disorder.

Guided by the problems that arose after the First World War, the government also had in place a generous veterans' benefits package. This was in many ways a precursor to the post war Canadian social welfare measures for the entire population.

Canada. Royal Commission to Conduct an Inquiry into Certain Disorders Occurring May 7-8, 1945, in the City of Halifax. -- Report on the Halifax disorders, May 7th-8th, 1945. -- Hon. Mr. Justice R.L. Kellock, Royal Commissioner. -- Ottawa : King's Printer, 1945. -- 61 p.

* Morton, Desmond. -- 1945, when Canada won the war. -- Ottawa : Canadian Historical Association, c1995. -- 31 p. -- (Historical booklet, no. 54). -- Also published in French under the title: 1945, lorsque le Canada a gagné la guerre

• A synopsis of the ideas in Victory 1945 : Canadians From War to Peace
  
  
• Particularly strong is the annotated "Suggestions for further reading," p. 26-31

Morton, Desmond ; Granatstein, J.L. -- Victory 1945 : Canadians from war to peace. -- Toronto : HarperCollins, 1995. -- 256 p.

• V-E Day; a summary of the war, particularly in 1945, overseas and on the home front; economic decontrol; Canadian politics and society in the immediate post war world

Redman, Stanley R. -- Open gangway : the (real) story of the Halifax Navy riot. -- Hantsport, N.S. : Lancelot Press, 1981. -- 167 p.

Uncertain horizons : Canadians and their world in 1945. -- Edited by Greg Donaghy. -- [Ottawa] : Canadian Committee for the History of the Second World War, 1997, c1996. -- 333 p.

• Papers of a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, held in Winnipeg, October 1995

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