One of my favorite places on Earth is Niagara Falls, Ontario, so when it came time to decide on a setting for Angel of Mercy, the province was ideal. (This post is a companion piece to my WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are sold.)
The Stewards have been in the area since before it was a province. By the start of World War I, the province was Canada’s largest, and its capital was Toronto. The nation’s capital, Ottawa, also is in Ontario.
The Prewar Years
The following are facts about Ontario in the years leading up to World War I.
- Ontario was invaded during the War of 1812 and, during one battle, the town of Niagara Falls was set ablaze.
- It is one of the four provinces that united to form the Dominion of Canada in 1867.
- Railroads linked Ontario to the Pacific coast.
- Windsor was the centre of the automobile industry.
- In 1912, the province acquired it’s current size.
- It became the nation’s financial and industrial powerhouse.
- In 1912, the speaking of French was banned in schools after the second year.
The War Years
The following are facts about Ontario during the Great War.
- 205,808 Ontarians served, 7.5 percent of its 1916 (estimated) population of 2.7 million.
- As anti-German sentiment was high, the town of Berlin changed its name to Kitchener.
- Prohibition went into effect in 1916. Alcohol could still be produced for export, however.
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Updated: 19 October 2020
Melina Druga is a multi-genre author with a lifelong love of history, books and the English language.She pens historical fiction, chick lit and nonfiction.
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