melting pot. The temporary easing of the international
situation after 1912 was followed by acute tension again, and this time
the restraining forces gave way. The rivalry of Teuton and Slav in the
Balkans, where of late the balance had tilted against the Central
Powers because of the defeat of their quasi-ally, Turkey, provided the
setting. The murder of an Austrian prince by a Servian subject gave
the occasion, and Germany set the fatal drama in motion. What part was
played in her decision by dreams of world conquest or dread of being
hemmed in by ever-stronger foes, what part by the desire of a
challenged autocracy to turn the people from internal reform to
external policy, will not be certain until the chancelleries of Europe
have given up their secrets, if certain then; but, whatever the motive,
all the world outside Germany has agreed that had she willed she could
have averted the fatal ending of those tense days of July 1914.

When the intervention of the United Kingdom was made inevitable and
practically unanimous by the brutal attack on Belgium, Canada never
hesitated for a moment as to her attitude. The rights of the immediate
issue {317} were clear; the whole world's liberty was plainly at stake;
the struggle promised to task, if not to overtask, every resource of
the mother country. Sir Robert Borden acted promptly and effectively,
and parliament when called in special session unanimously backed his
actions. In a few weeks the largest force that had ever crossed the
Atlantic sailed to England, and throughout the war ten thousand upon
ten thousand followed. The Dominions surprised the world, and not
least themselves, by the greatness and effectiveness of the efforts
made in the common cause. At first, distance or over-confidence
prevented a full grasp of the crisis by the general public, and even by
the leaders of opinion; but, as time went on, the sense of the
greatness of the issue deepened, resolution hardened, and the only
measures of effort were what the crisis called for and what Canada
could give.

The country was united as on few occasions. Here and there undigested
groups of immigrants from the enemy lands stood out from the common
enthusiasm, but gave little overt trouble. In Quebec some, but not
all, of the Nationalists opposed Canada's participation in the war,
taking either the belated colonial view that it was Britain's part to
fight the {318} Empire's wars, or the more logical but i