The Ones Who Have to Pay: The Soldiers-Poets of Victoria BC in the Great War 1914-1918 - Tapa dura

When war in Europe broke out in 1914, why did so many men from Victoria, BC, Canada, enlist enthusiastically? What did they feel about the war they were fighting? What were their personal values? Were they ever disillusioned in the trenches of the Western Front? To what extent did they enjoy combat? How did they regard the German enemy? And faced with artillery bombardment, execrable living conditions, and the fear of death or maiming, what helped them to carry on? In researching these questions, the author found that Victoria was a unique city in several ways and that some assumptions about Canadian soldiers' trench experience may not apply to volunteers from that city. Moreover, the culture of the time was different from that of Canada today so that the enthusiasm for military life and for "the empire" may seem bizarre to young people. Ideals of masculinity may seem outdated, and the concepts of personal honor and duty, which these men supported, may be obsolete. This essay tries to understand the culture of Canada and especially that of Victoria, BC, a century ago, a pertinent exercise considering the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.

Robert Ratcliffe Taylor is the author of popular histories of Victoria's heritage architecture as well as several books on German history. He has a PhD from Stanford University, where he holds a major in modern European history and minors in medieval and Russian history. Robert is now professor emeritus in the history department at Brock University. Since 2003, he has served as a docent with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and enjoys giving public tours of the exhibits as well as of the Spencer Mansion. Robert was born in Victoria, BC, where he still resides.