Ethnic Elites, Propaganda, Recruiting and Intelligence in German-Canadian Ontario, 1914-1918 by © Curtis B
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Ethnic Elites, Propaganda, Recruiting and Intelligence in German-Canadian Ontario, 1914-1918 by © Curtis B. Robinson a thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD History Memorial University of Newfoundland March 2019 St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador A Special Dedication in Memory of two friends and mentors Dr. Darren Christopher Hynes 1963-2014 and Christine Watmore 1934-2016 ii Abstract This case study provides the basis for a potential linking of the work of Marxist intelligence historians and the disciples of the insecurity state thesis. The rise of “Reasoning otherwise” as described by Ian McKay, refers to the erosion of the liberal order on the part of Canadian socialists in the early part of the twentieth century. This process was speeded up in direct response to the wartime economy which through state intervention also saw the undermining of the liberal principles of free market economics and manpower management. The rise of the insecurity state was part of the state’s move away from the foundational liberal order. Ultimately the insecurity state’s existence depended upon the growth of industrial capitalism in Canada and directly related to the evolution in reasoning otherwise. It was in the heavily populated and ethnically diverse urban centres where state fears about the growth of unions and the spread of communist revolutionary ideas, as well as other causes of civil unrest, originated. It was these areas that warranted, in the eyes of the Department of Militia and Defence, the deployment of intelligence officers, watchers, and infiltrators. In parts of Canada where industrialization had not produced the same social tensions, there was less need to develop a new level of security. Berlin, Ontario, within Military District 1, a centre of German settlement for the previous century, was not a large industrial centre and therefore, had not evolved to the same level of class or ethnic diversity and segregation. Here the insecurity state had yet to develop as a mechanism of social control in response to industrial urbanization, and the war as it had in Toronto or Military District 2 more generally. The small scale of Berlin, with community organizations, well established local leaders and emphasis on municipal power as a means of negotiating the individual and the collective, proved a sufficiently coherent basis for intelligence gathering. Here, there was no the need to take the drastic wartime measures in the name of security required in Toronto and Winnipeg and Montreal. iii Terrorism - “Schrecklichkeit” – has always formed a part, not only of German military inclination, but of German military policy. -James W. Gerard iv Ernest Denton, Rescue of the Kaiser’s Bust in Victoria Park, August 1914 (Source: Kitchener Public Library, Waterloo Historical Society photograph collection PO09302) th Ernest Denton, 118 Battalion Soldiers in Victoria Park (Source: Kitchener Public Library, Waterloo Historical Society photograph collection PO10396) v Table of Contents List of Figures and Illustrations………………………………………………………viii List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………x List of Appendices……………………………………………….………………………xi Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………xii Introduction……………………………………………………..………………………15 Part I Chapter 1………………..………………………………………………………………46 Preserving the German in Ontario before 1914 Industrialization and the Rise of the Ethnic Elite — Liberalism and the Urban Landscape of Berlin — German Language Instruction and the Ethnic Elite —The Berliner Journal — German Preservation in the Historical Narrative — Conclusion Chapter 2……………………………..…………………………………………………88 The Berlin and Ontario German Image War The Sinking of the Lusitania and its Repercussions — From Berlin to Kitchener — German Language Suppression in Schools and the Press — Elections and Bayonets — Conclusion Chapter 3………………………………………………………………………………126 Berlin for King and Empire The Concordia Club Raid and a Call on Rev. Tappert — The Recruitment Issue — Geo- Mapping a Battalion — Rejected Volunteers — Desertion — Conscription — Conclusion vi Part II Chapter 4……………………………..………………………………………………196 German Operatives in Canada and the United States The von der Goltz Defection — 11 Bridge Street — Watching the Docks and Shipping — “Mr. Speaker the Building is on Fire!” — Preparations for Attack in Southern Ontario — Enemy Aliens as Alien Sympathizers? — Conclusion Chapter 5………………………………………………………………………………229 Canadian Intelligence and the Perceived German Enemy Background and the Corps of Guides — Military District 2: Central Ontario/Toronto — Censorship in MD2 — Spies, Sympathisers and Suspicions in MD2 — Enemy Aliens in the Battalions of MD2 — Military District 1: Gap or Substitution? — Censorship in MD1 — Spies, Sympathisers and Suspicions in MD2 — Enemy Aliens in the 118th OS Battalion of MD1 — Conclusion Conclusion……………………..………………………………………………………269 Bibliography…………………..………………………………………………………282 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….304 vii List of Figures and Illustrations “Rescue of the Kaiser’s Bust in Victoria Park, August 1919 - v “118th Battalion Soldiers in Victoria Park” - v Figure 1.1 Lang Tanning Company - 54 Figure 1.2 Kaufman Footwear - 54 Figure 1.3 Dominion Tire Factory - 55 Figure 1.4 Nationality by Wards - 57 Figure 1.5 Ethnic Levels in Upper Employment - 57 Figure 1.6 “Map of Part of the Town of Berlin” - 60 Figure 1.7 “Town of Berlin” - 61 Figure 1.8 “Busy Berlin” - 63 Figure 1.9 North Ward - 65 Figure 1.10 City Plan for Greater Berlin - 66 Figure 1.11 Rittinger & Motz Business Card -77 Figure 1.12 Rittinger & Motz Printing Office – 77 Figure 1.13 Berliner Journal Subscriptions - 77 Figure 1.14 Caspar David Frederich, Abbey in the Oakwoods, 1809-1810 - 80 Figure 1.14 Prominent Homes of Berlin - 84 Figure 2.1 Kaiser Wilhelm Bust in Victoria Park, 1912 - 88 Figure 2.2 Peace Memorial, Victoria Park, 1996 - 88 Figure 2.3 Edwin Lutyens design for the Cenotaph, Whitehall, 1919 - 123 viii Figure 2.4 Kitchener/Waterloo Cenotaph, 1929 - 123 Figure 3.1 Berlin Daily Telegraph 118 Battalion CEF - 144 Figure 3.2 Berlin News-Record 118 Battalion CEF - 144 Figure 3.3 Berliner Journal “There are Three Classes of Men” - 145 Figure 3.4 Berlin Ontario: 118th Overseas Battalion Recruitment by Address, 1916 - 156 Figure 3.5 Distribution of British and Ontario Born Recruits - 158 Figure 3.6 Languages Spoken by Berlin/Waterloo Born Recruits - 160 Figure 3.7 Foreign Born Recruits - 161 Figure 3.8 Attestation Paper, private Edwin Finch - 168 Figure 3.9 Attestation Paper, private Peter Rosenberg - 169 Figure 3.10 Attestation Paper, Walter Scharlach - 175 Figure 3.11 Attestation Paper, Oscar Scharlach - 175 Figure 3.12 Scharlach Family - 175 Figure 3.13 Deserters by Place of Birth - 179 Figure 3.14 Distribution of Deserters - 181 Figure 3.15 Distribution of Casualties of the former 118th - 193 Figure 4.1 Map drawn September 30, 1914 - 210 Figure 4.2 Bridge 12, Port Robinson - 211 Figure 5.1 Ontario Military Districts - 233 ix List of Abbreviations AAG Assistant Adjutant General ADMI Assistant Director of Military Intelligence BDT Berlin Daily Telegraph BEF British Expeditionary Force BNR Berlin News Record CEF Canadian Expeditionary Force CFWWRF Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund CHA Canadian Historical Association CI Counter Intelligence (Canadian Corps) CO Commanding Officer COG Corps of Guides CPR Canadian Pacific Railway DIO District Intelligence Officer GSO General Staff Officer GOC General Officer Commanding HOC House of Commons KPL Kitchener Public Library KV Records of the Security Service, National Archives (KEW) LAC Library Archives Canada (Formerly PAC, Public Archives Canada) LCMSDS Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic, and Disarmament Studies MD Military District MI5 Military Intelligence, Section 5 MP Member of Parliament NCO Non-Commissioned Officer OC Officer Commanding OPP Ontario Provincial Police OS Overseas PC Privy Council RG Records Group RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police RNWMP Royal Northwest Mounted Police UWL University of Waterloo WHS Waterloo Historical Society x List of Appendices Appendix A Canadian Forces Stationed in MD1 in event of a Raid - 304 Appendix B Orders to Appoint a Divisional/District Intelligence Officer - 305 Appendix C List of Internment Stations (or camps) in Ontario - 306 Appendix D Reported Desertions, 118th OS Battalion - 307 Appendix E Casualties from Berlin/Kitchener - 310 Appendix F The Concordia Club Raid Hearing - 313 Company Sergeant-Major Woodrow - 316 Company Sgt-Major Blood - 319 Corp. Brennan - 328 Sgt. P. Hayward - 331 Sgt. Deal - 334 Sgt. Bowden - 339 Sgt. Pawsen - 340 Sgt-Major Gillespie - 341 Corp. Wilkins - 342 Pte. P. Quinn - 344 Lance-Corp. Gough - 346 Pte. Williamson - 350 Pte. Morneau - 352 Machine Gun Section - 355 Provost Sgt. W Caswell - 355 Signatures - 356 xi Acknowledgements I first owe a debt to the late Dr. Darren Hynes. I was just his TA to begin with but over time he became a sounding board and very much a mentor and inspiration. He rekindled my old interest in western philosophy, religious studies and art history that had drifted from my radar since starting grad school. I was told in confidence about his battle with cancer but it still came as a shock when I received the news that he had passed away. I wish to thank Dr. Mark Humphries, the current director of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies for steering this project at its inception before his departure from