History 355H Discussion Questions
March 18, 2020

1. Goldsworthy provides a more nuanced assessment of the Last 100 Days.  What is his argument?  What is new that he brings to the study of this battle?
2. What if any were the political implications of this battle with respect to Canadian nationhood?
3. Why does Borden come under criticism with respect to that battle?
4. According to Goldsworthy, “the Hundred Days Offensive ultimately resulted in the successful conclusion of the war, and the Canadian Corps, as the spearhead, was arguably the largest single contributor to the success of the offensive.”  If that is so, this battle would seem to surpass Vimy Ridge in terms of importance for Canadians specifically and the war generally. Why then has it been largely overlooked or ignored by Canadians?
5. What made the Canadians so successful in the Battle of Amiens?  How did they sustain that success.?
6. According to Jack Granatstein, one of Canada’s foremost military historians and author of The Greatest Victory:  Canada’s One Hundred Days, 1918 (2014), “Canada’s Hundred Days was the most important Canadian role in battle ever, the only time that this nation’s military contribution might truly be called decisive.  And yet, scarcely one Canadian in a hundred has heard of [it]….The reason is simple:  the Battle of Vimy Ridge is the one Great War event that any Canadian is likely to know….Vimy did not change the course of the war.  Vimy regrettably did not win the war or even substantially change its course.”  If we consider what Granatstein says, then what is it that has made Vimy central to Canadian nationalism and nation building and ignored the more decisive Last Hundred Days?