Nature's Past Episode 052: Hydro-Power and War

What fuels war? The total war of the Second World War placed enormous demands on the resources and environment of Canada. Manufacturing equipment for the war and harvesting natural resources for production were some of the most substantial contributions Canadians made to the war effort on the home front. And most of the electricity that powered that effort came from falling water. As Matthew Evenden writes in his new book Allied Power: Mobilizing Hydro-Electricity During Canada’s Second World War, “Canada’s war economy was mobilized on the banks of rivers as well as people.”

During the course of the Second World War, the federal government, provinces, and private corporations coordinated in the expansion of Canada’s hydro-electric capacity. By the end of the war, Canada was a hydro-electricity superpower.

On this episode of the podcast Matthew Evenden discusses his new book on the role of energy and environment in Canada’s Second World War.

Book Cover: Allied Power: Mobilizing Hydro-Electricity During Canada's Second World War.