An Imperial Crisis

Around the time of the First World War, imperial unity was a popular theme for graphic artists. They got a good deal of mileage from decorative groupings of representative imperial soldiers, and even more from families of animals (usually lions) bearing the names of parts of the empire. Granted, one soldier was often placed toward the rear and not all the lion cubs were exactly the same size, but in general the message conveyed was unity and equality in a common cause.

But when propaganda gave way to practice, the rhetoric of a united, equal empire was shunted aside. Whatever the symbolism of lion cubs and stalwart soldiers, the empire should be white. The millions who, inconveniently, were not white were quite welcome to be united in that common cause, but they should not hope to be equal partners. That was certainly the feeling in Canada, as the case of the Komagata Maru...