War & Peace Quote by William Lyon Mackenzie King

King’s line turns the factory floor into a second фронт, drafting civilians without saying the word “draft.” Calling industrial workers “partners in war” is shrewd political alchemy: it flatters labor with status, reframes sacrifice as shared, and quietly binds the workforce to the state’s objectives. “Partners” suggests equality and mutual benefit, but the real bargain is asymmetric. Soldiers risk death; workers are asked to accept speedups, rationing, wage controls, and fewer strikes, all under the moral cover of national emergency.

The phrase “in war of the fighting forces” is deliberate redundancy. It insists the war belongs to the military while granting industry a supporting role that is still morally charged. King’s genius as a cautious, consensus-driven politician was to sell wartime discipline as civic inclusion. If you’re a “partner,” dissent starts to look like betrayal; labor conflict becomes not a negotiation but a threat to troops. That’s the subtext: industrial peace becomes a patriotic duty, and the government gains leverage to manage production and tamp down unrest.

The context is Canada’s total-war mobilization in the first half of the 20th century, especially the pressures of World War II: munitions output, shipbuilding, logistics, and the constant political landmine of conscription. King famously tried to balance English-Canadian demands for full military commitment with French-Canadian resistance to compulsory service. Elevating workers as essential “partners” helps redirect national pride away from the divisive question of who must fight, toward a broad, unifying story of collective effort - one that keeps the home front working, and the government in control.