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Australia's Role in WW 1

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WORLD WAR 1 and AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY After almost every major upheaval in our national life historians declare that Australia has `come of age' Whether or not World War I did bring maturity to Australian society is still debated. It is certain, however, that the war brought unprecedented social change. When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 August 1914, Britain's dominions and colonies were automatically committed to participation in what was to become known as the `Great War'. Politicians from both political parties pledged their support for the Mother Country. The Labor leader, Andrew Fisher, summed up the feelings and policy of the time in his enthusiastically received election speech of 31 July 1914 he said: ". . . All, I am sure, will regret the critical position existing at the present time, and pray that a disastrous war may be averted. But should the worst happen after everything has been done that honour will permit, Australians will stand beside our own to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling.' The first shots The Sydney 'Sun' newspaper carried the story of the first Australian shots fired in the war. This occurred on 5 August 1914 in Victoria when the German merchant steamer Pfalz attempted to leave Port Phillip without proper clearance. Shots were fired from the fort at Queenscliffe but the steamer made the open sea. It was soon captured however, and like all German ships in Australia was interned during the war. In one of Australia's first military skirmishes of the war the Royal Australian Navy vessel, Sydney, sank the German destroyer Emden in the Inian Ocean on November 11, 1914 People packed on a train travelling from Broken Hill in central West New South Wales on New Years Day in 1915 were amazed and bewildered to find they were under attack. 1200 miners and their families were going to the Miner's Union picnic when two Turks started firing at the carriages. They had brought the war to the Australian outback. Dressed in Turkish clothes and flying Turkish flags, the two men killed four passengers and wounded seven. Shock quickly turned to anger and the miners revenged the murders. Not only were the Turks killed but also Afghans, Germans and even Indians living in Broken Hill were attacked. Patriotic fervour Although few Australians understood the causes of the war, they were proud of the Empire. Patriotism flourished and all over the country community leaders held meetings at which God Save the King, Rule Britannia and The Marseillaise were sung; politicians and religious leaders made speeches, and young men publicly declared that they were ready to fight. In a surge of patriotism, over 20 000 men enlisted in the first wave of the Australian Imperial Forces (A.I.F.) which sailed in early November. When news came back to Australia of the Gallipoli campaign and the sinking of the Lusitania, another 12 500 men volunteered. Although the flow of volunteers had been steady from 1914 to June 1915, the British still asked for more men: they wanted every man capable of fighting. Recruiting drives throughout town and country were organised. Urgers were included in these drives, and they publicly humiliated men who seemed to be holding back from enlisting. Sending a white feather Peer pressure also grew. Young women would often send a white feather, a symbol of cowardice to men out of uniform. Many clubs and organisations placed bans on young men of fighting age who did not volunteer. Propaganda campaigns were waged on the radio and at the cinema poster art reached new heights as it showed a giantlike Hun killing and maiming the helpless women and children of Belgium. Women were urged to persuade their husbands, sons and brothers to enlist. Many did, but there was also an anti-war surge of emotion. A leaflet urged a `No' to answer the conscription question. It labelled a `yes' answer as a blood vote. The appeal was primarily to women. It read: `Why is your face so white, Mother? Why do you choke for breath? O, I have dreamt in the night, my son, That I have doomed a man to death.' Those that stayed at home By 1916, the Australian force overseas numbered around 222 000 men. This loss of manpower had a profound effect on the home front. Often every worker on a farm or in a factory would be taken by the A.I.F., leaving large gaps in the labour force. The young men left behind in Australia often encountered jeers, and social ostracism. Many who had volunteered, but who had been rejected on medical grounds, began to wear badges on their coat lapels, declaring that they had volunteered. Many of these men did, however, profit from the war, managing successful businesses, getting goods jobs, and keeping them when the war ended. The role of women The role of women also changed. Before World War I, it was quite unusual for women to work, especially middle-class women. During the war, however, almost every woman had some type of job. Certainly much of the work involved helping the war effort. Many sewing and knitting bees were formed to knit socks and mufflers for `our boys'. Women also enlisted as army nurses, and others took over previously male dominated jobs in offices, factories and shops. On a sour note, it must be admitted that many men who returned to Australia after the war, found that their jobs had been permanently filled by women who worked for half the wages. The cheer-up society Women provided moral support for the soldiers going to war, and for those returning. They organised parties which handed out cigarettes, sandwiches and warm words of encouragement to young men travelling to recruiting centres. An organisation known as the Cheer-up Society, which began in Adelaide, organised enthusiastic female cheers for soldiers leaving for the front, and for wounded soldiers returning to Australia. Female cheer of another kind worried large sections of the community of the time. Newspapers claimed that prostitution had increased, and a well-known socialist and sufragette claimed that it was part of a white slavery organisation. Worried about the venereal diseases that soldiers might bring back from overseas, the proposition of legalised prostitution was also raised and rejected. In many ways the war broke down much of the male conservatism, of which women such as Louisa Lawson and Rose Scott had complained. Conversely it also led, in another way, to an increase in conservatism. A call for temperance was supported by many leading feminists and such church groups as the Salvation Army and Methodist Church. Six o'clock closing Liquor, it was claimed by the `wowsers', was a waste of money, at a time when all funds should have been going toward the war effort. It was also claimed that late- closing hours for hotels led to the economic degradation of the family. On 10 June 1916 a referendum on the question was held in New South Wales. The decision was that all hotels would be closed at 6pm for the `duration of the war'. At the same time, sporting activities were curtailed. Politicians, in particular Senator George Pearce, Minister for Defence, claimed that too many young men of fighting age were putting their energy into sports instead of the war. In the event horse racing and boxing were restricted, but the footballers played on. Anti-German feeling Anti-German feeling within Australia rose almost to hysteria level. In areas of high Germanic population such as Adelaide emotions were particularly strong. The reasons for the Nomenclature Act of 1917, were explained by Chief Secretary A. H. Peake. He said, in part, that `something should be done in order to remove from the map of this State names of every enemy origin which had become obnoxious to the people of the State generally.' The effect of the Act was to change the names of 42 locations. Bismark, Germantown Hill and Heidelberg became Weeropa, Vimy Ridge and Kobandella respectively. Citizens of German descent were accused of a range of crimes, and it was even urged that they be locked up. Those who were Germanic, or who were suspected of being linked with Germans were ostracised by Australian society. Economic problems The country also faced severe economic problems. All overseas commercial shipping was held up until the question of war insurance was settled. Such curbs on imported goods did, however, stimulate some local industries. In 1917 the Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes, announced a ship-building program. Britain was getting most of her foreign goods from the United States and Australia tried to secure part of this export trade. Britain was already paying for much Australian wool and other goods, although never able to transport them to Britain. Prices of most commodities were fixed in 1916 by a High Court Ruling. A number of port-side strikes were held in protest against the `famine price' of bread and other foods. Two conscription referendums were held; both were defeated, and both split the country. Many termed the conscription issue the `lottery of death'. When the war ended in 1918, Hughes spoke of the consequences in the House of Representatives. In September 1919 he said: "What has been won? If the fruits of victory are to be measured by natural safety and liberty, and the high ideals for which these boys died, the sacrifice has not been in vain. They died for the safety of Australia. Australia is safe. They died for liberty, and liberty they have made for themselves and their country a name that will not die . . . We now turn from war to peace. We live in a new world, a world bled white by the cruel wounds of war. Victory is ours, but the price of victory is heavy. Upon the foundations of victory we would build the new temple of our choice." In reality, many of `our boys' were soon forgotten, left to the `susso' queues. Others fitted back into their old jobs, but all had to cope with an Australia which was vastly different to the country they had left four years before. Post-war society After four years of austerity and then a period of mourning for their dead there was a feverish burst of gaiety. The Jazz Age burst upon Australia. Flat-chested flappers bobbed their hair, wore short skirts, and did the Charleston to music from the new phonograph. Talkies succeeded the silent pictures and, until the advent of television, were the main medium for the communication of ideas. The role of women, in particular, changed with the war. During the war they had done men's work, and not all of them returned to their role of homemaker. Young women availed themselves of better education opportunities; and more of them went to university, and then into the professions. When they married the size of their family was usually smaller than it would have been before the war. The greater publicity given to contraceptive methods was responsible for this trend. Sadly, many of them never had an opportunity to marry. So many young men had died in the war that there were not enough of them to go round. Thanks goes to Scott Brown for researching and sending this information to The Canadian Great War Homepage. Please visit Scott's genealogy homepage at http://www.powerup.com.au/~fsbrown/family/index.html

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These pages were researched and written by Brian Lee Massey & are Copyright © 1997 - 2007. This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without my consent.	Poppy graphic and poppybar graphic designed by Brian L. Massey and may not be used on other sites The Poppy is a ™Trademark of Dominion Command, Royal Canadian Legion, and is used on The Canadian Great War Homepage with their permission
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