U4 AOS1 -> WW1/ch1

Question 1

what was the impact of WW1 on Australian society?

Answer 1

For historian Stuart Macintyre, Australia was (from early 1917 until 1918) ‘a nation divided’, in which ‘the government of Australia was conducted in a state of almost perpetual crisis’

Question 2

what was Australia’s defence policy after Federation?

Answer 2

The Australian Constitution (1901) transferred the responsibility for defence from the former colonies to the newly-founded federal government. From the beginning, limited conscription was enshrined in Australian federal laws.
Another strong influence on Australian defence was Britain’s defence policies. Australia refused Britain’s request to contribute 1 battleship to the British fleet in preparation for war with Germany’s Navy as it chose to prioritise its own interests.

Question 3

how did the outbreak of WW1 occur?

Answer 3

At the outbreak of war on the 5th of August 1914, Australia automatically supported Britain. The Governor-General simply informed our Prime Minister that AUS had also declared war on Germany. The Federal Parliament didn’t have to debate the matter as well before the declaration of war, both the PM and the Opposition leader had made strong statements of support for Britain. Joining the war meant mobilising defence forces, the government initially desired 20,000 men, the maximum amount it could equip, clothe + arm. In addition, this was the smallest size of military unit that would qualify to be independently commanded by Australian officers, anything smaller would simply have been absorbed into the British Army which initially was not an issue due to the immense no. of men who wanted to volunteer. As the months of war unfolds tensions grew, making this war and this time, the most divisive in Australia’s history. The war effort placed strains in panpower and the resources needed for industrial production. Additionally, food, clothing + other goods became scarce and restrictions were placed on individual freedoms under censorship and the ‘War Precautions Act, 1914 recruiting offices opened at army barracks around AUS on the 10th of August 1914, only 6 days after the war began and thousands of Australian men joined the AIF in the first few months, eager to support the British Empire

Question 4

what were the responses to war?

Answer 4

From the outset, the war involved a broad range of responses from the Australian public, from patriotic support to vocal opposition, as well as the understandable responses of anxiety for loved ones at the front and fear of defeat
Despite the enthusiastic embrace of war, some criticism of Australia’s involvement in the war emerged, including from a minority of the labour movement. Frank Anstey a member of the House of Representatives expressed traditional socialist opposition to militarism and war hence he was called a traitor by his opponents

Question 5

what was the War Precautions Act 1914?

Answer 5

The War Precautions Act 1914 was passed in OCT 1914, just 2 months after the war’s commencement however it was backed by a military court rather than a civil one along with the power to court martial suspects. Its purpose was to prevent communication with the enemy and to stop any activity that could assist the enemy/harm the operations of His Majesty’s forces in AUS or abroad. the Act’s reach could be enlarged by any provision which appears “which appears necessary or expedient with a view to the public safety and the defence of the Commonwealth” and gave the government the power to control the movement + activities of aliens and to regulate any transfers of goods/money out of AUS to enemy countries

Question 6

what did the War Precautions Act make the penalty for failing to comply with it?

Answer 6

“One hundred pounds or six months’ imprisonment, or both.’

Question 7

how did the notion of conscription come to be for PM Billy Hughes?

Answer 7

In late 1915, PM Billy Hughes used the census to determine the number of eligible men for voluntary service. Hughes now made the bold offer of a new intake of 50,000 men to Britain which quickly accepted their help however without conscription this would be very difficult to carry out. Especially in JAN 1916, Hughes toured Britain to champion military service, supporting Britain’s subsequent decision to introduce conscription and he returned to AUS in July 1916 determined that AUS would do the same however by mid-1916 that Australia needed conscription to raise an adequate armed force and Australia already had conscription in the form of compulsory military training for all young men

Question 8

what was the politically divisive nature of PM Billy Hughes’ push for conscription?

Answer 8

The War Precautions Act 1914 now allowed the PM to introduce conscription for overseas service however Labor’s own anti-conscriptionist policy + strong resistance from the Victorian Trade Unions movement made it problematic. Hughes was aware that any parliamentary vote on conscription would divide his own Labor party, Hughes sidetracked the issue by appealing to the Australian nation in a plebiscite however many opposed such a strategy. however Australia was ultimately divided over conscription which was extremely evident when Hughes spoke on the 2nd referendum in 1917 at the MGC where the wealthier were stereotypically more supportive whilst the poorer were more adamant on voluntary conscription

Question 9

what was the impact of the war on Industrial workers?

Answer 9

PM Billy Highes was empowered by the War Precautions Act 1914 to crush public opposition on the war as he used police to close public meetings + raid dissident groups’ headquarters
Hughes’ main target was the international workers’ movement, the Industrial Workers of the World, commonly known as the Wobblies who rejected the traditional methods of trade union campaigning and preferred direct + militant action. One of their leaders, Tom Barker, was imprisoned for 8 moths before being deported to Chile

Question 10

what was the 1st referendum in OCT 1916?

Answer 10

in August 1916, Britain’s War Council informed Hughes that the 4 Australian divisions needed 82,000 reinforcements over 4 months or face dismantling hence because voluntary enlistment was declining, the only solution seemed to be conscription

Question 11

what was the result of the 1st referendum OCT 1916?

Answer 11

The referendum was defeated by a narrow margin: 1,087,557 votes in favour and 1,160,033 against. The 1st plebiscite rules from the 28th of OCT 1916: South Australia most strongly voted against conscription with 57.56% saying NO whilst Western Australia most strongly voted for conscription with 69.71% of people voting YES

Question 12

what was the impact of the referendum result on PM Billy Hughes?

Answer 12

As a consequence of the referendum result, PM Hughes and other important ministers quit the Labor party, and formed a new group called the Win the War Party or the Nationalist Party. Although some working people still supported the Labor Party, more now supported a massive effort to win the war, and Hughes’ Nationalists won the election. Although some working people still supported the Labor Party’s anti-war stance, others now supported a massive effort to win the war, if only because there was no viable alternative course of action hence Hughes’ Nationalists won the election

Question 13

what was the 2nd referendum DEC 1917?

Answer 13

By the end of 1917, a further 76,836 casualties had occurred with 38,000 casualties at the recent Battle of Passchendaele alone. Since volunteer recruitment could never hope to replace such heavy losses, PM Hughes launched a 2nd referendum, claiming those who opposed a YES vote were German sympathisers or in the case of unionists, Bolsheviks (Communists). He additionally condemned Irish Catholics as members of Sinn Fein, a radical political group in Ireland and even he described female anti-conscriptionist as traitors. In this 2nd bitter struggle, the Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix was an equally powerful opponent. The debates were worse than before as the anti-conscriptionists appealed to the racial attitudes created by the White Australia Policy and alarmed people by suggesting that if more White Australians were sent to the front, then farms + businesses in AUS would be forced to hire cheap labour which involved the Chinese or Pacific Island Kanakas

Question 14

what was the result of the 2nd referendum DEC 1917?

Answer 14

The 2nd referendum was won again by the ‘NO’ vote by a slightly larger margin
Votes in favour of conscription fell by 72,00 whilst votes against conscription rose by 21,000
Only WA (64.39%) and Tasmania voted in favour.Interestingly, rather that SA, NSW voted the most against with 58.84% of people voting ‘NO.’ Soldiers voted in favour by a small majority, but again those at the front voted against, probably because they knew the hellish conditions there, and did not wish to compel men to join them.

Question 15

who was Archbishop Daniel Mannix and what was his role in advocating against conscription?

Answer 15

Archbishop Daniel Mannix became the most powerful critic of conscription, stating that he was not disloyal to AUS which he confirmed in 1962 by stating that “I wanted to win the war. I wanted to promote voluntary enlistment, but I did not want conscription.” Many Australian Catholics followed his advice to oppose conscription.
After the Irish nationalist uprising (the Easter Uprising) in Dublin, against British rule in Easter 1916, Mannix linked conscription with Britain’s brutal suppression of the uprising. Not all Catholics supported Mannix’s anti-conscription stance as the Catholic Archbishop of Perth, for example, campaigned in favour of conscription.
However in a broader sense, the Easter Uprising in Dublin and its suppression hardened Catholic opposition.

Question 16

who was Vida Goldstein and what was his role in advocating against conscription?

Answer 16

One of Australia’s most prominent and vocal political activists Vida Goldstein (1869-1949) was an influential pacifist and feminist whose energy and vision energised some radical organisations including the Women’s Peace Army. She advocated that it is necessary “to conserve life” especially in a time of war

Question 17

how was propaganda used on the home front?

Answer 17

All wartime governments used propaganda on their respective home fronts.
Since AUS, rejected conscription, it heavily relied on volunteers for its war effort which made war propaganda vital to maintain voluntary recruitment, especially when support for the war decreased. Film was occasionally used for propaganda. Propaganda often involved colourful + striking works of art to boost enlistments or the purchase of government war bonds to finance the war effort. A strong theme of posters was that men should enlist to experience an exciting moment in history.Posters show a member of the armed forces urging a civilian to volunteer. Some intellectuals mocked the posters; writer Martin Boyd said that they were an insult to the intelligence of an educated people.
The first posters were produced in Britain by the government’s British Parliamentary Recruitment Committee. It created 164 different posters and printed 5.7 million copies of them. Once Britain introduced conscription in 1916, the posters were no longer necessary, and some were sent to Australia to further encourage voluntary recruitment. The technology used did not have to be invented as the government simply adopted the existing technique of modern commercial posters.

Question 18

what were the types of propaganda used in WW2 - images of combat?

Answer 18

this included propaganda showing images of combat, initially this involved the noble presentation of soldiers defending the innocent and helpless however as war progressed more frank depictions were made which illustrated horrific explosions + wounded men dying in ‘No Man’s Land’ + devastated bombed cities. The purpose of this was to inspire men to enlist and make civilians realise that their problems were minor by comparison

Question 19

what were the types of propaganda used in WW2 - manipulation by disapproval/guilt?

Answer 19

as the horrific losses mounted late in the war and recruiting declined, a new urgency crept into propaganda messages. People were urged to enlist in the war and made to feel guilty or morally unworthy if they did not do so

Question 20

what were the types of propaganda used in WW2 - exaggeration/unrealistic fears of invasion?

Answer 20

propaganda influenced people’s decisions by playing on their emotions. Some suggested that if Australian men fail to enlist, AUS would be invaded by Germany. However, historically this was never a possibility during WW1. Australians immediately thought of atrocity stories about real and alleged German cruelty to civilians when they invaded Belgium. Scenes were made to be so frightening that few people would have stopped to think rationally that Germany was not likely to attack Australia.

Question 21

what were the types of propaganda used in WW2 - demonising the enemy?

Answer 21

propaganda created enthusiasm for the war by depicting the enemy in the worst possible light. Often propaganda underwent the process of ‘bestialisation’ to represent a human being with crude, ugly features that make him look like an animal in order to further create anger towards the ‘enemy.’ Factual accuracy is not an issue in propaganda: this image shows the creature wearing the spiked helmet traditionally associated with ‘the Hun’, but in fact these were discarded by the German Army early in the war.

Question 22

what were the continuities of WW1?

Answer 22

• In terms of national identity and feeling, Australians continued to proudly identify themselves as part of the British Empire.
• In terms of foreign policy, Australia retained a close defence relationship with Britain.
• In political terms, Australia remained a democracy and a constitutional monarchy.
• At the end of the war, when troops returned, women again found their access to the workplace reduced in many cases.

Question 23

what are the changes brought by WW1?

Answer 23

• In political terms, the War Precautions Act 1914 gave the government ranging powers to control and direct the Australian economy and society.
• In economic terms, Australia was forced to improve its industrial base. The war disrupted shipping and reduced the flow of imported goods into the country. Australia set about increasing its manufacturing businesses, so that it could produce its own goods and not rely on imports. One of the most important of the new industries was iron and steel manufacturing. This was especially crucial because the war itself had cut off Australia’s access to these commodities from countries such as Germany and Belgium.
• In social terms, working people found that the government’s need to speed up the economy resulted in attacks on the trade unions and some loss of labour rights. It was not felt to be ‘patriotic’ to go on strike.