Jacaranda History 9 - World War 1

DEPTH STUDY 3: WORLD WAR I
TOPIC 8
World War I (1914–1918)
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8.1 Overview
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Numerous videos and interactivities are embedded just where you need them, at the point of learning, in
your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au. They will help you to learn the content and concepts covered
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in this topic.
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8.1.1 Links with our times
In 2007 the bodies of 250 Australian and British soldiers were discovered in a mass grave near the town of
Fromelles in northern France. The site was close to where they had fallen in 1916 during one of the bloodiest
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battles of World War I. In 2010, on the ninety-fourth anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles, the last of these
soldiers was finally given a proper burial at a new military cemetery in France. For Australians this was a
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reminder of the terrible losses suffered by the young Australian nation.
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SOURCE 1 The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne (left). World War I memorial in Cairns, north Queensland.
The clock is stopped at the time of the first landing of the Anzacs at Gallipoli (right).
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TOPIC 8 World War I (1914–1918) 261
c08DepthStudy3WorldWarI_1914_1918.indd Page 261 26/07/17 9:10 PM

Each year on 25 April we commemorate
A timeline of World War I
Anzac Day, marking the day in 1915 on which
soldiers from Australia and New Zealand first
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1880 year on 11 November we observe Remem-
1882 brance Day, the day that war ended in 1918. If
Germany, you have travelled around Australia, you may
Austria–Hungary
and Italy form the have noticed that every city, most towns and
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Triple Alliance. many older suburbs have memorials that were
first built to honour Australians who died in
World War I. Perhaps you have wondered why,
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1907 in a country so far from the battlefields, that
Britain, France conflict had such a lasting impact.
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and Russia form
the Triple Entente. World War I was a turning point in Australia’s
history, and learning about it can help us under-
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1915
25 April: The stand much about our country. But it was also
Anzacs land at a turning point for the world. It brought about
Gallipoli. 1914
28 July: death and destruction on a massive scale, saw
December: The 1910 Austria–Hungary declares the rise of communism and the fall of empires,
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Allies withdraw from war on Serbia.
Gallipoli. and planted the seeds of fascism. Wars have
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1–3 August: Germany terrible consequences, but they do not simply
declares war on Russia
1916 and France, and invades ‘happen’. They can be investigated and under-
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March–June: The Belgium.
AIF joins the fight stood, and learning from the past could help us
against Germany on 4 August: Britain declares to avoid war in the future.
the Western Front. war on Germany.
The Australian Light
Horse remains in
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5–10 September:
Egypt to fight French and British armies
Turkish forces. halt the Germans in
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Belgium and France.

1 July: The British
and French launch a 15 September: Trench
Big questions
big offensive in the warfare begins in Western As you work through this topic, look for
Somme Valley on
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Europe. information that will help you to answer these

the Western Front.
questions:
28 October: The first 1. Why was Australia involved in World War I?
1915
referendum on 2. What was the significance of the Gallipoli
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conscription is held and Western Front campaigns?

in Australia.
3. How did the Anzac legend influence our
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1917 national identity?

6 April: The USA 4. What were the main political, economic and
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enters the war. 1918 social effects of the war?

31 July: The third 21 March: The last 5. How did the war affect Australians on the
German offensive on
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battle of Ypres home front?

(Passchendaele) is the Western Front is
launched by the launched.
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Germans in
18 July: Australian
Starter questions
Belgium.
forces lead the first 1. Why are there World War I memorials all over
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7 November: successful large Allied Australia?

Revolution in Russia attack in France. 2. What do you think and how do you feel
leads to Russian when you visit a war memorial and read the
withdrawal from The Armistice, signed
the war. on 11 November, ends names of the fallen?
the fighting. 3. Why is Anzac Day commemorated each year
20 December: The
1920 in Australia?
second conscription
referendum is lost 4. Do you think we can we learn from the past
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in Australia. so as to avoid wars in the future?
262 Jacaranda History Alive 9 Australian Curriculum Second Edition

8.2 How do we know about World War I
8.2.1 Evidence of World War I
In this topic we will be investigating World War I, especially Australia’s involvement in it. The human
cost of World War I was horrific for Australia, as for many other nations. Almost 9 million soldiers on
both sides died in this terrible conflict. More than twice that number were wounded, including many who
were terribly disfigured or who lost limbs, were blinded or were driven mad.
Because of its global scale and impact, there is an enormous range of sources of evidence for World
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War I. Australia’s population during the war years was under 5 million, yet around 60 000 Australians died
on active service. As a result, Australia has among the world’s most extensive collections of sources from
the war.
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8.2.2 Written sources
Thousands of books and articles have been written about World War I over the many years since it
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ended. There are also vast quantities of written primary sources. These include campaign maps, soldiers’
military records, letters, diaries, memoirs and propaganda for and against conscription for the war. Many
of these sources can now be read on line through the website of the Australian War Memorial.
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DID YOU KNOW ?
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World War I (the First World War), at the time called ‘the Great War’, was sometimes described as ‘the War to
End All Wars’. However, in almost a century since World War I there has hardly been a time when war was not
taking place somewhere in the world. Increasingly the main victims have come to be civilians. As many as 231
million people died in wars and other conflicts during the twentieth century. Since the beginning of this century,
many more have died.
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8.2.3 Visual sources

Several countries, including
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France, Belgium and Britain, SOURCE 1 Australian 2nd Division monument near the town of Peronne in
have great museums ded- the Somme Valley, northern France
icated to World War I. Yet
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none of these surpasses the

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outstanding collections of the

Australian War Memorial. Its
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holdings include many thou-

sands of photographs and
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artworks, weapons, equip-

ment and dioramas depicting
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specific battles. Many doc-

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umentary films and several

excellent websites are dedi-
cated to the subject.
The following sources will
give you an idea of the variety
of evidence that we have for
this conflict.

SOURCE 2 Part of the World War I military service record SOURCE 3 Part of Second Lieutenant
of Private Elmer Motter of the 33rd Australian Battalion C. C. D. St Pinnock’s account of the
aftermath of fatal charges against Turkish
lines by soldiers of the Australian Light
Horse at Gallipoli, Turkey, on 7 August
1915. Pinnock himself was killed in action
just one year later.
… you can imagine what it was like. Really
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too awful to write about. All your pals that
had been with you for months and months
blown and shot out of all recognition.
There was no chance whatever of us
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gaining our point, but the roll call after was
the saddest, just fancy only 47 answered
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their names out of close on 550 men.
When I heard what the result was I simply
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cried like a child.
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SOURCE 4 Behind the arches along both sides of the Commemorative Courtyard of the Australian War
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Memorial, the Roll of Honour lines the walls. It displays the names of all Australians who have died in war
since 1885 (more than 102 000 names). More Australians died in World War I than in all other conflicts
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combined.
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8.2 Activities
To answer questions online and to receive immediate feedback and sample responses for every question,
go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au. Note: Question numbers may vary slightly.
Check your understanding

1. Give five examples of types of primary sources that are available for studies of World War I.
2. Name for countries that have museums dedicated to World War I.
Apply your understanding
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3. What can you tell from Source 1 about one place where Australians fought in World War I?
4. How would you account for the renaming of the street in Source 1 as Avenue des Australiens (‘Avenue of
Australians’)?
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5. Study Source 2. Elmer Motter died of wounds in France on 2 September 1918.
(a) How long was he in action before he was first wounded?
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(b) What conclusions might be drawn from this fact about the dangers soldiers faced during World War I?
6. Read Source 3.
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(a) When and where did the event described in this source occur?
(b) What percentage of the 550 men had survived to answer their names after the attack?
7. Whose names are inscribed on the walls in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial
(Source 4)?
8. What kinds of evidence are represented by these four sources?
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9. What could you learn about Australia’s role in World War I from just these four sources?
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8.3 What caused the Great War?
8.3.1 Long-term causes of the war
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The immediate trigger of World War I was the assassination of the heir to the throne of the Austro-
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Hungarian Empire on 28 June 1914. Five weeks later the great powers of Europe, along with the coun-
tries of their empires and some other small nations, were at war. When the war began, most people
thought that it would be over within a few months. Instead it raged for four years, causing great destruc-
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tion and unimagined suffering. Such conflicts rarely have one simple cause. To understand how and why
the Great War happened we need to look well beyond the event that triggered the fighting.
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Glorifying war
Today we know that war is always terrible, cruel and destructive, and that it often has unforeseen conse-
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quences. However, most people did not understand this in early 1914. At school and in popular books,
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newspapers and magazines war was often presented as a heroic adventure. Most people thought of wars as
short, exciting, noble and glorious. At the same time, there was an arms race in Europe. Between 1870 and
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1914 the great powers increased their military spending by 300 per cent and all the continental European
powers adopted conscription. Some historians have described Europe in 1914 as a powder keg waiting for
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a spark to ignite an explosion.

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Long-term tensions
As you learned in the topic 1 Overview, imperialism and nationalism had caused international tensions
and conflicts long before 1914. Fear and suspicion of their rivals drove nations to seek security through
alliances with others. Leaders came to believe that their countries would be safer if they could rely on
others to come to their aid if ever they were threatened. But such alliances could also drag countries into
conflicts.

Germany’s alliances
From the early 1870s Germany sought an alliance with Austria–Hungary and Russia. This was because
the German states had taken two provinces — Alsace and Lorraine — from France during war in 1870,
and Germany feared that France would want revenge. But such an alliance could not last because
Austria–Hungary and Russia had competing interests. In 1879 Germany created the Dual Alliance, under
which Germany and Austria–Hungary agreed that each would help the other if either was attacked by
Russia. This accord became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. At the same time, Germany
attempted to remain friendly with Britain and to mend relations with Russia.
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SOURCE 1 European alliances at the beginning of 1914
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NORWAY
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SWEDEN
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NORTH
DENMARK B A LT I C
SEA
SEA 0 250 500 750
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kilometres
UNITED KINGDOM
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NETHERLANDS
Berlin RUSSIAN EMPIRE
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London GERMAN EMPIRE
Rh
in e
BELGIUM
LUXEMBOURG
River
Paris
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AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN
EMPIRE
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FRANCE SWITZERLAND
Danub e
Belgrade
ROMANIA
BOSNIA Bucharest
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R i ve r BLACK
Sarajevo
ITALY SERBIA SEA
MONTENEGRO BULGARIA
Sofia
CORSICA Rome
ALBANIA Constantinople
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AL
SPAIN
P O RT U G
SARDINIA
GREECE
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OTTOMAN
MED EMPIRE
ITER Athens
RA SICILY
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NE
AN
Key
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Triple Entente SE
A
Triple Alliance CRETE
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France finds allies

From 1888 Germany’s foreign policy took a new direction. When Germany failed to renew a treaty
with Russia in 1890, France found an ally in Russia. In the 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance each agreed
to help the other if attacked by Germany. The new German ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm II, wanted to create
a colonial empire and took steps to build up the German navy. This raised concerns in Britain, whose
own empire depended on the Royal Navy’s absolute superiority over any rival. Alarmed by Germany’s

move, Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904. When Britain and Russia settled their
differences in 1907, Britain, France and Russia linked up in the Triple Entente.
Conflicting French and German interests in North Africa and conflicting Russian and Austrian interests
in the Balkans led to increased tensions. However, it was in the Balkans that these tensions would erupt
into war.
SOURCE 2 From a statement in 1914 by Sir Edward Grey, Britain’s foreign minister from 1905 to 1916
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The cause of anxiety now in public opinion here as regards Germany arises entirely from the question of the
German naval expenditure … if she had a fleet bigger than the British fleet, obviously she could not only defeat
us at sea, but could be in London in a very short time with her army.
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SOURCE 3 The (British) Royal Navy’s 1st and 2nd Battle Squadrons at sea in 1912. It was British policy to
maintain a navy that was large enough and strong enough to defeat the navies of any two potential enemies.
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8.3.2 The short-term triggers of the war

The Balkans powder keg
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Nationalism was an especially strong force in Europe’s Balkan peninsula, where several national groups had
won their independence from the Turkish Ottoman Empire since the 1820s. This current alarmed the military
leaders of Austria–Hungary, who feared that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could also be infected by national
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minorities seeking independence. The main problem was tension between Austria and Serbia, the most pow-
erful of the independent Balkan nations.
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Serbia was a Slavic nation. Serbian nationalists wanted other Slavic peoples within the Austro-Hungarian
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Empire to unite with it in a South Slav kingdom. Many Serbs were furious when, in 1908, Austria annexed
two Turkish Balkan provinces, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Serbs made up much of the population. By
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1914 Serbia saw Austria as the main obstacle to its expansion. For its part, Austria viewed Serbia as a danger
to its empire’s continued existence. Austria–Hungary was much more powerful than Serbia, but Serbia had
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the backing of Russia, which portrayed itself as the champion of fellow Orthodox Christian Slavs.
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Countdown to war
On 28 June 1914, during an official visit to the Bosnian town of Sarajevo, the heir to the Austrian throne,
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, the Duchess Sophie, were fatally shot. Their killer was Gavrilo
Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb. Princip and his fellow assassins belonged to an extreme Serbian
nationalist group, Young Bosnia. Its aim was to see Bosnia united with Serbia. They were armed and
assisted by Danilo Ilic, a member of the Black Hand, a secret society directed by the head of Serbian mili-
tary intelligence.

SOURCE 4 The Balkans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of 1913
RUSSIAN
0 200 400 600 EMPIRE
kilometres
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE BESSARABIA
Belgrade
ROMANIA
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BOSNIA Bucharest
Sarajevo
SERBIA BLACK SEA

HERZEGOVINA BULGARIA
MONTENEGRO Sofia
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A D R I AT I C
SEA
ITALY ALBANIA
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Constantinople
MACEDONIA
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Dardenelles
GREECE AEGEAN OTTOMAN EMPIRE
SEA
Athens Key
SICILY
Boundaries in 1912
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Boundaries in 1913
MEDITERRANEAN SEA DODECANESE Rhodes
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SOURCE 5 Gavrilo Princip (right) was a member SOURCE 6 This illustration appeared
of the Serbian nationalist group Young Bosnia. in a French magazine shortly after the
assassination. The caption read: ‘The
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assassination of the Archduke, Austrian heir,

and the Duchess, his wife, in Sarajevo’.
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DID YOU KNOW? SOURCE 8 The steps by which countries were drawn
into World War I
The assassins did not know that Archduke Franz
Ferdinand was strongly opposed to any war
5 July
against Serbia and wanted political reform in the 28 June Germany pledges
Austro-Hungarian Empire with more rights for its Archduke support for its ally 1914
subjects. Franz Ferdinand Austria–Hungary.
assassinated
23 July
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Austria–Hungary
SOURCE 7 From a letter written in 1918 by the presents ultimatum
to Serbia.
youngest of the assassins, 17-year-old Vaso
Cubrilovic, to his sisters. Because he was under
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20, Cubrilovic was spared the death penalty but
sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment.
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28 July
I shall write as much as I remember about the Austria–Hungary
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assassination. I first thought about it in October declares war
on Serbia.
1913 in Tuzla, incensed by the fights we had 30 July
with our teachers, the mistreatment of Serbian Russia mobilises
students, and the general situation in Bosnia. I its troops to
thought I’d rather kill the one person who’d really support its
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ally Serbia.
harmed our people than fight in another war for
Serbia. All I’d achieve in a war is to kill a couple
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of innocent soldiers, while these gentlemen who
were responsible for it never come anywhere near 1 August
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the war itself … Germany
declares
Ilic … told me that there would be three others,
war on
apart from us three, and that Serbian officers were Russia. 3 August
supplying the weapons. I asked if the Serbian Germany
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government knew about it. He said no … declares war

on France
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and invades
Belgium.
Events soon spiralled out of control. Austria now 4 August
had an excuse to crush Serbia but needed to be sure Britain declares war
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on Germany in response
of Germany’s backing. Germany gave Austria a to the invasion of neutral
guarantee of military support and, on 23 July, Aus- Belgium and in support
of its ally France. Australia,
tria presented Serbia with an ultimatum. Austria New Zealand and
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knew that Serbia could never accept all the terms Canada enter war in
support of Britain.
of the ultimatum, especially its demand that Aus-
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trian troops be allowed to track down Serb terrorists

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inside Serbia.
8.3.3 War begins

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Serbia accepted many of the demands and offered

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to discuss others, but Austria proceeded to declare

war on 28 July. Russia began to mobilise its forces
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6 August
to support Serbia on 30 July, so Germany declared Austria–Hungary
declares war
war on Russia on 1 August. After France declared on Russia. Serbia 12 August
it would stand by its Russian ally, on 3 August declares war on Britain and France
Germany. declare war on
Germany declared war on France. As you can see Austria–Hungary.
from Source 8, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium,
Britain and their empires were drawn rapidly into a
world war.

8.3 Activities

1. Create a mind map of the long-term causes of World War I.
2. Explain why Austria–Hungary’s military leaders wanted a war with Serbia (refer to Source 4 in your explanation).
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3. Using Source 1, list the members of the two rival European alliances.
4. Use Sources 2 and 3 and your own knowledge to explain:
(a) why Britain was anxious about Germany’s naval build-up
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(b) why Britain wanted its navy to be able to match those of any two enemies.
5. Referring to Sources 5 and 6, explain why the assassination of the Austrian archduke was so significant.
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6. Using Source 8, describe the steps by which a local conflict in the Balkans became a world war.
7. Read Source 7. According to his letter:
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(a) How did Vaso Cubrilovic justify his involvement in the assassination?
(b) Do you think he was justified? Give reasons for your answer.
(c) Besides Young Bosnia, what organisation was involved in the assassination plot?
(d) Was the Serbian government responsible?
8. Do you think Austria was justified in declaring war?
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9. How else could the situation have been resolved?
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RESOURCES — ONLINE ONLY
Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.1: War: When? Where? Why? Who?
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Do you want to explore more? Link to myWorld History Atlas to explore important
historical events from different periods and regions of the world.
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www.myworldatlas.com.au
Europe on the eve of war
8.4 The world at war

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8.4.1 The main battlefronts

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World War I was fought between two groups of countries — the Allies and the Central Powers. At first the
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Allies consisted of the British, French and Russian empires along with Serbia and Belgium. The Central
Powers were Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria and the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Partly
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because Britain, France, Germany and Turkey had empires outside Europe, what began as a European war
became a global war. It was fought on many fronts, on land, on and under the sea and in the air.
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In return for promises of territory, Italy withdrew from the Triple Alliance and joined the Allies in May
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1915. As the war progressed, other countries joined the Allies. Among them were Greece, Portugal, Romania,
Japan, China, Brazil and the small countries of Central America, although many of them expressed their
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support without joining the fighting. The United States of America joined the Allies in 1917.
The Western Front
Germany’s strategy was based on the fact that it had an enemy to the west (France) and a bigger enemy
to the east (Russia), and that it would be impossible to defeat both at the same time. Count Alfred von
Schlieffen had developed Germany’s basic plan in 1905. Under the Schlieffen Plan, during the six weeks
the Germans believed Russia would need to mobilise its army, Germany would launch a quick attack to
defeat France. The victorious German forces could then be moved by rail to the east to fight Russia.

Attacking France through
SOURCE 1 How the Schlieffen Plan was meant to work
neutral Belgium in August
1914 avoided the much NORTH SE A AMSTERDAM
slower task of a direct inva- GREAT NETHERLANDS
BRITAIN
sion across the heavily forti- ROTTERDAM
fied French–German border.

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ve
The plan failed largely Do
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because of strong Belgian
ine
of
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resistance, something Ger- Dunkirk Cologne
BELGIUM
Calais Brussels GERMANY
it
many had not expected.
ra
St
Boulogne
Ri
ve
Belgian resistance delayed Lille
r
Koblenz
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k
Germany’s advance and a t ta
c Frankfurt
of
helped French and British i on
Mainz
ct
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Amiens re
forces to halt the Germans di Mezieres
ed LUXEMBOURG
in northern France in Sep- nn
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a
Rouen Pl
tember 1914. Both sides Se
in
Li
ne
e Reims Verdun
dug trenches to reduce their Mar
of
ne
Fr
losses from enemy artillery
en
ch
PARIS River Nancy
and machine-gun fire. Over
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Strasbourg
rtr
e r
Riv
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the next four years, millions
se
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s
FRANCE
of lives were lost in huge Epinal
offensives aimed at breaking

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the deadlock that resulted 0 50 100 150 Belfort
from trench warfare. kilometres
SWITZERLAND
The Eastern Front

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On the Eastern Front, Russian forces had some early successes but they were poorly led and equipped, and
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the Germans soon gained the advantage. Around 2 million Russian soldiers were killed, wounded or taken
prisoner during the war. Despite some victories against Austro-Hungarian forces, Russia’s military was
collapsing by early 1917 and the Revolution of November 1917 ended Russia’s involvement in the war (see
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subtopic 8.12).
8.4.2 Other theatres of war

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The war at sea

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Germany’s naval build-up had been a major reason for Britain’s decision to become an ally of France and
Russia. Both Britain and Germany believed that navies could determine the outcome of war. However, in
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1914 the German fleet was trapped in its ports, so the British navy’s main role was maintaining a blockade
to prevent Germany from importing war materials. Germany retaliated by sending out U-boats to sink
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allied shipping. In January 1917 U-boats began to attack ships of neutral countries trading with the Allies.
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This led to the United States joining the Allies in April 1917.
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Other European fronts

When Italy joined the Allies a new front was opened along its mountainous frontier with Austria. Fighting
continued there throughout the war. In 1916 Austrian and German troops overran Rumania soon after it
joined the Allies. After Russian forces captured Armenia from Turkey in 1915, Turkish soldiers rounded up
hundreds of thousands of Armenians living within Turkish territory. They were sent on a death march and
massacred. In the same year, the Allies failed in their attempt to invade Turkey via the Gallipoli Peninsula
(see subtopic 8.6).

SOURCE 2 Major battlefronts of World War I
Key Major battlefields

FINLAND Allies Western Front
SWEDEN
Central Powers Eastern Front
SEA
NORWAY
Neutral states Italian Front
International boundary Other battlefronts
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in 1914
NORTH
FS
DENMARK
BA
UNITED SEA Moscow
KINGDOM
RUSSIAN EMPIRE
NETHERLANDS Berlin
London GERMANY
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BELGIUM
AUSTRO-
FRANCE
HUNGARIAN
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SWITZERLAND
EMPIRE
ITALY ROMANIA
CA
Sarajevo BLACK SEA
PR
SERBIA
SP
MONTENEGRO BULGARIA
IAN
ALBANIA
PORTUGAL SPAIN
OTTOMAN
SEA
GREECE
EMPIRE
ME
DIT
E
ERR
ANE
AN SE Baghdad
A
Jerusalem PERSIA
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ALGERIA
Cairo
LIBYA ARABIA KUWAIT 0 500 1000 1500
EGYPT
kilometres
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War in the colonies
With most of its navy bottled up in port, Germany was unable to defend its colonies. In 1914 South Africa
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took German South-west Africa, Australia took German New Guinea, and Japan seized Germany’s Pacific
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islands colonies and territory in China. Turkey’s Middle Eastern colonies became a theatre of war from
1915, when Britain encouraged Arab leaders to revolt against the Turks with promises of independent
kingdoms. These promises were later dishonoured. Germany, in turn, created colonial problems for Britain
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by shipping arms to Irish rebels, who staged an unsuccessful revolt against British rule in Ireland in 1916.
8.4 Activities
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1. Who were the Allies and who were the Central Powers?
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2. Make a timeline of the main developments in World War I.

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3. Examine Source 1.
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(a) In a paragraph, explain why Germany needed to defeat France quickly and how the Schlieffen Plan was
meant to achieve this.
(b) In a second paragraph, explain why the plan failed.
4. Study Source 2 and list the main World War I theatres of war.
5. Britain used Germany’s invasion of neutral Belgium to justify declaring war on Germany on 4 August 1914.
Why do you think Germany was willing to risk provoking Britain?
6. How do you think the Allies were able to gain advantages from their overseas colonies while Germany was
unable to do the same?

Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.1: War: When? Where? Why? Who?
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First World War
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8.5 Australians in the Great War — an overview
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8.5.1 Australia’s response to the outbreak of war
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Why were many Australians willing to fight in World War I, and where did they serve? You have already
learned about how World War I began and the main developments that shaped the course of the war. Now
we will try to understand why Australians took part and the ways in which they contributed.
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When Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 Australia was part of the British Empire and
therefore was also at war. The Australian Labor Party leader, Andrew Fisher, expressed a popular view
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when he pledged that Australia would back Britain ‘to the last man and the last shilling’. Australia was the
only combatant that did not impose conscription, so individual Australians still had the choice of whether
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or not they would fight. But enthusiastic volunteers from all over the country rushed to enlist.
Why did they do this? Soldiers’ letters and diaries reveal that some went for personal reasons such as
to escape unemployment, to travel or to seek adventure. Many imagined war was exciting and that this
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one would all be over in weeks. But most joined believing that Britain’s cause was right. They had been
brought up to believe that men should be willing to die for their country and the empire, and that Australia
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needed to prove to Britain that Australians were heroic and worthy of being regarded as true Britons.
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SOURCE 1 Private A. J. McSparrow, in a letter dated 18 March 1915. Private McSparrow died of wounds in
August 1916.
I have [enlisted] … and I don’t regret it in the very least. I believe it is every young fellow’s duty … besides every
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paper one lifts it has something to say about young fellows being so slow in coming forward … we are the sort of
men who should go.
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SOURCE 2 Corporal R. E. Antill, in a letter to his parents dated 23 April 1915. Corporal Antill was killed in action
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in July 1917. (‘4/-’ means four shillings.)

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… things were so [economically] bad in Melbourne … and they are a jolly site worse now … every day that
passes 4/- goes down to me and this war is bound to last a good while yet … if I am killed you will get what is
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due to me just the same, as it goes to the next of kin.
8.5.2 The formation of the Anzacs

Australia quickly recruited a volunteer army it called the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). By September
1914, 20 000 soldiers had been selected and organised into the 1st Infantry Division and a Light Horse
(mounted) Brigade. By December they were training in Egypt. There the AIF was joined by 10 000 New
Zealand troops to form the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).

Where did they fight?
Australians took part in several theatres of the war on land, at sea and in the air.
SOURCE 3
Gallipoli War at sea

In 1915 Australians played a major Where Australians In Australia’s first action in the war,
role in the Allies’ failed attempt to
invade Turkey through an attack on the
fought in the small Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
sent its only battle cruiser Australia
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Gallipoli Peninsula (see spread 8.5). World War I with the Australian Naval and Military
Force to capture German New Guinea
in September 1914. The RAN also
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escorted convoys of transport ships
carrying troops to the war. It drove
The Western Front
the Germans out of the Pacific. It
The Middle East
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By September 1914 French and British
also served in the Atlantic and Indian
forces had halted the German advance The Australian Flying Corps, the
oceans, the Mediterranean and the
on the fields of northern France and Australia Light Horse and Australians
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North Sea.
Belgium. Between 1916 and 1918, all in the Imperial Camel Corps played
five Australian Divisions took part in the a big role in battles against Turkish
terrible fighting on the Western Front forces in Egypt and Palestine between
(see spread 8.7). 1916 and 1918.
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SOURCE 4 Troops embarking at Port Melbourne in 1915
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DID YOU KNOW ?
The light cruiser Sydney sank the German raider Emden near the Cocos–Keeling group of islands in the Indian
Ocean on 9 November 1914. This was considered a great feat because the Emden had already sunk 25 Allied
steamers and two warships and raided Allied bases in the Pacific.
SOURCE 5 Emden beached and done for, 9 November 1914, painted by Arthur Burgess in 1920
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Burgess, Arthur ‘Emden beached and done for’, 9 November 1914 (1920)
Oil on canvas 168.5 × 254.5 cm
Australian War Memorial ART00191
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8.5 Activities
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1. What did Andrew Fisher mean when he said that Australia would back Britain ‘to the last man and the last
shilling’?
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2. How did most Australians view war in 1914?

3. Explain the meanings of AIF and ANZAC.
4. Make a list of places where Australians fought during World War I and when they fought there.

5. Compare the reasons given for enlisting in Sources 1 and 2. What do these sources tell us about the
different motives of the volunteers?

6. Write an imaginary conversation between two of the men in Source 4 in which they discuss the beliefs and
feelings that led them to sign up for the war.
7. Working in small groups, use the website of the Australian War Memorial to find out more about the incident
shown in Source 5. Use this information to create a newspaper headline and the kind of news article that
might have told of the incident in 1914.
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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.2: Britain calls, Australia answers
8.6 Gallipoli
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8.6.1 Why Gallipoli?
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Gallipoli has deep significance for most Australians. Between 25 April and 18 December 1915 thousands
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of young Australian and New Zealand soldiers died on the beaches and cliffs and in the gullies of Turkey’s
SOURCE 1 The Gallipoli Peninsula
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BLACK SEA Gul f of S aros
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Constantinople
Gallipoli
AEGEAN
SEA TURKEY
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SEA OF
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MARMARA
A
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P
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AEGEAN O
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Suvla Bay A s
SEA e
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Ari Burnu
Anzac Cove rd
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Gaba Tepe
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Kum Tepe
Kilitbahir Canakkale OT TOM A N EM P IR E
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(TU RK EY )
Kephez
Point
Key
Cape Helles Gallipoli City
Medere Bay
Minefield
Kum Kale 0 10 20 30
Anchored mines
kilometres

Gallipoli Peninsula during Australia’s first land campaign of World War I. Although the expedition was a
failure, the courage and endurance of these men created the Anzac legend.
The soldiers of the AIF had expected to sail to England to complete their training and then go to the
Western Front in France and Belgium, where most British troops were fighting the Germans. Instead the
Anzacs were trained in Egypt to form a crucial part of a campaign against Germany’s ally Turkey.
The strategy for an Allied attack on Gallipoli was based on the idea of Winston Churchill, who, as First
Lord of the Admiralty, controlled Britain’s Royal Navy. Churchill thought that an attack on Turkey would
shorten the war because:
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• Turkey could be defeated and Austria–Hungary would be threatened
• Greece, Bulgaria and Romania would be persuaded to join the Allies
• supplies could be shipped through the Dardanelles (a narrow strait between the Aegean Sea and the
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Black Sea) to Russian troops, who were fighting Germany on the Eastern Front.
The first aim was to capture the Dardanelles (see Source 1), opening the heavily fortified strait to Allied
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shipping. After an attempt to do this by naval attack failed, a landing of British, French, Anzac and other
British Empire troops was planned. The Allied forces were to land on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
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8.6.2 The landing at Gallipoli
The first landing of soldiers on the beaches of Gallipoli took place on the morning of 25 April 1915. British
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and French troops landed around Cape Helles. Australians and New Zealanders landed before dawn north
of Gaba Tepe. The Anzacs had to reach the shore in landing craft and claw their way up steep cliffs under
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Turkish fire. Throughout the first day there was confusion and ferocious fighting, much of it hand-to-hand.
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The battle ebbed and flowed and at last the Turks, fighting courageously, won back control of the high
ridges that had been reached by scattered groups of Anzacs. As night fell, the Anzacs found themselves
holding only a few square kilometres of beach, cliffs and gullies and they were ordered to dig in.
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SOURCE 2 Anzac, the landing 1915, by George Lambert. Completed between 1920 and 1922, the painting
shows men of the 3rd Brigade struggling under fire up the slopes of Ari Burnu shortly after 4.30 am on
25 April 1915.
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Lambert, George Anzac, the landing 1915 (1920–1922)

Oil on canvas, 190.5 × 350.5 cm, Australian War Memorial

Through the night the Turks launched waves of fierce counterattacks. Both sides suffered heavy losses
but the Anzac lines held. Strategically, the landing had failed, for the Turks still held the high positions. For
the Anzacs it was a triumph of courage over inexperience, but they paid a high price. At least 2300 died
that day.
SOURCE 3 From the diary of Sergeant W. E. Turnley, who took part in the initial landing at Anzac Cove
There are a couple of lights flashing about — they must have seen us … Crack! Swish! Ping! At last … the
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suspense is over! … some get ashore safely, some are hit slightly, others are drowned in only a couple of feet of
water because in the excitement nobody notices their plight. [One] fellow remains in the boat after all the others
have disembarked … he … looks at us dazedly, leaning forward on his rifle … the soldier falls forward into the
bottom of the boat, dead.
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SOURCE 4 From a description of the landing by British general Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the 80 000
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Allied troops at Gallipoli
Like lightning they leapt ashore … so vigorous was the onslaught that the Turks made no attempt to withstand it
and fled from ridge to ridge pursued by Australian infantry.
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DID YOU KNOW?
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In the days after the landing, Private John Simpson (Kirkpatrick), stretcher-bearer of the 3rd Australian Field
Ambulance, calmly led his donkey up and down the gully from the front line to the beach, evacuating many
wounded men, until he was killed on 19 May.
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8.6.3 After the landing

The Gallipoli campaign was not to be
SOURCE 5 The Australian 22nd Battalion, newly arrived from
the quick, glorious victory Australians
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Egypt, going into the line at the southern part of Lone Pine,
had expected. It was a long, agonising Gallipoli Peninsula
ordeal in which the death toll mounted
on both sides. During the first week the
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fighting hardly stopped. By early May

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most Anzac officers and about half the

men in each battalion had been killed
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or wounded. Despite such casualties,

many wounded men who had been
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evacuated were anxious to return to the

front.
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The Turkish counterattack

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On the night of 18–19 May the Anzacs

withstood a massive counterattack as
42 000 Turks were ordered to drive
them from their positions and back into
the sea. In courageous but suicidal charges, the Turks lost 10 000 men, half of whom lay dead or wounded
in no man’s land. Around midday a truce was arranged so both sides could bury their dead before the
battle resumed.

Life on Gallipoli
These were weeks of tragic waste, terror and extraordinary courage. With the Turks occupying much of the
high ground above them, none of the Anzacs were ever free from danger. Yet they were forced to adapt to
life on Gallipoli. Soldiers made grenades from jam tins filled with explosives, nails, stones and shrapnel.
Some men learned to catch Turkish grenades and throw them back before they detonated. Mass bayonet
charges were frequent but were doomed as, once in open ground, the men were cut down by machine-gun
fire. Increasingly they turned to the tactic of mining under enemy trenches and blowing them up from below.
The heat of summer and the many rotting corpses in no man’s land brought such incessant swarms of
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flies that soldiers wrote of their mouths filling with flies when they tried to eat a biscuit with jam. With the
flies came diseases such as typhoid and dysentery.
Despite the fact that both sides often killed men rather than take prisoners, the Anzacs and the Turks came
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to respect each other’s courage. The Australians affectionately called their adversaries ‘Jacko’, ‘Abdul’ or
‘Johnnie Turk’. In between the bombs and bullets, gifts, jokes and greetings were exchanged.
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Lone Pine
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In August operations aimed at breaking the deadlock and seizing the high ground began. Australian troops
had the task of diverting Turkish forces while another force of Anzac, British and Indian troops landed at
Suvla Bay and advanced to capture the high ridges. The Lone Pine diversion was among the most savage
battles of the Gallipoli campaign. The Australians charged the Turkish positions and lost more than 2300
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killed or wounded in four days and nights of hand-to-hand fighting. The Turks lost about 6000 men.
The Nek
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On 7 August, in another attack whose aim was to divert the Turks, troops of the Australian Light Horse were
ordered to make bayonet charges up a narrow strip of open ground called the Nek. The attacks proceeded
even though the plan to capture the ridges had failed. The naval bombardment of the Turkish trenches stopped
several minutes too soon. This allowed the Turks to return to their firing positions. Four successive lines of
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Light Horsemen, each of about 150 men, charged from their trenches towards the Turkish lines. Cut down
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by machine-gun fire, nearly all fell dead or wounded

within a few metres of their own trenches. Their bravery SOURCE 6 During the evacuation, the Allied
was extraordinary but their deaths achieved nothing. troops needed to make the Turks think they were
still in their trenches. One trick was to rig rifles
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to fire automatically. Once enough water had

8.6.4 Withdrawal dripped from the top tin into the bottom tin, its
After seven months, the British command finally weight pulled the trigger.
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accepted that victory would not be possible. Ironically,

the best-managed part of the entire campaign proved
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to be the withdrawal of all Allied soldiers during

December. The soldiers and war materials were evacu-
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ated secretly at night. Throughout the operation every

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effort was made to convince the Turks that nothing out

of the ordinary was going on. Cricket matches were
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played on the beach, and empty crates were brought

ashore each day. When the Turks charged down from
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the hills on 20 December they found that the enemy

had vanished.
DID YOU KNOW ?

When they abandoned Gallipoli, the Anzacs left behind 7591 Australian and 2431 New Zealand dead. Many
thousands of other British Empire soldiers and French and Turkish troops also died during the campaign.

8.6 Activities

1. Describe the scale of Anzac casualties in the first week of the Gallipoli campaign.
2. Make a list of some of the hardships faced by the Anzacs during the Gallipoli campaign.
3. Describe ways in which the Anzacs adapted and coped with these hardships.
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4. Look closely at Source 1.
(a) What aspects of this map show that it would have been difficult for a naval force to capture the Dardanelles?
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(b) Why would a successful land invasion also have been difficult?
5. Source 2 depicts the April 25 landing.
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(a) Describe the details of this painting and what you can tell from it about the landing at Gallipoli.
(b) The artist was commissioned by the government to produce this painting. Would this make it any more or
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less reliable as a historical source?
6. How difficult would it have been for the men in Source 5 to attack the Turkish trenches? (Consider the
terrain and lack of cover.)
7. Source 6 shows one device used during the withdrawal from Gallipoli. What else contributed to the success
of the evacuation?
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8. Compare the descriptions of the landing at Gallipoli in Sources 3 and 4. Describe the difference in their
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perspectives. Explain why they are different, decide which source you would consider to be the more reliable
and give reasons for your choice.
9. Find at least three photographs on the Australian War Memorial website and use them to present a data
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show on the experiences of the Anzacs on Gallipoli.

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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.3: Gallipoli and the Western Front
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Explore more with this weblink: Gallipoli: The first day

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Gallipoli Campaign
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8.7 Trench warfare

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8.7.1 The trenches of the Western Front

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The main fighting of World War I took place in and around the trenches of the Western Front. By 1915
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these stretched over 500 kilometres, from the Belgian coast through to the Swiss Alps, and were home to
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millions of troops. Trench warfare produced no winners; rather, it was a defensive tactic that led to con-
tinual ‘stalemate’. Over four years the armies of both sides lived and died in them. When the fighting was
at its heaviest, tens of thousands of men could be killed or wounded in a single day.
Most battlefield trenches contained many defensive structures. The most commonly used arrangement
was the three-line trench system. This allowed front-line trenches for firing at the enemy, support trenches
where troops could be rested, and reserve trenches to hold reinforcements and supplies. Communication
trenches linked all three trench lines, allowing for easier movement of troops and information. Some
German trenches extended up to ten metres underground.

SOURCE 1 Modern artist’s interpretation of a typical trench system
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A G H
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A Trenches were generally designed in a zigzag pattern; this helped to protect the trench against enemy attack. Each bend
could be defended separately if necessary and explosions could be contained.
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B Trench toilets were called latrines. They were usually pits 1.5 metres deep, dug at the end of a short gangway. Each
company had two sanitary personnel whose job it was to keep the latrines in good condition. Officers gave out sanitary duty as a
punishment for breaking army regulations.
C The British army employed 300 000 field workers to cook and supply the food for the troops. However, in many instances
there was not enough food for the workers to cook. Rations were regularly cut and of a poor standard. The bulk of the diet in the
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trenches was bully beef (canned corned beef), bread and biscuits.
D Sandbags filled with earth were used to shore up the edges of the trenches; they also helped to absorb bullets and shell
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fragments. The men packing and then stacking the filled bags worked in pairs and were expected to move 60 bags an hour.
E Machine guns were one of the most deadly weapons. They were able to fire 400–500 bullets every minute.
F Fire steps and scaling ladders were needed to enable the troops to go ‘over the top’ of the trenches. Going ‘over the top’ refers
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to the orders given to troops to leave the trenches and head out into no man’s land in an attempt to attack the enemy trenches.
G Each soldier was issued with a kit containing nearly 30 kilograms of equipment. This included a rifle, two grenades, 220
rounds of ammunition, a steel helmet, wire cutters, field dressing, entrenching tool (a spade), a heavy coat, two sandbags, rolled
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ground sheet, water bottle, haversack, mess tin, towel, shaving kit, extra socks and preserved food rations. The weight made it
very difficult to move quickly, and many men chose to share gear to minimise their load.
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H Barbed wire was used extensively throughout the trench system. While it helped to protect the trenches, it made it very
difficult to attack the opposing trench. In the dark of night, soldiers were sent out to cut sections of wire to make it easier for the
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attacking soldiers in morning raids. Minor cuts and grazes caused by the barbed wire often became infected in the unsanitary
conditions of the trenches.
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I No man’s land was the space between the two opposing trenches; it was protected by rows of barbed wire. It could be
anywhere from 50 metres to one kilometre wide.
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J Duckboards were wooden planks placed across the bottom of trenches and other areas of muddy ground. They enabled
soldiers to stand out of the mud. The trench system was constantly waterlogged, particularly during the winter months. Duckboards
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were the only way of protecting the men from contracting the dreaded trench foot and from sinking deep into the mud.
K The use of mustard gas and other chemical weapons meant that all soldiers needed to have gas masks near at hand. Until all
troops could be issued with masks, many soldiers used urine-soaked material to help keep out the deadly gas. Mustard gas was
almost odourless and took 12 hours to take effect. It was so powerful that small amounts, added to high-explosive shells, were
effective. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.
L Long, cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers would have made life in the trenches horrendous. Snow, rain and freezing
temperatures drastically slowed combat during the winter months. Lack of fresh water, scorching sun with limited coverage, and
the stench of dead bodies and rubbish would have made the hotter months unbearable.

8.7 Activities

1. Why did the armies build a three-line trench system, often in a zigzag pattern?
2. Suggest why the trench system was ultimately unsuccessful as a military tactic.
3. Expand this concept map to describe why weather played such a key role in the conditions of the trenches.
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4. Discuss as a class some of the problems you think the
soldiers in the trenches would have faced each day. Heat Muddy
5. Imagine you are a soldier who has been blinded in the boots
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trenches. Describe what you would hear, smell and feel. sm
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Apply your understanding Rain
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6. Using sticks, string, cardboard and small mirrors, design us
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and construct a periscope that would enable you to see Weather
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Wet
over the top of an obstacle without lifting your head. Explain clothes
in a paragraph why such a device was needed (and often
made) by those fighting in trenches.
7. Working in small groups, and referring to Source 1 (a secondary source), construct a trench diorama. Elect a
group spokesperson to talk to the class about one aspect of your model (e.g. its advantages or disadvantages).
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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.4: In the trenches
Explore more with this weblink: Trench warfare game

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8.8 The Western Front

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8.8.1 Fromelles and Pozières

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After Gallipoli, the Anzacs returned to Egypt to be joined by fresh troops. The Light Horse remained in
the Middle East along with Australians serving in the Imperial Camel Corps and the Australian Flying
Corps. For the remainder of the war, these soldiers took part in desert warfare against Turkish forces. Most
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Australian troops left for France in 1916, where for three years they experienced the horrors and savagery
of the war on the Western Front.
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On 1 July 1916, the First Battle of the Somme began. The British and French attack on the Somme was
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intended to draw German troops away from their

massive attack on French positions at Verdun. On SOURCE 1 Major W. G. M. Claridge, writing from
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that first day of the Somme offensive, the British hospital after the Battle of Pozières, quoted in Bill
army suffered the worst day in its history with Gammage, The Broken Years, 1975, p. 164
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57 470 casualties (troops killed or wounded).

… God knows what we went through, was Hell itself.
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The Australian 5th Division suffered over 5000 We just had to grit our teeth and go ahead and do
casualties on 19 July in a feint at Fromelles, north our job. I am not going to tell a lie and say I wasn’t
of the Somme, which was meant to divert German afraid because I was and who wouldn’t be with Death
reserve troops. On the Somme, the AIF suffered grinning at you from all round and hellish 5.9 shells
shrieking through the air and shrapnel dealing death
almost 23 000 casualties taking and holding the
all round. I don’t know how I stood it for so long
town of Pozières in a battle that began on 23 July. without breaking.
For seven weeks Australian soldiers were blown
apart or buried alive as they fought to hold the

captured town under a German artillery bom-
SOURCE 2 Trench warfare on the Western Front
bardment that pounded Pozières into a waste-
land of rubble.
When the Battle of the Somme ended NORTH NETHERLANDS
(Neutral)
as the autumn rains filled the trenches, nei-
SEA
ther side had been able to break the stale-
mate. Nothing had been gained but Germany
GERMANY
had lost 450 000 men, France 200 000 and
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Britain 420 000. Passchendaele
Ypres
Messines
8.8.2 Bullecourt and Ypres Fromelles Armentières BELGIUM
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The spring offensive of 1917 followed the
coldest winter in forty years. In April the So
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m
m Pozières
United States of America joined the war on e
Bapaume
River Bullecourt
the Allied side, although it would be many Amiens LUXEMBOURG
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Villers-Bretonneux (Neutral)
months before its troops would be ready to St Quentin
r
ve
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play a role. The Germans had pulled back to
use
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the strongly fortified Hindenburg line and Oi
Marn
e Verdun
most soldiers on both sides were war-weary
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Sei Ri
ne ve
with little enthusiasm left for fighting. r
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Paris
In April, Australians were sent to attack FRANCE
River
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the German trenches near Bullecourt but the ve
r
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tanks that were meant to spearhead the attack
broke down, the Australians were struck by
Key
a misdirected British artillery barrage as well Trench warfare on the
Western Front
as German counter-attacks, and the attacking
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0 50 100 150
Hindenburg Line
force suffered 80 per cent casualties. Despite kilometres
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this, in May the Australians captured and held

Bullecourt. In Belgium in September and
October, the AIF suffered 38 000 casualties
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in the terrible Third Battle of Ypres, in which

each side lost about half a million men.
SOURCE 3 This painting depicts an attack, during the
Third Battle of Ypres, in which Australian troops were
8.8.3 Victory in 1918
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trying to capture a German pillbox, a fortified concrete

In 1918 the end of fighting on the Eastern blockhouse with machine guns firing from loopholes.
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Pillboxes could be taken only by infantry attacking

Front enabled Germany to move many more
closely behind their own artillery barrage.
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troops to the Western Front. In March, the

Germans threw everything they had into a
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last offensive aimed at gaining victory before

US troops could arrive in sufficient numbers
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to make a German victory impossible. Aus-

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tralians played a key role in turning back this

offensive through their fierce resistance at the
French village of Villers-Bretonneux. Then,
in July, Australians made the first large Allied
attack of 1918. The AIF fought its last battles Leist, Fred
Australian infantry attack in Polygon Wood (1919)
in October and when the fighting was ended Oil on canvas, 122.5 × 245 cm
with the Armistice of 11 November 1918 it was Australian War Memorial ART02927

recognised that they had achieved more than any other British Empire troops and had suffered more
casualties in proportion to their numbers.
8.8.4 The human cost

Of the 417 000 men who enlisted in the AIF, about 324 000 served overseas and approximately 295 000
of these served on the Western Front. Nearly 65 per cent became casualties and around 60 000 Australians
died on active service. It was a terrible sacrifice for a young nation.
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8.8 Activities
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1. Use Source 2 and information in this spread to list some of the main battles in which the AIF fought on the
Western Front.
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2. Outline some of the reasons for high Australian casualties at Pozières and Bullecourt.
3. Look back at the paragraph headed ‘The human cost’.
(a) Calculate the approximate number of Australian casualties in World War I.
(b) What impact do you think such losses would have had on a country of less than five million people?
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4. In Source 1, Major Claridge describes the Battle of Pozières as ‘Hell itself’.
(a) Describe the features of this battle that would justify that description.
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(b) How reliable do you think this source would be? Give the reasons for your answer.
5. Look closely at Source 3 and imagine that you are one of the survivors of this attack. Write a letter to your
family in which you describe what happened and your own feelings during the fighting.
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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.3: Gallipoli and the Western Front
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8.9 SkillBuilder: Analysing photographs

8.9.1 Why is it useful to analyse photographs?
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Photographs can be useful primary sources. Analysing a photograph is therefore a very important skill
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when studying history. You might think that a photograph is always an accurate record of what happened,
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rather than somebody’s impression of it. But that is not necessarily true. Often when you take a photograph,
you compose a picture, choosing the angle from which you want to shoot, what you will have in it, what
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part of a scene you will leave out and whether it will be taken close up or from a distance. Modern digital
photography had not been invented until long after World War I, but even with the cameras that existed at
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the time, skilful photographers could edit pictures in ways that changed their meaning.
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World War I photographs

Many tens of thousands of photographs were taken during World War I, even though soldiers could be
court-martialled for taking photographs in battlefront areas. A large number of photographs were taken for
military reasons or to create a visual record of the war. Many of the best photographs were taken by official
war photographers like Australia’s Frank Hurley. However, we sometimes have to be careful to recognise
features in the photographs that have been altered to make them useful for propaganda.

What questions should we ask?
1. The photographer. Who took the photograph (if known)? What is the source (if stated)?
2. Location. Where is the location? When was the photograph taken?
3. Editing. Has the photograph been posed or has the photographer simply recorded a scene? Has the
photograph been cropped and, if so, has this changed its meaning at all? Has the photograph been
changed by adding or removing any details?
4. Composition. Is the photograph taken from close up or from a distance and does this affect our
reaction to it?
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5. Subject. What is the main subject? What background and minor details are shown? What extra
information do the minor details add?
6. Motive. Why was the photograph taken (if known)?
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7. Evidence. For what does the photograph provide evidence?
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8.9.2 How to analyse a World War I photograph
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SOURCE 1 A scene near Ypres, Belgium, on 17 September
1917. This spot, during the Ypres battles, was never free of
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such scenes. The photograph belongs to the Australian War
Memorial photographic collections. photographer is unknown.
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The AWM E00732

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Ask these questions

Use these questions to analyse Source 1.
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Question Answer
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Who took the photograph (if known)? What The photographer is unknown. The photograph belongs to the
is the source (if stated)? Australian War Memorial.
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Where is the location? When was the The photograph was taken near Ypres. It was taken in September
photograph taken? 1917, which places it at the time of the Third Battle of Ypres.
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Has the photograph been posed or has the There is no evidence that the photograph has been cropped although
photographer simply recorded a scene? it is equally possible that it has been. Nor is there evidence of any
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Has the photograph been cropped and tampering with the image.
if so has this changed its meaning at all?
Has the photograph been changed by
adding or removing any details?
Is the photograph taken from close up or The photograph has been taken close up to the dead horses so that
from a distance and does this affect our we react first to the scene in the foreground then our eyes move to the
reaction to it? background. This photographer has a good sense of composition.
(continued)

Question Answer
What is the main subject? What The subject is the destructive power of the war. The bloated bodies of
background and minor details are shown? dead horses in the foreground are no more important than the soldiers
What extra information do the minor marching towards them in the background, possibly to share their
details add? fate. The smashed wagon, churned up earth and battered trees all
contribute to an image of devastation.
Why was the photograph taken (if known)? We do not know exactly why the photograph was taken, whether for
personal or historical reasons.
For what does the photograph provide It provides solid evidence for the effect of the war on the landscape,
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evidence? animals and men.
8.9.3 Developing my skills
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Now use the questions in the table to analyse Sources 2 and 3.
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SOURCE 2 Australian machine-gunners in action at
Pozières in 1916. The photograph is one of a series
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taken by Corporal Robert Willie Nenke, who was
killed in action on 10 August 1918. The photograph
now belongs to the Australian War Memorial
photographic collections.
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SOURCE 3 Soldiers of the Australian 45th Battalion

wearing gas respirators in a trench in the Menin
Road area, near Ypres, Belgium, on 27 September
1917. The picture was taken by Frank Hurley, the
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official Australian war photographer. It now belongs

to the Australian War Memorial photographic
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collections.
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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.5: Every picture tells a story
8.10 The home front

8.10.1 The war divides Australia
During the first years of fighting most Australians believed that the war was just and was worth the sacrifice
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that was being made. Australians proudly hailed the achievements of the Anzacs as proof of their country’s
standing among nations. However, as the conflict dragged on, and demanded ever greater sacrifices, Aus-
tralian society became increasingly divided.
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Growing government controls
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DID YOU KNOW?
The Commonwealth Government gained new
In Australia during World War I there were 33 000
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powers to manage Australia’s war effort. The war people of German descent. Many were interned in
was expensive, in both money and lives, and from prison camps. If they had become Australian citizens
1915 a federal income tax and other taxes were they could remain free, but they were often bullied
introduced to help pay the interest on growing war and humiliated. Some were sacked from their jobs.
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German-owned businesses were boycotted and
debts. The government also took away many dem-
harassed, and German place names were changed.
ocratic rights. The War Precautions Act of 1915
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There are even reports of dachshund dogs being
and other Acts of Parliament allowed the govern- kicked and stoned.
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ment to restrict freedom of speech, freedom of
association and freedom of the press. It became a
crime to say anything that might discourage people SOURCE 1 An appeal from the Dardanelles: Will they
from enlisting or to show disloyalty to the British never come? Produced by the State Parliamentary
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Recruiting Committee in Victoria, this was the first

Empire.
recruiting poster used in Australia.
According to the government, censorship was
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needed to keep morale high and to keep informa-

tion from the enemy. However, it was also used
to silence people who criticised the war. Tom
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Barker was sentenced to 12 months in prison for

publishing a cartoon that the government con-
sidered might harm recruiting. Barker was the
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editor of Direct Action, the newspaper of a revo-

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lutionary group called the Industrial Workers of

the World (IWW). The IWW argued that the war
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was wrong because the workers’ only real ene-

mies were the wealthy capitalists who profited
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from the conflict.

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Australia divided
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Most Australians believed wartime propaganda

that portrayed German soldiers as monsters who
raped nuns, murdered civilians and impaled babies
on bayonets. Through newspapers and public meet-
ings, people were continually told that the war was Hannan, Jim
a simple struggle between good and evil, between An appeal from the Dardanelles: Will they never come? (1915)
British civilisation and German barbarism. Offset lithograph on paper, 225 × 200 cm
Australian War Memorial ARTV07583

At first, opponents of the war were a tiny minority. Pacifists opposed it, as did some Irish Australians who
resented British rule in Ireland. Some socialists saw it as a clash between capitalist empires for the right to
exploit the workers of the world. Gradually opposition to the war became more widespread. Increased ine-
quality played a part. While prices rose by almost 50 per cent, wages were frozen. At the same time, big profits
were made by owners of woollen mills and others who supplied war materials. Growing inequality caused
serious strikes in 1916 and a general strike in 1917 involving waterside workers, seamen, transport workers
and miners. The use of strikebreakers to defeat the strikes caused great bitterness and deepened divisions.
Patriotic rallies and funds
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Many people, possibly a majority, continued to support the war. At patriotic gatherings such as Empire
Day, Allies Day and Anzac Day rallies, speakers encouraged Australians to stay loyal to Britain, to hate
Germany and to make still greater sacrifices. Governments, churches and citizens organised and supported
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patriotic funds to help the war effort. They included the National Belgian Relief Fund, the Travelling
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Kitchen Fund and the Blind Heroes Fund. Local ‘win-the-war’ leagues donated food and labour to help
soldiers’ families.
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The children’s war effort
Schools and community organisations involved children in patriotic activities including raising money and
making clothes and equipment for war victims and troops. In particular, schools were used to inspire pat-
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riotism in children. At the age of 12, schoolboys became junior cadets. Girls made clothes for the troops
and war victims. Children grew vegetables for soldiers’ families, read stories of heroes of the British and
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Australian forces and recited loyalty pledges. School rolls of honour listed the names of former pupils
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and teachers who had gone to the war. Children were taught that all Allied countries were good while the
Central Powers were monsters.
8.10.2 Recruiting campaigns

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In 1914 there were many more volunteers than the army could accommodate. But as the casualty lists grew,
fewer men volunteered than were needed. As Britain requested ever more Australian troops, recruiting cam-
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paigns were used to encourage or shame men into enlisting. In some of these campaigns, people marched
long distances, calling on others to join them and to enlist. By mid 1916 the campaigns were failing to attract
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the numbers the government wanted. In 1918 recruiting officers even visited schools in order to urge children
to encourage their family members to enlist.
SOURCE 2 Remember Gallipoli! Enlist SOURCE 3 From ‘Instructions for the Guidance of
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to-day, a recruiting poster produced Enlisting Officers at Approved Military Recruiting

by the State War Council, South Depots’, Brisbane, April 1916
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Australia, 1916–18
Aboriginals, half-castes, or men with Asiatic blood are
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not to be enlisted. This applies to all coloured men.

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SOURCE 4 From ‘Instructions to Enlisting and Recruiting

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Officers’, December 1916
Half-castes may be enlisted when, in the opinion of the

District Commandant, they are suitable … As a guide
in this matter it is to be borne in mind that these men
will be required to live with white men and share their
Wall, C. Remember Gallipoli! (1915–1918) accommodation, and their selection is to be judged
Photolithograph on paper Overall: 63.6 ×
from this standpoint …
81.4 cm; sheet: 54.4 × 64.6 cm

8.10.3 Women and the war effort SOURCE 5 Students at Woy Woy Public School
Some 3000 Australian women travelled overseas during a patriotic pageant in 1916 gather around a roll
with the Australian Army Nursing Service. They of honour erected by residents of the district.
served in all theatres of the war and on transport
and hospital ships. These nurses worked under
extreme conditions tending the wounded after
battles. Several nurses were wounded and 13
were killed. However, the Australian government
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refused to allow women to serve in any direct roles
in the armed forces. As the men went off to war,
many women entered the paid workforce. Thou-
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sands more helped with recruiting campaigns,
fund-raising and charity work.
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Voluntary work
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Thousands of women helped troops
by providing extra clothing, tobacco,
medicines and other comforts that
the army failed to provide. They also
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DID YOU KNOW ?
made clothes for Allied refugees. Many Some Australians were barred on racial grounds from enlisting.
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other women cared for returning inva- In 1915 the Defence Act was changed to state that Aboriginal
lids through the Red Cross. They met and Asian men could not enlist. In 1916 the ban was modified
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returning hospital ships and provided to permit enlistment if a volunteer had one European parent.
Approximately 400 Aboriginal soldiers served in the AIF.
kitchens and rest homes. The Red Cross
raised 12 million pounds during the war
to pay for this work.
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SOURCE 6 Most emphatically I say NO! This poster was

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Women for and against the war

produced by the Queensland Recruiting Committee in 1915–17.
Women were among the war’s fiercest
supporters. They helped in recruiting cam-
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paigns, issuing posters and pamphlets and

speaking at rallies. Some women shamed
men into enlisting by handing out white
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feathers — a symbol of cowardice — to

those who had not volunteered. The Aus-
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tralian Women’s National League cam-

paigned for conscription. Women were
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also among the war’s strongest critics.

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Vida Goldstein was among those who

formed peace organisations and cam-
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paigned against conscription.

The greatest contribution of women,
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however, would hardly ever be spoken

of. It was the lifelong care thousands
gave to their fathers, husbands, sons
Unknown (Artist)
and brothers who returned with terrible Most emphatically I say no! (c. 1914–1917)
physical, emotional and mental wounds Offset lithograph on paper, 76.4 × 101.7 cm
from the horrors of war. Australian War Memorial ARTV04953

SOURCE 7 Australian artist Norman Lindsay produced this poster for the Australian
government in 1918.
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Lindsay, Norman
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God bless dear Daddy (1918)

Chromolithograph on paper, 46.8 × 38.4 cm
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8.10 Activities
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1. How did the Australian government restrict democratic rights during World War I?
2. Which groups in Australia were against the war from the beginning and why?
3. Why was there an increase in opposition to the war by 1916–17?
4. How did women and children contribute to the war effort?

5. Why did it become necessary to run recruiting campaigns?
6. If you were a worker during World War I and you were becoming much poorer while your employer profited
from the war, would you have been justified in striking? Support your answer.
7. How are children contributing to the war effort in Source 5?

8. Use Sources 3 and 4 to describe discrimination against Aboriginal and Asian men wishing to enlist for
World War I.
9. Why do you think the recruiting authorities changed their policies towards Aboriginal and Asian men during
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1916?
10. Look carefully at Sources 1, 2, 6 and 7. In each of these posters:
(a) What is the aim of the propaganda?
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(b) To what beliefs and feelings does it appeal?
(c) How effective do you think it would have been?
11. Use your library and the internet to conduct research and prepare a brief report on World War I recruiting
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campaigns.
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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.6: The home front
8.11 The conscription issue G

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8.11.1 A divisive issue
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Of all the armies fighting in World War I, only the AIF was formed entirely from volunteers. But by
mid 1916 recruiting campaigns were no longer convincing enough men to enlist. When Labor prime
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minister William Morris (‘Billy’) Hughes decided that Australia should follow Britain’s example by
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SOURCE 1 Conscription — for and against.

YES! NO!
Those supporting conscription: Those opposing conscription:
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• representatives of every political party except • trade unions

the Labor Party • most of the Labor Party
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• business organisations • the Catholic Church (Melbourne’s Archbishop, Daniel Mannix,

• major newspapers such as The Argus, The Age led the fight against conscription) — Britain had suppressed
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and The Bulletin the Irish uprising of Easter 1916 and executed its leaders; most
• Protestant churches Australian Catholics were of Irish descent and many resented
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• some returned soldiers. Britain’s treatment of Ireland

• the Women’s Peace Army
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• most working-class people

• some returned soldiers.
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Pro-conscription arguments: Anti-conscription arguments:

• It was Australia’s duty to support Great Britain. • No person had the right to send another to be killed or
• Conscription meant ‘equality of sacrifice’. wounded.
• Voluntary recruitment had failed. • There would not be enough hands to farm if men were
• Australia had a good reputation that had to be conscripted.
protected. • The working class would unfairly bear the burden of the fight.
• Other Allied countries, such as Great Britain, • Too many Australian men had already died or been
New Zealand and Canada, had already wounded.
introduced conscription. • Conscription would harm and divide Australia.

introducing conscription, divisions in Australian
SOURCE 2 The Anti’s Creed, a leaflet
society became very bitter. The Australian Labor supporting conscription in the 1917 referendum
Party (ALP) was against conscription, but Hughes
went against party policy and tried to win public sup-
port for conscription through two bitterly fought ref-
erendum campaigns in 1916 and 1917.
Conscription was among the most divisive issues in
Australia’s history. Divisions between social classes
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and between those holding different religious and
political beliefs became more intense. Supporters of
conscription argued that Britain was in peril and many
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Australians were already fighting and dying, so others
who had not stepped forward should be forced to do
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their duty. They called those who had not volunteered
traitors and cowards or accused them of being sup-
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porters of Sinn Fein or the IWW, or even of Germany.
8.11.2 Opposing conscription

Opponents argued that there should there be no con-
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scription of working men when there was no con-
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scription of the wealth of the privileged classes. Many
feared that conscription would be used by employers
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to destroy rights won by Australian workers. They
described supporters of conscription as destroyers of
democracy, murderers and war profiteers. Most Aus-
AWM RC00317
tralian Catholics were of Irish descent, and many
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became bitterly resentful when Britain executed sev-

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eral Irish rebel leaders after crushing the Irish uprising SOURCE 4 The Blood Vote, an anti-conscription
of Easter 1916. Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop, leaflet
Daniel Mannix, quickly became the most outspoken
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leader of the anti-conscription movement.

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SOURCE 3 From speeches by Archbishop Daniel

Mannix, reported in the Advocate,
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(1) 3 February 1917 and (2) 8 December 1917

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1. The war was like most wars — just an ordinary

trade war … Even now, people were arranging
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how the vanquished nations —

when they are vanquished — are to be crippled in
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their future trade.

2. [In] the daily papers of Australia … there is no
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opening in their columns for those who want the

answer on December 20 to be an emphatic
NO … [The] papers give plenty of space to any
sort of silly twaddle on the other side … The
wealthy classes would be very glad to send the
last man, but they have no notion of sending the
last shilling, nor even the first … the burden in
the end will be borne by the toiling masses in
Australia.

8.11.3 The people decide
Conscription was defeated in the referendum of October 1916 (1 087 557 Australians voted in favour
of conscription but 1 160 033 voted against it). ‘Patriots’ blamed Catholics and Australian Germans and
demanded that Mannix be deported. The Labor Party was split. Hughes and his supporters left the party
in November 1916, before it could expel them, and merged with the Liberal Party to form the Nationalist
Party. Led by Hughes, the Nationalists won the federal election of May 1917. However, at a second ref-
erendum of December 1917, conscription was again defeated, this time by 1 181 747 against to 1 015 159
in favour.
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DID YOU KNOW?
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Billy Hughes’ supporters, including many AIF soldiers, called him the ‘Little Digger’, From November 1916 the
labour movement, on the other hand, called him ‘the Rat’ and ‘Judas’.
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8.11 Activities
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1. Explain why many Australians supported conscription by 1916.
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2. List the reasons why many others opposed conscription.
3. Calculate the numbers of votes by which conscription was defeated in 1916 and in 1917.
4. What conclusions can you draw from these figures?
5. How did the conscription issue affect the Labor Party?
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6. Using Source 2 as your evidence, describe the kinds of messages and techniques used in propaganda
supporting conscription.
7. Describe the techniques used in the anti-conscription leaflet (Source 4).
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8. Read Source 3. What reasons did Daniel Mannix give for opposing conscription?
9. Imagine you are Archbishop Mannix and you have heard demands that you be deported. Write a one-page
speech you would give in response. Read your speech to the class.
10. Working in small groups, design a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ poster for either of the conscription referenda.
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Complete this digital doc: Worksheet 8.7: The conscription debate

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8.12 The Eastern Front: collapse and revolution

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8.12.1 Tsarist Russia collapses

By 1917 the war weariness, social divisions and disillusionment that led to a general strike and bitter
opposition to conscription in Australia were also being experienced in other combatant nations. Between
April and June there were mutinies in the French army involving 27 000 men. Forty-nine mutineers were
executed. In Germany in 1916 there had been huge strikes. The government broke them by conscripting

strikers, but even bigger strikes took place in 1917. In Britain half a million people had joined anti-war
organisations by 1917. Nowhere, however, was war weariness more widespread than in Russia. What hap-
pened there would change the world.
At the beginning of World War I the Russian Army was referred to as ‘the Russian Steamroller’, because
it was so big that many people thought it could defeat the Germans and Austrians through sheer weight
of numbers. However, most Russian soldiers were conscripted peasants who were poorly trained and so
poorly equipped that some did not even have boots or guns. Some Russian officers refused to lead their
troops into battle, fearing that they would be shot by their own men.
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When Russia entered the war it was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II, who held enormous power. Russia was
ruled in the interests of its aristocratic landowners and wealthy industrialists, and there was great discon-
tent among the peasants and workers who made up more than 90 per cent of its people. At first many
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Russians supported the war, but they suffered heavy losses against the Germans in 1914–15. In 1916 they
launched attacks to prevent the Germans shifting troops to the Western Front. By 1917, after a series of
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crippling defeats, Russian soldiers and sailors were becoming mutinous, while at home starving workers
were demanding bread and peasants were demanding land.
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SOURCE 1 A description of support for the war in Russia in August 1914, from R. H. Bruce Lockhart, Memoirs
of a British Agent, 1932
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I recall the enthusiasm of those early days … those moving scenes at the station; the troops, grey with dust and
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closely packed in cattle trucks; the vast crowd on the platform to wish them God-speed … Revolution was not
even a distant probability.
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SOURCE 2 From a letter sent home by a Russian general in 1915
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In recent battles a third of the men had no rifles. These poor devils had to wait patiently until their comrades fell
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before their eyes and they could pick up weapons.

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SOURCE 3 From P. I. Lyashchenko, Economic and Social Consequences of the War, 1949
… by 1916 the country began to experience a critical food shortage … By directing all industrial production into
war channels, the government policy deprived the villages of their supplies of goods …
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8.12.2 Revolution
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Revolution broke out in March 1917 in the Russian capital, Petrograd (now St Petersburg) after soldiers
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refused orders to shoot striking workers. When he lost the support of his generals, the Tsar abdicated in
favour of his brother Michael. But Michael refused to be Tsar and instead handed power to a provisional
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government, formed by members of the Duma. The Provisional Government kept Russia in the war, but
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its authority was weakened by the rise of an alternative centre of power — the Petrograd Soviet. This
council was made up of elected delegates from soviets of workers, soldiers, sailors and peasants from
throughout Russia.
The Provisional Government lacked support from any part of Russian society. The old ruling classes
wanted to restore the rule of the Tsar. Peasants wanted the aristocrats’ land to be redistributed to them.
Many soldiers, sailors and workers wanted Russia to withdraw from the war. The government could hold
power only so long as the Petrograd Soviet gave it support.

SOURCE 4 Looking towards the ceiling from SOURCE 5 The Winter Palace has hundreds of luxurious
the grand staircase at the Tsar’s Winter Palace rooms and is thousands of times bigger than the homes
in St Petersburg of Russian workers and peasants in 1917. The royal
family also had other magnificent palaces.
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8.12.3 The second revolution
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Russia’s small but disciplined Bolshevik Party was led by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin. In
topic 1 you read about Marxism, the revolutionary socialist set of ideas developed by Karl Marx in the
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nineteenth century. Lenin was a Marxist but he departed from Marx’s belief that socialist revolution could
take place only in advanced capitalist societies in which industrial workers were the majority. Lenin came
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to believe that in Russia, an overwhelmingly agricultural country, a socialist revolution could be achieved
through an alliance of workers and peasants.
Lenin, and his associate Trotsky, believed that socialist revolution could succeed in backward Russia
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but only if it received support from socialist revolutions in the more advanced industrial countries. They
thought a revolution in Russia would trigger similar revolutions in those countries. In April 1917 Lenin
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put these views to the other Bolsheviks. At first they totally opposed him. However, he soon won majority
support and the Bolsheviks prepared to seize power.
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SOURCE 6 A statue of Lenin in front of SOURCE 7 The first shots of the Bolshevik Revolution were
the Smolny Institute, formerly a school for fired by the sailors of the cruiser Araura.
aristocratic girls, which became the Bolshevik
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headquarters during the Revolution

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The Bolsheviks seize power
To gain popular support, the Bolsheviks adopted the slogans ‘Peace, Bread and Land’ and ‘All Power to the
Soviets’ while they worked to build up their influence in the Petrograd Soviet. The Provisional Government
tried unsuccessfully to suppress the Bolsheviks. But when the right-wing General Kornilov attempted to
seize power in August, it was Bolsheviks who sabotaged Kornilov’s transport and persuaded his troops to
desert. This earned them widespread support. The Bolsheviks had saved the Provisional Government, but
now they set out to destroy it.
SOURCE 9 This Bolshevik banner of 1918 represents
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the alliance of workers and peasants. In the right-hand
SOURCE 8 A Bolshevik painting depicting
corner, the hammer represents industrial workers while
Lenin organising revolutionary workers,
the sickle represents peasants.
sailors and soldiers. The red armbands
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show that they are Bolsheviks. Red came to
symbolise revolution.
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Trotsky had been elected Chairman of the
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Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee. Once the Bolsheviks had a majority of delegates in
the Soviet, he planned the seizure of power. In November, on Trotsky’s orders, the Red Guards of Petrograd
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workers, soldiers of the Petrograd garrison and sailors of the Krondstadt naval base stormed the Provisional
Government’s headquarters in the Tsar’s Winter Palace. They seized power in the name of the Soviet. The
new communist government promised to create a state ruled by workers and peasants.
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Although the Bolsheviks failed to live up to their ideals, they would inspire many discontented workers in
other lands. Significantly, their victory ended Russia’s involvement in the war. In March 1918 the Bolshevik
government signed a separate peace that enabled Germany to direct all its resources to the Western Front.
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DID YOU KNOW ?

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Many Marxists and other socialists in Russia and in other countries opposed Lenin’s views, which came to be
called Marxism–Leninism. They predicted, correctly, that such a revolution could not create democracy and
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socialism but would lead instead to oppressive dictatorship.

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8.12 Activities

1. Make a timeline of events on the Eastern Front from 1915 to 1918 to show how Russia’s involvement in
World War I led to a communist revolution.

2. Explain the meaning of the following terms: Tsar, socialism, Provisional Government, soviet.
3. How was the Tsar’s rule ended?
4. Did Lenin see the revolution he was planning as just a Russian matter or as something bigger? Explain your
answer.
5. How did the Bolshevik Revolution affect the course of World War I?

6. Study Sources 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and explain how these sources help you to understand why many Russian
troops, workers and peasants came to oppose the Tsar and the war by March 1917.
FS
7. Referring to Sources 6 to 9, explain how the Bolsheviks were able to seize power in a second revolution in
November 1917. (Refer in your answer to their ideas, tactics and sources of support.)
8. Why was the Bolshevik Revolution significant for the world?
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8.13 Peace and commemoration
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8.13.1 A changed world
SOURCE 1 Crowds fill Melbourne’s
War’s full consequences are rarely foreseen. The Armistice streets on Armistice Day, 11 November
of 11 November 1918 ended the fighting in World War I, but 1918.
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nothing could ever be quite the same again. The survivors of
the great armies that had killed and maimed each other for
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four years with bullets, bayonets, grenades, artillery and gas
emerged from their trenches to a world in ruins. The German,
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Austro-Hungarian, Turkish and Russian empires had been
shattered. Revolutions and civil wars broke out in the defeated
empires, and even the victor nations and colonies experi-
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enced widespread social unrest. In Australia, as we have seen,

the war had brought deep divisions and there was scarcely a
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family that had not lost a brother, son, father or uncle on the
battlefields.
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8.13.2 Repatriation
In 1918, 260 000 Australians had to be repatriated. Some had
been fighting for four years and few people at home understood
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how deeply the experience had affected them. A shortage of AWM J00348
shipping meant some soldiers had to wait more
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than 18 months to get home. The returning SOURCE 2 Australian artillery units parade past
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troops brought with them the ‘Spanish’ influ- Buckingham Palace in London on Anzac Day, 25 April
enza, a deadly pandemic that swept the world 1919.
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in 1918–19. It caused almost 12 000 deaths in

Australia, and many men had to be quaran-
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tined before being reunited with their families.

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Australians agreed that the nation should try

to repay returned servicemen for their sacri-
fices. Some were provided with training in
skilled trades while others were settled on the
land with the help of low-interest loans. How-
ever, these measures could not help all ex-
servicemen to readjust after four years of the AWM D00556
horrors of war.

Memorials
SOURCE 3 Bronze statue of
Australians were determined that their soldiers’ sacrifices would not Simpson and his donkey at the
be forgotten. Across the nation, local committees built memorials Australian War Memorial, Canberra
in towns, cities and suburbs to display the names of the fallen. In
the lands in which Australians fell, memorials and vast war ceme-
teries were established. Most are in northern France and Belgium,
where they are maintained with great care by the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission.
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SOURCE 4 Message from King George V to the Australian
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Government, in The Age, May 1915
I heartily congratulate you upon the splendid conduct and
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bravery displayed by the Australian troops in the operations at the
Dardanelles, who have indeed proved themselves worthy sons of the
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Empire.
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SOURCE 5 From C. E. W. Bean, The Story of Anzac, 1941
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What motive sustained them? … It lay in the mettle of the men themselves … life was very dear, but life was not
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worth living unless they could be true to their idea of Australian Manhood.
8.13.3 Anzac day and the Anzac legend

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In 1914, many Australians had seen World War I as a chance to prove that they deserved a place
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in Britain’s great military tradition. The mateship, bravery and achievements of the Anzacs during
the Gallipoli campaign were seen as representing Australian ideals and giving Australia the
legendary identity it sought.
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Anzac Day was first observed in 1916 to commemorate the landings at Gallipoli and the legend they
created. Many people considered that Australia had only really become a nation at Gallipoli on 25 April
1915. Each year, Anzac Day has continued to be commemorated across Australia and New Zealand. For
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many people, it became Australia’s unofficial national day. Traditionally it has been observed through dawn
services, marches of veterans and gatherings of wartime comrades. It has also been observed in schools and
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churches.
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SOURCE 6 From Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, 1975, p. 278

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But the Anzac tradition also introduced a deep division into Australian life…. roughly half those eligible had joined
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the AIF during the war … A great rift had opened, a rift between those who had fought in the war and those who
had not.
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In significant ways, this was disastrous. Before the war radical nationalists had led the drive for a social
paradise in Australia, but ultimately they were least at ease with the Imperial and martial implications of the Anzac
tradition, and during the war they divided over the proper conduct of Australia’s war effort …
For their part the conservatives, who before 1914 had exerted a tenuous influence on Australian politics and
society, were united and given purpose by the war … Naturally enough that dedication and the motives behind it
appealed to the men in the trenches …
In short, that general majority which in 1914 had sought to create a social paradise in Australia was both split
and made leaderless by the war, and by 1918 no longer existed, while the conservatives had joined with those
who had fought in the war to take firm possession of the spirit of Anzac …

At first the message of Anzac Day
SOURCE 7 French children at Villers-Bretonneux, in the Somme
was similar to that of Empire Day — Valley, tend graves of Australians killed on the Western Front.
pride in their British heritage, loyalty to
the empire, hatred of Germany, the need
for greater sacrifice, and pride that Aus-
tralia had earned an honourable place in
the British military tradition. From 1920
Anzac Day became a public holiday.
FS
What was the meaning of the Anzac
legend, and has it changed over time?
The legend was based on real charac-
O
teristics of Anzac troops at Gallipoli
and throughout the war. Many risked
O
their lives for their mates. Some were
decorated for bravery while others died
PR
unrecognised. Qualities like courage
and mateship were not uniquely Aus-
tralian — they were undoubtedly shared
by many other soldiers. However, what
E
the Anzacs did was remarkable. They made up less than 10 per cent of British Empire forces but on the
G
Western Front no military force achieved more in proportion to their numbers. Anzac troops believed that
they had proven themselves equal to or even better than the British.
PA
Did the Anzac legend change Australian nationalism?
Did the Anzac legend strengthen or weaken the spirit of national independence? In topic 6 you read about
D
radical nationalism in late-nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century Australia. Radical nationalists

saw Britain as the home of social inequalities. They wanted a fairer and more equal Australia that was inde-
TE
pendent of Britain. The military historian Bill Gammage has argued that the Anzac legend weakened the
influence of radical nationalism because the Anzacs had fought and died for Britain, proving the strength of
Australia’s ties with the ‘Old Country’.
EC
So the Anzac legend fitted in well with the

views of Australian conservatives who wanted SOURCE 8 Some of the war graves at the Australian
National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux in France
Australia to stay loyal to the British monarchy
R
and the empire. Conservatives dominated cele-

brations of Anzac Day in the 1920s and 1930s. To
R
them, it was a celebration of loyalty to the empire

O
as much as an expression of national pride. To

many who had fought in the war, Anzac Day
C
was a reminder of their sacrifice and a chance

to be reunited with the only people who could
N
really understand what they had suffered. World

U
War II and subsequent conflicts would bring new

generations into the Anzac tradition. However,
Anzac Day would continue to reflect divisions in
Australia as much as it expressed national pride.
Some Australians resented what they saw as its
use by conservatives to glorify war.

Perhaps today the meaning we give to Anzac Day can be shared by all Australians — pride in the
courage and endurance of the Anzacs, sorrow for the terrible losses suffered by their generation and deter-
mination that such tragic waste of human lives should never be repeated.
8.13 Activities
FS
1. What were some of the unforeseen consequences of World War I?
2. Name two programs used to help returned soldiers adjust to civilian life.
3. Why would many men have found it difficult to settle back into civilian life?
O
4. What emotions do you think the people in Source 1 would have been experiencing?
5. Have a class discussion on the question: ‘What do Anzac Day and the Anzac legend mean today?’
O
PR
6. Why were the men in Source 2 still in England on Anzac Day 1919?
7. Look back at subtopic 8.6 and explain why Private John Simpson (Source 3) has been considered such a
great example of the Anzac spirit that he has his own statue at the Australian War Memorial.
8. Study Sources 4 and 5.
E
(a) According to Source 4, what had the Anzacs proved?
(b) Why might not all Australians have shared the same feelings about this message?
G
(c) What motives did Australia’s official war historian, C. E. W. Bean, identify to account for Anzac heroism?
9. Read Source 6. According to Gammage:
PA
(a) Why did the Anzac tradition introduce ‘a deep division into Australian life’?
(b) Who were ‘least at ease with the Imperial and martial implications of the Anzac tradition’ (that is, with the
idea that it was noble to fight for the British monarch and empire)?
(c) How did the Anzac tradition strengthen the influence of conservatives in Australia?
10. How do Sources 7 and 8 provide evidence of an ongoing commitment to commemorating the sacrifices of
D
Australians in World War I?

TE
EC
The world after the First World War
R
8.14 Research project: The

R
Anzac Day memorials

O
8.14.1 Scenario and task

C
You are a reporter for Australia’s Now Channel. It is pre-dawn on 25

N
April 2015 and you have been posted at Anzac Cove to cover the memo-
U
rial service to mark the 100th anniversary of the landing of troops for
the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Thousands of Australians have
gathered, many covered in Australian flags or wearing green-and-gold
jerseys and beanies. Attendance at the annual dawn service in Gallipoli
has continued to grow, with more and more Australians making the pil-
grimage every year. Other reporters have criticised the service as just an
excuse for backpackers to meet and party but, as a first-time pilgrim, you
have been overwhelmed by the emotional and respectful atmosphere.

Your producer has asked you to craft a moving tribute to the annual memorials on the shores of
Gallipoli. Your news story should explain the events that occurred on these shores 100 years ago
and why these memorials are still so important to modern Australians. You will write and record
a voiceover of two minutes duration, and use the bank of images available in the Resources tab to
create your news story.
8.14.2 Process
• Go online to your learnON title to
FS
watch the introductory video lesson.
You can complete this project indi-
vidually or invite other members of
O
your class to form a group.
• You should perform background
O
research on the Gallipoli campaign,
PR
the memorials, and the ritual pilgrim-
ages by many Australians and New
Zealanders to this iconic place. You
might also like to explore other news
E
stories about Gallipoli. The weblinks
in the Resources tab will help you get
G
started.
PA
• When your research is complete, navigate to the Resources tab. A selection of images from the Anzac
Day memorials has been provided for you to download and use in your news story. Select the images you
would like to use and download the Storyboard template. Use this to write the script for your news story.
A guide to crafting news stories has also been provided to help you write an effective and interesting story.
D
• Record your voiceover using Audacity, Garage Band or Windows voice-recording software, and then
use Windows Movie Maker, iMovie or other editing software to create your news story. Remember that
TE
these programs allow you to perform filmic actions like panning across images. You can also incorporate
a number of different transitions to add drama or emotional impact to your story.
• Print out your research report and hand it in with your completed news story.
EC
8.15 Review
R
8.15.1 Review
R
In this topic we have investigated some aspects of World War I. We have examined the war’s causes
O
and have looked at an overview of the war’s course. Our main focus has been on the experience of
Australians fighting at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, and on developments on the Australian home
C
front, including the deeply divisive conscription issue. We have also studied developments on the Eastern
Front, particularly the world-changing Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Finally, we have looked at the
N
outbreak of peace, commemoration of World War I and the changing nature of the Anzac legend.
U
KEY TERMS
abdicated to step down from the throne or from other high office
artillery large-calibre guns
blockade sealing off an area so that nothing can get in or out
censorship restriction or control of what people can say, hear, see or read

conscription compulsory enlistment of citizens to serve in the armed forces
deadlock a stalemate in which neither side can gain an advantage
Duma the Russian parliament
enlist to join voluntarily, usually the military
feint a dummy attack meant to deceive the enemy into moving troops from where the main attack will take
place
half-castes a term that is now considered offensive but was widely used in the mid-1900s to refer to people of
mixed race
Hindenburg line a heavily fortified position to which the Germans withdrew before the Allied offensive of
FS
spring 1917
no man’s land unoccupied ground between the front lines of opposing armies
Pacifists person who holds a religious or other conscientious belief that it is immoral to take part in war
pandemic disease epidemic affecting many different countries
O
propaganda distortion of the truth to persuade people to support an action or point of view
referendum (plural referenda) ballot in which voters decide on a political question. Where there is no change to
O
the Australian Constitution involved, this is called an advisory referendum or plebiscite.
Sinn Fein organisation formed in Ireland in 1905 to campaign for Irish independence from Britain. The name
PR
was also used by the pro-independence party after the failed 1916 uprising
Slavic belonging to the Slavs (a language group including Russians, Serbs and other Central and Eastern
European peoples)
Soviet a council representing workers, peasants, soldiers and sailors
stalemate a term that comes from the game of chess, meaning a situation in which neither side can gain a
E
winning advantage
G
tenuous weak, thin
trench foot a painful, swollen condition caused by feet remaining wet for too long; if gangrene set in, the feet
would have to be amputated
PA
U-boats German submarines
ultimatum a final set of demands or terms backed by a threat
D
TE
8.15 Activities
EC
Multiple choice quiz

R
Short answer quiz

1. Who were the members of the Triple Entente?
R
2. Which countries formed the Triple Alliance?

3. Who killed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
O
4. Approximately when did trench warfare begin on the Western Front?

5. Give two reasons for the Gallipoli campaign.
C
6. Which part of the Gallipoli campaign was most successful?

7. What was ‘no man’s land’?
N
8. Where did the AIF suffer enormous casualties for seven weeks from 23 July 1916?
9. How did most Australians vote in the two conscription referenda?
U
10. Why did many Russians want to withdraw from the war by 1917?
11. Who was Lenin?
12. Why were the Bolsheviks able to seize power in Russia?
13. At which French village did the Anzacs play a key role in halting the last German offensive in 1918?
14. What percentage of Australian troops serving overseas became casualties?
15. When do we commemorate Anzac Day?

16. Look closely at Source 1 and explain why flying was considered a job for daredevils.
17. Study Source 2.
(a) Describe the landscape.
(b) What does the landscape tell you about the war?
(c) What aspects of this scene tell us that armies in World War I used both old and new technologies?
18. Working in small groups, conduct research on the role of submarines during World War I, particularly the role
of the Australian submarine AE2 in the Gallipoli campaign. Present your findings as a data show.
19. Hold a class debate on the topic: ‘That the Anzac legend has lost none of its significance for Australians’.
FS
SOURCE 1 A World War I military aircraft at the SOURCE 2 Bringing up the ammunition,
Flanders, Autumn 1917, by H. Septimus Power.
O
Australian War Memorial. The Australian Flying
Corps (AFC) was part of the AIF. World War I This painting, which was completed in 1920,
aircraft were slow and unreliable. They were used shows Australian soldiers with teams of horses
O
for reconnaissance flights and for bombing and struggling through mud as they pull carts loaded
machine-gunning enemy positions in Europe and with machine-gun ammunition.
PR
the Middle East. Flying them was described as a
job for daredevils.
E
G
PA
D
Power, H. Septimus
Bringing up the ammunition, Flanders, Autumn 1917 (1920)
TE
Oil on canvas, 153 × 244.5 cm

EC

R
Go online to access additional end of topic resources such as interactivities and printable worksheets.
R
Try out this interactivity: World War One timeline
Complete these digital docs: Worksheet 8.8: Word search

O
Worksheet 8.9: Summing up

C
Worksheet 8.10: Reflection

N
U
Back to the big questions

At the beginning of this chapter several big questions were posed. You can now use what you have learned to
answer them.
1. Why was Australia involved in World War I?
2. What was the significance of the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns?
3. How did the Anzac legend influence our national identity?
4. What were the main political, economic and social effects of the war?
5. How did the war affect Australians on the home front?

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DEPTH STUDY 3: WORLD WAR I

TOPIC 8 World War I (1914–1918) 261

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Belgium and France.

Europe. information that will help you to answer these

conscription is held and Western Front campaigns?

1917 national identity?

enters the war. 1918 social effects of the war?

battle of Ypres home front?

7 November: successful large Allied Australia?

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8.2.3 Visual sources

none of these surpasses the

outstanding collections of the

holdings include many thou-

artworks, weapons, equip-

specific battles. Many doc-

umentary films and several

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… you can imagine what it was like. Really

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Check your understanding

Apply your understanding

a spark to ignite an explosion.

TOPIC 8 World War I (1914–1918) 265

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France finds allies

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8.3.2 The short-term triggers of the war

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AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE BESSARABIA

SERBIA BLACK SEA

assassination of the Archduke, Austrian heir,

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government knew about it. He said no … declares war

trian troops be allowed to track down Serb terrorists

8.3.3 War begins

Serbia accepted many of the demands and offered

to discuss others, but Austria proceeded to declare

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Check your understanding

Apply your understanding

8.4 The world at war

8.4.1 The main battlefronts

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fied French–German border.

offensives aimed at breaking

The Eastern Front

8.4.2 Other theatres of war

The war at sea

Other European fronts

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