HIST1051 Lecture 6: Lecture 6
• Week Six
• Lecture 6.1: Australia and the First World War
• Lecture Summary
• Part One:
▪ The Battlefront
▪ The road to war
▪ Why Gallipoli?
▪ Other theatres of war
▪ The aftermath
• Part Two:
▪ The War at Home
▪ Economic impact
▪ Volunteer effort
▪ Conscription
▪ Censorship
• Focus Questions
• How did Australians respond to the declaration of war?
• When, where, and why did Australians fight?
• How did the war affect the daily lives of Australians at home?
• Why did the issue of conscription become so divisive?
PART ONE:
The Battlefront
• The Road to War
• Situation in Europe extremely volatile in early years of the twentieth century
• The Pode Keg ad the “pak
• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 28 June 1914
• Declarations of war: Austria-Hungary on Serbia, Russia on Austria-Hungary, Germany on
Russia, Germany on France and Belgium, Britain on Germany
• By 4/5 August the key European players are at war
• Widespread enthusiasm
• The Australian Response
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Australians excited by the prospect of war
• Epie loalt ad loodig the atio
• Offered 20,000 troops and placed Navy under control of British Admiralty
• Lao leade late PM Ade Fishe pledges to suppot Bitai to ou last
a ad ou last shillig
• Australian troops
• High recruitment standards
• 20% bush, 20% British, 80% single
• Why Gallipoli?
• German Schlieffen Plan did not work as anticipated
• War on the Western Front at a stalemate
• Need to break the deadlock
• Forcing the Dardanelles would open up a third front
• Crushing Constantinople would knock Ottoman Empire out of the war
• The Gallipoli Campaign
• Naval attempt to force straits unsuccessful
• Disastrous landings
• Bungled offensives particularly in August and at the Nek
• Troops withdrawn in December
• 8,141 Australian dead for virtually no gain, thousands more wounded
• Other Fronts: The “ideshos
• German New Guinea
• Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF)
• The Navy at Gallipoli
• HMAS AE2 into the Sea of Marmara
• Mesopotamia
• Australian Flying Corps personnel
• Sinai and Palestine
• Defence of the Suez Canal, 1916
• Into Sinai Desert then Palestine 1916–1917
• Push further north into Jordan and Syria
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find more resources at oneclass.com
• Capture Damascus and Ottoman forces sue for peace on 31 October 1918
• Mobile warfare: light horsemen and cameleers
• Extreme heat, harsh terrain, water shortages, disease
• Approx. 5000 Australian casualties
• The Western Front 1916–1917
• Tactical stalemate
• Massive slaughter in Somme offensives
• Terrible Australian losses at Fromelles, Pozieres, and Ypres
• Approx. 40,000 Australian casualties in 1916, further 76,000+ in 1917
• Commanders unable to deal with strength of German defences
• Women at War
• Restrictions on roles of women in armed services
• Nursing: AANS, Red Cross, private organisations
• Approx. 2000 members of AANS served overseas
• Worked in established hospitals in England, France, Egypt, India and on hospital ships
• Casualty Clearing Stations and General Hospitals just behind the front lines
• Subject to dangers of artillery and bombing
• Suffered poor conditions and outbreaks of disease
• To …
• Gea all o othig gale in March (Spring Offensives)
• Australians helped blunt offensive near Villers-Bretonneux
• Exhausted German Army call for armistice
• War over 11 November
• The Aftermath
• Rude awakening for Australia
• 20% of soldiers killed, another 45% wounded
• Returned soldiers
• Widespread grief and mourning
• War memorials
• Bitter division at home (next lecture)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 6. 1: australia and the first world war. 5000 australian casualties: the western front 1916 1917, tactical stalemate, massive slaughter in somme offensives, terrible australian losses at fromelles, pozieres, and ypres, approx. 40,000 australian casualties in 1916, further 76,000+ in 1917: commanders unable to deal with strength of german defences, women at war, restrictions on roles of women in armed services, nursing: aans, red cross, private organisations, approx. The war at home: the economy, challenges: lack of shipping, loss of trade, reduced manpower, new forms of industry, bhp. Increased taxes and borrowing: prices increase, hardship led to disaffection among working class. Industrial unrest: volunteer work (1, hundreds of patriotic funds operated during the war, approx. France and germany: two plebiscites, extremely bitter debates. New aboriginal and torres strait islander memorial in adelaide (2013) Recovery of aboriginal service: history and memory. What motivated aboriginal men to enlist in the australian defence forces in the first world.
