Reasons Why Australia Joined World War I

World War I outbroke in August 1914 when countries were thirsty for power and dominance. The war ignited with tensions between Serbia and Austria. Australia being an ally of Serbia and Britain had to take part in the war. Everyone was full of eagerness and enlisted to fight in Australia’s first war as an independent country. The attitude of Australians to fight in the war during 1914 has changed from being excited, proud and ignorant to being more aware of the consequences and feeling scared.

World War One began in 1914 and it started with the assassination of the archduke of Austria-Hungary by a Serb. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia, to which Serbia responded by turning to Russia for support. Eventually after many alliances there were two distinct sides, one on which was Britain. Britain, of course, being Australia's 'mother country' called on Australians for their support. There were drastic changes in Australian's attitudes over the period of WW1. Before the war, Australians were, in general, very supportive and enthusiastic about war. After WW1 began the reality of the severity of war dawned and although there was still support for the soldiers, their was a growing dissatisfaction with war especially as the death

Prior to World War 1, Australians on the whole suffered due to their geographical isolation, which technology had yet to defeat. Transport was solely by arduous sea journey, which restricted travel and communication with the rest of the world. The mass transfer of Australian youth to fight in Europe enabled the world to see for the first time the unique culture which was developing in this far away land. Recognition and respect was quickly given for the courage, good humour and strength in adversity displayed by Australian soldiers. The easy going egalitarian troops challenged the military norms of their British counterparts. While this

For this reason, the Australian Prime Minister at the time, John Curtin, looked to America for support and with their acceptance, Australia re-oriented its foreign and military affairs towards the US (6).

During world war 2, in Japan alone there were 48984 casualties of Australia soldiers. 19145 were killed, 44 went missing, 14337 were prisoners Of War, and 15458 were left wounded.

WWI started on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. At the time a man named Woodrow Wilson was president at the time. President Wilson did not want to go to war. In DBQ 16: Why Did We Enter World War I?-Historical Context by J. Weston Walch, it says “People were determined to keep out of the conflict and applaud president Wilson when he asked that his fellow citizens remain “neutral in fact as well as in name.””Then Germany started unrestricted warfare and a telegram was intercepted saying that a few of our states were going to be given to mexico if they helped germany attack the U.S. These are the main reasons why the U.S should join WWI.

Australia was not one of the main countries involved in WW1, however one cannot say they did not contribute largely. From The Western front to The Middle East, Australian troops fought bravely on what appeared to be “The war to end all wars”. Of course one would say that Gallipoli was the most known campaign but it was in The Western Front where the Australian troops fought it what was regarded to be the most important theatre of war.

The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made it clear that if he had to choose he would use English troops to defend England itself rather than helping to protect Australia against the Japanese in the Pacific.The Australian Prime Minister John Curtin then asked America for help. Many older British and became Australian had the traditional loyalty to Mother England were shocked by this new friend ship which made them annoyed with the government and the Americans.America sent many troops to Australia and from early 1942 many thousands of American troops began arriving in Australia training and preparing to fight the Pacific war. A year later there were 250,000 Americans in bases around the country. Around this time many Australians did not go oversesa and the got there ideas about Americans from Hollywood movies which

Australia had always acknowledge Britain as the “mother country”. When Britain declared war on Germany for invading Poland, Australia was announced to be at war by the former Prime Minister, Gordon Menzies. “Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of the persistence of Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war.”

Politically the great depression hit Australia hard, as many Australians lost confidence in their government representatives. A number of radical or extremist organizations gather strength and popularity as a result of the large scale public dissatisfaction. In Australia the developing of the new capital Canberra was put to a stop leaving a population of 7,000 in limbo, workers were laid off and the federal capital commission was abolished. The Sydney harbor bridge was a great way of bringing employment back into Australia during the depression. At the time of the war and after the great depression it was Australian best interest to have an alliance with Great Britain. Australia needed to form an alliance with Great Britain during World War II, because if the war ended up near or in Australia, we would need the help from Great Britain and their allies. Having Great Britain as its ally at that time was the right thing to do as it protected its colonies from the imperil japan and other foreign invaders. During the period of 1942 Australia was extremely worried as the fall of Singapore in February 1942 and had the threat of a possibility of a Japanese

One of the main reasons Australia went to war was the call to help from the alliances we had previously made, especially those regarding the American forces. This is shown in the book ‘War For Asking’ by Micheal Sexton in which Allan Renouf states, “to achieve such an habitual closeness of relations with the United States and sense of mutual alliance that in our time of need, after we have shown all reasonable restraint and good sense, the United States would have little option but to respond as we would want”. As a consequence it became obvious that if we wanted to keep good ties with

It has been argued that after World War 1, Australia gained more than it lost. Even though there were many lives lost during the war, these losses didn’t hold Australia back as a country. Australia was fortunate enough to come out of the war with more than they put into the war. Some of these gains are - There economy boomed, the relationship between Australia and Britain was stronger, the women replaced the men's jobs, many immigrants were encouraged to migrate to Australia. Although Australia gained many things they still lost a lot. These were things such as Australia spent a lot of money, they lost many troops and lost trade with Germany. Although Australia lost some things, they were outweighed by the things they

‘Australia is at War’ is a primary source from the year 1939 and is a speech by renowned Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies (1894 – 1978). This speech was delivered at the beginning of World War II declaring Australia’s participation and assistance to its “Mother Land”, Great Britain. World War II was developed and initiated by the infamous Adolf Hitler, a notorious German leader and the head of the Nazis. German’s invasion of Poland initiated Great Britain’s move towards force rather than their original approach of negotiations and peace, as stated in Prime Minister Menzies’ speech, “they [Great Britain] have kept the door of negotiations open; they have given no cause for provocation.” So the purpose of this source, Menzies speech,

Nevertheless, the Australians pledged around 420,000 people to the Great war with around half of them becoming casualties. The Australians were a dominant force in WWI, specifically in the Western Front with over 290,000 people fighting in the Western Front at one point in their military involvement. This secondary source shows the grave at Polygon Wood, Polygon Wood was a military campaign in the Third Battle of Ypres. The British and Australian Campaign was of devastating effect with over 20,000 casualties and no ground was actually taken in the calamitous campaign. Thousands lost their lives and this source demonstrates the gravity of Australia’s actions and the sheer numbers and effort that Australia poured into a War that they would have no benefit from. Australians not only pledged time on the Western Front but many lost their lives, Australia not only contributed with the thousands of lives that they sacrificed for the greater good but also for saving lives of millions that they did not

Australia is a British settled colony; nevertheless, Australian forces have fought together with the United States military in every significant conflict since World War I.