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How Did The First World War Affect Australia

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The First World War or Great War (1914-1918) was a time of bloody conflict between nations. The impact on Australia; the land and its people was far-reaching. Lives were lost and damaged which caused the course of history in Australia to change forever. It is ignorant to assert that 1918 was solely a victory to Australia, as every individual was affected to a different degree. The year 1918 could be considered victory for Australia and its people to some extent, as During the theatre of the First World War, the Australian soldier began to be recognised for many admirable characteristics that were uncommon to other nations. The ‘Aussie Digger’ was resourceful, inventive and had plenty of initiative, despite at times appearing undisciplined. The Aussie Digger became well known for his sense of humour and rapid response in difficult situations. The soldiers had been born and raised in newly established towns and amongst unique culture, thus unencumbered of the rules and conventions of a pre-existing society set in its ways. They ventured forth into war with courage and trust just as a new born child …show more content…

From 1918, the cost of war pensions and medical care for Australian troops overwhelmed the government. As a result, income taxes were increased to fulfil these costs. The need to fuel the ‘war machine’ abroad was also ameliorated through taxes, by gaining more revenue to supply uniforms, food, weapons and equipment. However, increased income tax as well as a decrease in consumer goods and purchasing power meant that the standard of living for Australians was compromised heavily. Incidentally, the rains in winters killed off millions of livestock and the production rate of wheat fell by 75%, thus completely diminishing exportable surplus . Production of meat and wool also fell sharply. These changes would have been considered great losses for Australia’s economy during

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During World War 1, more than sixty-five million men from thirty countries fought. One of these countries was Australia, who joined not long after Britain. The Western Front campaign should not be over shadowed when commemorating Australia’s involvement in World War 1. A commemoration is remembering those who have passed away. The Western Front went from 1916 to 1918 and was situated from north-east France to Belgium.

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However, in ‘The Great World’ loss of innocence, survival and the witnessing of tragic, heroic events is shown through generations of Australians going to war. Furthermore, it is seen in ‘Fly Away peter’ that war has a strong influence on Australia through people going to war. Whilst it is sometimes not realised, the idea of Australians going to war and experiencing its effects is a theme of the national discourse. The theme is recognised by Knox-Shaw (1991) through the common use of the word ‘digger’ in Malouf’s works. ‘Digger’ is an Australian term which describes an Australian and New-Zealand war soldier commonly known as an ANZAC and in its repeated use Malouf stresses the idea of

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The Western Front ran from the border of Switzerland all the way to the North Sea and raged on from 1914-1918. There was a total of 32 countries involved in the “Great War” and Australia was one of them. For long enough has Gallipoli been the forefront of Australia's pride and it is about time the Western Front had the same recognition. On the Western Front the soldiers had to endure malaria, typhoid and trench fever. The Australians fought on the Western Front from 1916-1918 and had more success in Pozieres, Passchendaele and Fromelles than the whole Gallipoli Campaign.

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The Gallipoli campaign serves great importance in Australia’s history. The campaign lasted 9 months, from April 1915 – January 1916 resulting in 8159 deaths of Australian men (AWM, 2016). The landing at Gallipoli receives global recognition annually, celebrating and mourning the 25th of April as it was the introduction of the Great War to many Australian soldiers, who all suffered mental or physical wounds. The Landing will naturally receive the most recognition, as the ANZAC troops came immensely close to infiltrating the enemy line. They would have succeeded had not a small group of Turkish soldiers defended the Peninsula single handily while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

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Not only the war had a massive effect on the Indigenous in Australia, The war was a huge boom to the Australian economy and as it turned out another massive factor. As many Australian fundamental products were purchased as could be produced, and secondary, subsidiary industries manufactured many ‘modern’ items for the services. Many men and women retired and fled their careers to accompany the armed forces leading to a ‘deficit’ of labour. New commerce and businesses need to have been created to fund the troops with combat weapons, uniforms and ammunition. Scarce goods needed to be controlled by the Australian Government in enhancing better buying and selling and in ensuring that everyone received a fair share.

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But war dried up the supply of manufactured goods to the countryside, as the industrial sector concentrated on supplying the army with weapons. Farmers thus retreated into subsistence activities and the economy began to disintegrate (Brennan

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