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Irish Soldiers In Ww1

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The first world war took place between 1914 and 1918 as a result of conflict between the Great Powers. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the event which became the immediate cause of the "War to end all wars". Sixty-five million men were mobilized to fight in the war. 8.7 million of these men fought for the British army, and of those, around 210,00 were Irish men. Since there was no conscription, about 140,000 of these Irishmen joined the army as volunteers. Irishmen enlisted in the cause for a variety of reasons. Some joined because of the perceived justice of the cause, while others took a more political approach to enlistment. Nationalists had been committed to the war effort in September 1914 by their leader, John Redmond …show more content…

Having already established the UVF (Ulster volunteer force) to oppose home rule and secure a union with Great Britain in 1912, they couldn't exactly stand by and allow Great Britain itself go to war alone. A substantial portion of the UVF enlisted and formed the 36th Ulster division which was almost wholly Protestant. Nationalists, mostly Catholic, joined the other two of lord kitcheners " new army " divisions raised in Ireland: the 10th and 16th Irish divisions. Not all Irishmen enlisted based on political opinions. many simply joined seeking an adventure. One man, Tom Barry who would later become a noted IRA commander, said he enlisted " to see what war was like, to get a gun, to see new countries and to feel like a grown man." Many of the Irishmen involved in WW1 would go on to have involvement in the 1916 rising. James Conolly for example. He suggested that many men had no choice but to enlist as a result of the poor economic conditions and severe lack of employment in Ireland. The fighting would soon commence for the …show more content…

However, the divisions attacking Thiepval and Beaumont Hamel were quickly repulsed and the German machine guns now turned on the Ulster men. This attack caused great slaughter and over the course of two days, the division lost around 5500 killed, wounded or missing in action, 2500 of which had been killed. These losses had devastating effects for the people back in Ireland. The division was withdrawn from the battle in July 1916 and deployed to a quieter sector in Flanders. They were joined there in September by the 16th division following their devastating losses at Ginchy and

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203 Words | 1 Pages

In the “Children on the battlefield” article written by Marcie Schwartz explains that boys under 18 have served in many wars including the Civil War. They would join by lying about there age, having their parents sign them up, or there teachers would influence the recruiting officer to let them join. Some recruiting officers would look the other way so that they could met their quota. When they were enlisted they had many hard and dangerous jobs to do and also also served on military ships. The boys often were home sick and did not know what they wanted to do with there life.

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When Britain realised that the Australian volunteer numbers were decreasing and the amount of soldiers on the battle field fading they put immense pressure Australia to put conscription in place to increase the numbers of diggers. Most of the country said no to conscription and opposed to it. Although, Mr. Hughes thought otherwise. Mr. Hughes’s party, the national labour

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This is because there was no mandatory conscription and all members of the ANZACs were volunteers. Organizations like the Win the War League were instrumental in promoting patriotism towards not only Australia but Britain too whilst encouraging enlistment. Peer pressure and a sense of duty to country gained from these propaganda efforts motivated many young Australians to enlist. This contributed to 416,809 enlistments of males aged 18-44, which was 38.7% of the male population, by the end of the war. Source 1, is an Australian recruitment poster for the First World War, produced by the Win the War League.

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Many of the soldiers in the Continental Army joined for the steady job or the fear of how British invasion would interfere with their ability to make money and feed their families. In fact, during the beginning of the war, the Colonies still showed little call for freedom or independence. “[King George III] had denounced the leaders of the uprising for having American independence as their true objective, something those leaders themselves had not yet openly declared.” (McCullough, Chapter 1) This idea of practicality even applied to volunteers in the army, including mothers and children.

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In addition, enlistment rates were high, with the 20,000 men promised to the war effort easily found within six weeks, forcing the government turning away tens of thousands of eager volunteers. This widespread support for the Empire may be explained in a number of ways. Pam Maclean argues that “pro-imperial propaganda” had been inculcated in the population for a decade prior through the education

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At first America did not want to enter the war; they wanted to stay neutral. President Wilson, soon realized the serenity of this war however the U.S. was intimidated. The Selective Service Act was a direct way of gathering troops when the other options were out of the picture. Document 1 shows a WW1 draft registration card. This card is sure to be very eye-catching and motivating for any U.S citizen observing it.

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This is evident when author of Images of Australian History, Nicholls, G., stated that some people enlisted for “…more a sense of adventure and an opportunity to travel than patriotism…” and the “…greatest opportunity for a chap to make a man of himself…” (Nicholls,G., 1994, 181-182). Nicholls also corroborates with the Australian War Memorial in the fact that not all Australians enlisted purely in the thought of defending the ‘Mother Country’, which is made clear in an extract from a letter by Robert Edmund

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Joining the war the war can be one of the scariest things to happen to someone and can be really discouraging. During war time getting drafted is a life changing thing. “ I remember a sound in my head. It wasn't thinking, just a silent howl. ”(O'Brien, p.26)

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(Sandy Rayward)Most volunteers were very eager to participate in the war as they were looking for an adventure and a chance to get away from Australia and the lives they lead here. They saw it as an opportunity to see places they had never seen and would probably never have the chance to see. “Perhaps the call to adventure was one of the greatest motivation,” (G.H Fearnside, 1939) for volunteers. The lure of adventure was very great at the beginning of the enlistments in 1914. Australian men had no idea how terrible the war really was or would be.

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Events from the Home Front #1 - Conscription One of the most serious controversies experienced by many at the home front during WW1 was conscription. In 1914 Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden declared that conscription would never be necessary in Canada. Only 2810 men signed up to fight during the war but the Canadian government needed more men. In 1917 conscription was introduced and men were forced to enlist for the war as a result of the Military Service Act that was passed by Prime Minister Borden. Men aged 20-45 were forced to leave their families, join the war and fight for Britain.

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If you were a soldier you would go through terrible harassment and mockery. Colonists would scream things at the soldiers such as “ GO BACK TO ENGLAND” and much more. If you were a soldier going through all this, wouldn't you want to fight

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The government tried various tactics to increase the rates of recruitments, including lowering standards for enlistments and promoting propaganda to convince men that they should volunteer. The issues of conscription was opposed by the people and churches for several reasons. In Victoria the campaign was led by the Irish archbishop, Daniel Mannix. There 921,000 catholic in Australia at the time, most of these catholic were of Irish descent. The Irish Catholic Church also dominated the labour party and the labour movement.

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Some students may respond with enthusiasm and eagerness to join the ranks of the soldiers, inspired by the rhetoric of heroism and sacrifice. They may express fervent nationalism and a willingness to fight for their country, eagerly embracing the opportunity to prove their courage and valor on the battlefield. Others, however, may react with apprehension and skepticism, questioning the glorification of war and the true

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Many citizens in the United States volunteered in the war especially in the south as they were already influenced and wanted to take a serious action northern aggression. (Keegan, 2009).

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891 Words | 4 Pages

Those still in favor of the war considered it their patriotic duty to enlist and fight for their country, while the opposition came from the lower class groups such as African Americans, “white trash,” Mexican Americans, and other minorities. Because of their lower socio-economic status, they were more often the targets of recruiters and had more difficulty evading the draft. As James Fallows said of his draft experience, “While perhaps four out of five of my friends from Harvard were being deferred, just the opposite was happening to the Chelsea [Boston] Boys.” (Doc 5) Similarly to the civil war era, the majority of the burden of fighting was going to the poor majority as opposed to the privileged few. Other groups, such as the African Americans, were opposed to the draft because of their status at home.

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