The Australian Conscription Debate (1915-1916)

To a large extent, the conscription debate substantially impacted Australian society socially and politically (1915-1916). Before conscription was introduced, at the beginning of World War I, the young men of Australia were eager to fight and demonstrate their loyalty and pride for their country. Due to Australia facing an alarming increase in casualties during World War I, the amount of voluntary enlistments was rapidly diminishing. Therefore, Prime Minister Billy Hughes resorted to introducing conscription on the 30th August 1916 through two referendums (Conscription debate in Australia during World War I, 2024). The Australian government then asked the people of Australia to vote yes or no to implement the conscription policy, compulsory voting was then introduced in 1915 (Conscription debate in

In the conscription debate women played a central role in many conscription campaigns, these campaigns run by women advocated positive and negative aspects for both sides. Women’s organisations, like the Australian Woman’s National League and National Council of Women, supported conscription, distributing leaflets and organising meetings for the pro-conscription cause (Old Treasury Building, 2017). The ‘Yes’ side was highly appealing to women because of their pride, loyalty, and honour for their country and children. The campaign organised in 1916 by Ava Hughes ordered ‘To the Women of Australia, will you be the proud mothers of a nation of heroes, or stand dishonoured as the mothers of a race of degenerates?’ (Old Treasury Building, 2017). This primary source exhibits the use of extreme emotive language, which was hugely influential to the women of Australia, in presenting a stark political choice of whether their sons and fathers will be remembered as cowards or heroes. Furthermore, the