What Are The Impacts Of Australia After World War One

Australia During World War One

Australian author Ted Egan (2014, p.7), displaying a personally-motivated inclination for the ANZAC troops, remarks, “Here were two ‘young’ nations that had never had an opportunity to show the rest of the world just how good they were in terms of nationalistic pride and military prowess.”

Having only established itself as a federation of former British colonies in 1901, the British Empire’s entry into the World War One saw Australia, remaining loyal to the empire, thrusted into its first war as a nation. The impact of Australia’s successful campaign in The Great War that sparked deep-seated developments bears significance in Australian history. The event’s impact on the Australian community is exhibited through

Australian troops fought their first major battle as a nation in the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula, which resulted in a catastrophic failure. Despite the failure, the cultural significance of the first day of landings is reverberated by McKernan (1980, p.214), who informs that, “In 1925, the government introduced a bill to make Anzac Day [25 April] a public holiday… all shops, hotels… theatres and cinemas would be closed.” The information highlights the significance of the event through its declaration of being a national holiday for a recently federated nation, given it was the first time the people of Australia fought as a country. The combination of the timing of the battle and the characteristics of ANZAC soldiers also implies that it is observed as the national and cultural identity of the Australian people. Moreover, Australia’s perception of warfare transformed as years passed with high casualties and minimal progress. Some historians (Mason, 2002; Wilcox, 2011) agree that there was social division amongst the community concerned over conscription and the importance of the war effort, although McKernan (1980) and Lawless, Young & Cameron (2000) outlines the disconnection between the returning soldiers (who would form the Return and Services League) and the rest of the community. The social divide is a reflection of Australia’s maturation and realisation of the

Despite the economic losses incurred from the vast war effort, the Australian government were intent on recreating and exceeding Australia’s economic prosperity prior to the event. These intentions are denoted by Lawless, Young & Cameron (2000, p.69), in the following claim: “Money was accessed by governments, both Commonwealth and State, by taking out large overseas loans to help pay for the ‘boom’ economy.” This statement is a suggestion that the government and public sought to forget the horrors of the war through a more lavish, technological lifestyle that became a cultural phenomenon known as the ‘Roaring Twenties’. However, the huge loans that potentially led to the Great Depression would have led to extensive improvements in handling finances in Australia. For returning servicemen, employment was futile as women were preferably retained in their roles due to low maintenance, and thus the government intervened to ease their transition into life at home. Both McKernan (1980) and Lawless, Young & Cameron (2000) agree that a large investment went into repatriation schemes, with figures up to nearly hundreds of millions. These investments would have eased unemployment in the country, but would worsen the debt already incurred from huge loans and the losses from the Great War. Hence, lingering economic consequences in the 20th century can be attributed to