Perspectives of Gallipoli
Views on war
A diverse range of countries from all over the globe became involved in the major 'Great World War' for many reasons. Alliances were formed and broken overnight though much consultation by world leader whilst soldiers and ordinary men were rushed into the field of battle oblivious to main objective of the war. All the nations that participated in WW1 sought involvement so they could gain some benefit from entering the war. Countries like Germany sought to gain involvement in war so they could use the opportunity to expand their borders and colonies. The advantage of entering the war would create this exact opportunity to accomplish this task without arousing suspicion from other countries.
A diverse range of countries from all over the globe became involved in the major 'Great World War' for many reasons. Alliances were formed and broken overnight though much consultation by world leader whilst soldiers and ordinary men were rushed into the field of battle oblivious to main objective of the war. All the nations that participated in WW1 sought involvement so they could gain some benefit from entering the war. Countries like Germany sought to gain involvement in war so they could use the opportunity to expand their borders and colonies. The advantage of entering the war would create this exact opportunity to accomplish this task without arousing suspicion from other countries.
Picture Sourced from Wikipedia.com
Soldiers and Conscription
Throughout the duration of the war, the Australian soldiers views on war changed as certain events observed in the 4 years of constant fighting altered their opinions on war. As the declaration of war against Germany was first announced, thousands of Australian men immediately went to enlist as a soldier in the war. During the first years of the campaigning, Australian men rushed to enlist as a soldier in the war as they had an image of war being similar to that of 'romance'. This ideal at the early stages of enlistment was called the 'romance of war'. The Australian government exploited this occurrence to their advantage which resulted in an immense rise in enlistment rates. However, as the duration of the war continued, The ideal of war being related to 'romance' began to fade as Australian troops began to experience the horrors of what war creates. This resulted in a huge decrease of enlistment rates which lead to an all-time low number of 2000 enlistments every 3 months. This became a serious issue to the Australian government as they would not be able to supply the British government with the promised number of soldiers to be reinforced at the front lines. To resolve this issue, the prime minister of that current time 'William (Billy) Hughes' decided the solution to this problem was to use the method of conscription. The Australian public fought hard against the idea of conscription for it was a cruel and unjust process of enlistment. There began political voting systems and anti-conscription campaigns to combat the the conscription vote. Images and posters were created for both sides of the political conscription campaign that appealed to the emotions of voters from both sides of the campaign.
|
I will go, in my heart hating all the time the military spirit, rousing though it is...from love of empire, and for the good of civilisation. I will train myself well in the use of military implements, and forms which are necessary for our purpose, without being carried away by the blind, ignorant, heroic spirit which inspires warlike men who fight for fighting's sake alone...
- Private Percy Samson Quote from Australian soldier on the front lines 1917 The quote above by Private Percy Samson gives us an insight to the general perspectives of Australian soldiers prior to the ending of world war 1 (RHHS costello, 2010) |
Australian FamiliesThe loved ones of the Australian soldiers that were left behind were filled with many emotions and feelings throughout the course of world war 1. The families of the enlisted soldiers fighting for their country arose to many difficult emotional challenges back at home whilst the men of the household were overseas fighting for their country. The women and children were left behind as the men traveled overseas to fight and so they had to accommodate for all the work left behind by the men whilst trying to maintain a healthy household. Families found it difficult to cope with the absence of the men as emotional challenges often arose between those left at home. As found on Robert Lewis' review on Gallipoli, it is stated that Women were strictly limited to housework and occupations that aided the Australian men fighting in the war (Lewis, 2009). Women would often have to take up men positions and jobs in their absence which caused problems and uproar in society as it was considered absurd and preposterous that women would have to work in co-existence with men. Children became effected emotionally in the absence of their fathers which greatly affected the relationships between their mothers back on the home front. More than 60,000 Australian soldiers died during the course of world war 1, this is more that 60,000 fathers and husbands that died in war. This happened far too often for many Australian families where fathers and husbands never returned home from battle. The Emotional strain of the families left back in Australia would be enormous as they try to overcome their losses and attempt to resume life without them.
|
The Home FrontThe families of Australian soldiers at war and regular citizens had little to no say on the choices made by the Australian government. The Australian government during world war 1 (1914-1918) resembled the characteristics of a dictatorship nation where the Prime Minister of that time would act as the dictator, making decisions without consultation of the public (Government of SA, 2006). This resulted in distrust between the distraught citizens/families and the Australian government.
|