The Australian response to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 has been widely regarded by historians, as deeply supportive and in favour of the commitment to enter the conflict. The newspapers and the actions of many men and women as war broke out, displayed that a patriotic front was present among Australians. Carl Bridge is of the opinion that Australia was highly motivated and unanimously supportive towards the war. Other historians, such as Eric Andrews, however, are not convinced that there was unanimous support among the Australian people in response to the war, despite the positive front displayed through the media. Therefore, the Australian attitude to the war should not be regarded as entirely unanimous in support of the war,
…show more content…
His main argument centres around Australia’s ties to Britain. Bridge states that ‘Australians wanted to fight to protect their mother country.’1 He highlights the kinship ties2 between Australians and the British stating that ‘most Australians in those days saw themselves as Australian-Britons’3 and were motivated to support the British as it was a way ‘to protect their close kith and kin.’4 This is reflected in an article entitled ‘War and politics’ that appeared in the Worker during 1914, as it contends that ‘Australia is as much part of the British Empire as England is.’5 This is further supported by Bongiorno & Mansfield as they state ‘it was phrases such as ‘aiding the motherland’ and ‘helping Great Britain’ that resonated more than any other’6 with the Australian people ‘during August and September 1914’7. Furthermore, Bridge argues that Australian men were eager in their support as ‘forty per cent of the males of military age enlisted.’8 ‘A Fine Response’ which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1914, supports this view, stating that ‘the German mailed fist has roused our bushmen to indignant protest.’9 This acted to depict Australian men as eager ‘to take part in the struggle with Germany’10 and support the motherland. The article also claims that ‘from almost every country town comes word of spontaneous giving.’11 This is referring to the amount of men …show more content…
He agrees with Bridge that wide spread support was indeed evident. This was clear through newspapers as ‘the Australian press presented a united front,’20 the different churchmen displayed support21, and support was evident within the ‘school syllabus’22 as ‘patriotic efforts became an important part’23 and ‘attendance at cadets was mandatory.’24 Andrews states that ‘the constant barrage of propaganda’25 within schools, from the newspapers and from churchmen, ‘certainly had a considerable effect’26 on the Australian view of the war. He does believe, however, that ‘the Australian reaction to the war was more divided, and more hesitant’27 than what is depicted in the newspapers from the time and that not everyone was completely in support of the war. The anti-war sentiment was not widely reported or ‘publicly expressed’28 as ‘newspapers often declined to report opposition’29 or the ‘government regulations’30 and ‘imperial censorship’31 acted to suppress anti-war views. Despite this, anti-war sentiments were still present. When discussing the apparent ‘rush to enlist’32Andrews states that in fact ‘93.6 per cent of eligibles did not enlist.’ 33 This is a stark contrast to the idea that there was an ‘eagerness of so many fine men from the land to take part in the struggle with Germany’34 in 1914. The newspapers also sought to depict the
His main argument centres around Australia’s ties to Britain. Bridge states that ‘Australians wanted to fight to protect their mother country.’1 He highlights the kinship ties2 between Australians and the British stating that ‘most Australians in those days saw themselves as Australian-Britons’3 and were motivated to support the British as it was a way ‘to protect their close kith and kin.’4 This is reflected in an article entitled ‘War and politics’ that appeared in the Worker during 1914, as it contends that ‘Australia is as much part of the British Empire as England is.’5 This is further supported by Bongiorno & Mansfield as they state ‘it was phrases such as ‘aiding the motherland’ and ‘helping Great Britain’ that resonated more than any other’6 with the Australian people ‘during August and September 1914’7. Furthermore, Bridge argues that Australian men were eager in their support as ‘forty per cent of the males of military age enlisted.’8 ‘A Fine Response’ which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1914, supports this view, stating that ‘the German mailed fist has roused our bushmen to indignant protest.’9 This acted to depict Australian men as eager ‘to take part in the struggle with Germany’10 and support the motherland. The article also claims that ‘from almost every country town comes word of spontaneous giving.’11 This is referring to the amount of men …show more content…
He agrees with Bridge that wide spread support was indeed evident. This was clear through newspapers as ‘the Australian press presented a united front,’20 the different churchmen displayed support21, and support was evident within the ‘school syllabus’22 as ‘patriotic efforts became an important part’23 and ‘attendance at cadets was mandatory.’24 Andrews states that ‘the constant barrage of propaganda’25 within schools, from the newspapers and from churchmen, ‘certainly had a considerable effect’26 on the Australian view of the war. He does believe, however, that ‘the Australian reaction to the war was more divided, and more hesitant’27 than what is depicted in the newspapers from the time and that not everyone was completely in support of the war. The anti-war sentiment was not widely reported or ‘publicly expressed’28 as ‘newspapers often declined to report opposition’29 or the ‘government regulations’30 and ‘imperial censorship’31 acted to suppress anti-war views. Despite this, anti-war sentiments were still present. When discussing the apparent ‘rush to enlist’32Andrews states that in fact ‘93.6 per cent of eligibles did not enlist.’ 33 This is a stark contrast to the idea that there was an ‘eagerness of so many fine men from the land to take part in the struggle with Germany’34 in 1914. The newspapers also sought to depict the