During World War One, two referendums were held on the 28th of October 1916 and the 20th of December 1917 to the Australian public . The referendums allowed the people of Australia to establish whether the Australian government should introduce the proposal of conscription - the nationwide system of mandatory service to the national military. It was proposed but not introduced during the Great War; due to the severity of casualties on the Western Front as well as constant pressure from the British Government to sustain its 5,500 men needed every month to maintain its military capacity . During the periods in which the referendums had occurred, groups of people had formed strong opinions as to whether conscription should have been enforced and
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The Anglican Church had a strong influence and bond with England itself and its church leaders, were in favour of conscription. Britain, at the time, had already enforced mandatory service, so the British government pushed the Australian government to do the same. However, the Roman Catholic Church opposed the idea. This was because the denomination was largely Irish, and earlier, the British had used excessive force to attack the Nationalist rebels in Dublin, creating tension between the two countries. The Irish were very much against conscription, fearing that many of the Irish-nationals living in Australia would have to fight for the British. The leader of the Anti-conscription campaign and the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix , was outraged by the actions of the British and believed that “every man, woman and child should throw themselves into the fight against conscription” . Mannix didn’t believe that having “the addition of 100,000 or 200,000 conscript Australians to the 15,000,000 of fighting men that the Allies have at their disposal could be a deciding factor or even a substantial factor in the issue of war” . He was often interviewed, but also spoke publicly at the time. He used his religion and his anti-British sentiment to persuade the Irish Catholic church community to vote “No” and was successful in doing so, as the second referendum had fifty one per cent favouring
The Anglican Church had a strong influence and bond with England itself and its church leaders, were in favour of conscription. Britain, at the time, had already enforced mandatory service, so the British government pushed the Australian government to do the same. However, the Roman Catholic Church opposed the idea. This was because the denomination was largely Irish, and earlier, the British had used excessive force to attack the Nationalist rebels in Dublin, creating tension between the two countries. The Irish were very much against conscription, fearing that many of the Irish-nationals living in Australia would have to fight for the British. The leader of the Anti-conscription campaign and the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix , was outraged by the actions of the British and believed that “every man, woman and child should throw themselves into the fight against conscription” . Mannix didn’t believe that having “the addition of 100,000 or 200,000 conscript Australians to the 15,000,000 of fighting men that the Allies have at their disposal could be a deciding factor or even a substantial factor in the issue of war” . He was often interviewed, but also spoke publicly at the time. He used his religion and his anti-British sentiment to persuade the Irish Catholic church community to vote “No” and was successful in doing so, as the second referendum had fifty one per cent favouring