How Did Ww2 Affect Australian Society

World War Two was a global war, which was from 1939 to 1945. Not only the soldiers, but also the Australians at home were heavily impacted because of the war. There were many divisions and tensions, however, people seemed to still be united as a country. Women were especially affected as most of the men were serving in the war so they had to take up the man-dominated jobs. Most families were disturbed due to the war, which had caused fear within the country. Government controls were also placed over the lives of the Australians, restricting them in many ways.
Before the war, it was expected that a working man was the main source who supported its family. A woman who worked was thought to have been supporting her husband who couldn’t afford …show more content…
There was never a time people didn’t fear in this war. Women feared for their husbands, sons and other family members who were serving. But most of all the Australians feared the Japanese invasion. It was the first time Australian soil had been attacked on. The Australians were not prepared for the attacks, bringing shivers down their spines whenever an attack occurred. There was especially a great deal of fear within the Aboriginal women and children as they were not evacuated during the attacks. There was also a term, ‘Enemy Alien’, applied to immigrants who had moved to Australia from a country which was from one of the enemies. This had created fear within the society as they thought that there might be spies who would attack their homeland. Propaganda was a tool applied at the time to create awe and hatred which stimulated a particular picture of the enemy. Most of the propaganda was focused on the Japanese due to the fear of attacks within the Australian society. There were many popular slogans, such as ‘We’ve Always Despised Them – Now We Must Smash Them’ and ‘Every One a Killer’, were used to create the fear and hatred towards the Japanese. Terry Norris, who was a child during the war, said that people used to rush to get the papers so that they could find out what was going on in the war (Splash.abc.net.au, 2014). This shows that there was a sense of fear within the society about the war. This fear was in …show more content…
They were expected to make economic and social sacrifices for the war, adding burden to less fortunate citizens of the country. Some of the controls include controls on the costs of dresses, fixing of profit margins in the industry, the issue of personal identity cards and restriction to weekday sporting events. Australians were also encouraged to lend their savings for the expense of weapons, airplanes, ships, tanks, ammunitions and wages for the soldiers. (Anzacday.org.au, 2014). The Government would encourage many to spend less on leisure activities and products, such as cigarettes, beer, movies and gambling. This would have been even more difficult for those who received a low income as it would have been a struggle to buy the basic needs of the household. Propaganda, such as the one on the left, was used to encourage many citizens to ‘GIVE AND KEEP GIVING!’ (Anzacday.org.au, 2014). The introduction of rationing affected Australians the most. They began to experience shortages on many things which they needed in daily life and there was a rise in prices, which is why they had introduced rationing. Everyone had a basic amount of important supplies for usually over a week period. Shortages and rationing had led to people stocking up on as much rare services for themselves, which had led to even more