World War I had an impact on Australians and glorified the efforts of the ANZAC soldiers. However, World War I benefited other demographics such as Australian women, and allowed opportunities for them to contribute greatly to the war effort. The First World War had an impact of women socially, politically and economically.
Organisations gave women the opportunity to use their skills from their traditional roles to assist with the war effort from the homefront. Many women volunteered in organisations, such as the Australian Red Cross, to make clothing and food for the servicemen overseas. According to Galbally, a history curriculum administrator in Victoria and New South Wales, women knitted “nearly 80000 pairs of socks… in response” to General Birdwood’s call for help, as Australian soldiers overseas had run it of socks (2014, pg. 48). A photo taken by the Australian Red Cross in 1917 (Appendix 1) explicitly reads that women made 4 000 tins of whole meal biscuits “especially for [soldiers] of war”. These sources provide evidence of the significant contribution and response made by women on the homefront. World War I impacted Australian women by allowing them to utilise their skills learnt for …show more content…
Galbally provides exact numbers of “a large anti-conscription march organised by the [Women’s Peace Army] in Melbourne [that] took place in October 1916. It attracted between 4000 and 6000 women and 80 000 onlookers at the Yarra Bank.” (2014, pg. 42). A postcard penned by John Curtin during the time period of the march (Appendix 2), corroborates with the statistics as it shows the crowd’s attendance in response to the Women’s Peace Army’s calling against conscription. Both sources demonstrate how women utilised their right to vote and freedom of speech to oppose conscription. The First World War allowed women to become more politically active against the government’s conscription
Organisations gave women the opportunity to use their skills from their traditional roles to assist with the war effort from the homefront. Many women volunteered in organisations, such as the Australian Red Cross, to make clothing and food for the servicemen overseas. According to Galbally, a history curriculum administrator in Victoria and New South Wales, women knitted “nearly 80000 pairs of socks… in response” to General Birdwood’s call for help, as Australian soldiers overseas had run it of socks (2014, pg. 48). A photo taken by the Australian Red Cross in 1917 (Appendix 1) explicitly reads that women made 4 000 tins of whole meal biscuits “especially for [soldiers] of war”. These sources provide evidence of the significant contribution and response made by women on the homefront. World War I impacted Australian women by allowing them to utilise their skills learnt for …show more content…
Galbally provides exact numbers of “a large anti-conscription march organised by the [Women’s Peace Army] in Melbourne [that] took place in October 1916. It attracted between 4000 and 6000 women and 80 000 onlookers at the Yarra Bank.” (2014, pg. 42). A postcard penned by John Curtin during the time period of the march (Appendix 2), corroborates with the statistics as it shows the crowd’s attendance in response to the Women’s Peace Army’s calling against conscription. Both sources demonstrate how women utilised their right to vote and freedom of speech to oppose conscription. The First World War allowed women to become more politically active against the government’s conscription