When was australia involved in ww1

Western Australians fought in Western Australian battalions, although by the end of the war this had changed through necessity, due in part to the high rate of casualties. The First World War helped to foster a sense of Australian nationalism, even though national feeling was expressed within an Imperial framework. Western Australian troops identified with their fellow Australians, taking pride in their achievements and sharing a sense of common identity distinct from that of British soldiers.

Australian troops compared very favourably in physique and stature to the average English soldier, showing initiative and a disrespect for authority which the British High Command often found difficult to accept.

In the Australians reached the peak of their fighting performance in the battle of Hamel on 4 July. From 8 August they then took part in a series of decisive advances until they were relieved in early October. Germany surrendered on 11 November. The Middle East campaign began in with Australian troops taking part in the defence of the Suez Canal and the allied re-conquest of the Sinai Desert.

In the following year Australian and other allied troops advanced into Palestine and captured Gaza and Jerusalem; by they had occupied Lebanon and Syria and on 30 October Turkey sued for peace. For Australia, the First World War remains the costliest conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, , men enlisted, of whom more than 60, were killed and , wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.

An Australian digger uses a periscope in a trench captured during the attack on Lone Pine, Gallipoli, 8 August When Britain declared war against Germany in August , Australia, as a dominion of the British Empire, was automatically also at war. While thousands rushed to volunteer, most of the men accepted into the Australian Imperial Force in August were sent first to Egypt, not Europe, to meet the threat which a new belligerent, the Ottoman Empire, posed to British interests in the Middle East and the Suez Canal.

After four and a half months of training near Cairo, the Australians departed by ship for the Gallipoli peninsula, along with troops from New Zealand, Britain, and France. On 25 April the Australians landed at what became known as Anzac Cove, whereupon they established a tenuous foothold on the steep slopes above the beach. During the early days of the campaign the allies tried to break through Turkish lines, while the Turks tried to drive the allied troops off the peninsula.

Attempts on both sides ended in failure and the ensuing stalemate continued for the remainder of In fact, the most successful operation of the campaign was the large-scale evacuation of troops on 19 and 20 December.

As a result of a carefully planned deception operation, the Turks were unable to inflict more than a very few casualties on the withdrawing forces.

The Gallipoli campaign resulted in the deaths of 7, Australians and 2, New Zealanders and the wounding of 19, Australians and 5, New Zealanders. Despite the defeat, the legend attached to the heroism, comradeship and valour of the soldiers, stretcher-bearers, medical officers and others involved remains a source of Australian pride and national identity. Middle East A mobile war involving the Australian Light Horse Regiment: Conditions of extreme heat, harsh terrain and shortage of water.

Role of women in World War I Women were not involved as fighting personnel during the war. However, they served as members of the Australian Army Nursing Service dealing with injuries and immense suffering in the field. The first draft of nursing sisters left Australia in September Throughout the war they served wherever Australian troops were sent. In total, 2, served overseas, served in Australia, 25 died and were decorated for their service.

The huge toll of dead and wounded meant that frequently women were left with the entire responsibility for holding families together. On the home front: Debate about conscription Although there was great popular support for Australia's involvement in the war, it was not universal. In particular, the issue of conscription created great debate in the Australian community.

But not yet, perhaps, in spite of the flag and the new capital under construction, a continental nation. Nevertheless, at the start of WW1, Australians still saw themselves in terms of their role within the British Empire.

By the end of the war, a greater sense of national distinctiveness would emerge. Between and the Commonwealth Parliament did not have its own seat of government but met in Melbourne.

In Canberra had been chosen as the site for the federal capital. An international competition for the design of Parliament House had been initiated but, with the outbreak of war in , the Minister for Home Affairs, William Archibald ALP, Hindmarsh, SA announced on the first day of the new Parliament 8 October that the competition had been postponed on several grounds:.

Many connected with the architectural profession are now on active service and bearing arms. One of the judges is a distinguished Austrian. On the outbreak of war, the Parliament was half the size it is today, comprising 75 Members of the House of Representatives and 36 Senators see Table 1. Table 1: representation in the House of Representatives after each election, — Source: Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia. Early on there had been a number of governments formed by coalitions of parties with no one party being able to govern in its own right.

It won the election under Fisher, gaining 43 seats in the House of Representatives an absolute majority and all 18 vacant Senate seats, giving it control of the upper house. The conservative side of politics was initially divided over the fiscal issue of free trade versus protectionism.

Elections were won and governments formed under these banners see Table 3 until, in response to the growing power of the ALP, there was a fusion of conservative forces to form the Liberal Party in Australia had seen five federal elections from Federation in to the outbreak of World War I , , , and and another two during the war and From to , the electoral system used for federal elections for both the House of Representatives and the Senate was first past the post.

The first election held on 29—30 March was largely based on state-determined electorates. In this first election the main issue was over tariffs—free trade or protection. No one party won a majority of seats in either house, but Edmund Barton and his Protectionist group were able to form government with the support of the Labor Party.

Despite a new federal parliament, life for most people went on as usual. Customs houses, post offices and military volunteers were under new management, but the public still engaged with the same people in their daily transactions. Australians had not really expected rapid or dramatic change because the Federation had come into being peacefully and consensually, without revolution against Britain or opposition from Britain.

The first Parliament set about establishing an independent public service and the High Court. It introduced universal suffrage and first-past-the-post voting in Senate and House of Representatives elections; although enrolment was not made compulsory until Alfred Deakin succeeded Edmund Barton as prime minister at the end of September Deakin was a popular leader with both sides of politics.

Furthermore, the federal system was operating smoothly. There was a common market amongst the states which had also benefited financially from the transfer of some of their responsibilities to the national government.

Four months later Watson also resigned when the House rejected his proposal to include a substantial measure of preference to trade unionists participating in the decisions of the Conciliation and Arbitration Court.

The Bill was reintroduced again in September and finally passed the Senate on 9 December after three years of debate. The first fully protective tariff was introduced in June after lengthy parliamentary debates, the last general debate on an issue which had dominated federal politics from the start. The election saw the Deakin Government reaffirmed, with only half the registered electors bothering to vote. In November , Labor withdrew its support for Deakin after the federal conference of the party decided against alliances with other political groups.

This fusion forced out Fisher in May and Deakin took over as prime minister. Thus began the two-party system in national politics. The Fusion, later Liberal, Government lasted until the election held on 13 April , when it was swept away by Labor which won a clear majority in both Houses, the first time a single party had done so in national politics.

By the election, there had been a redistribution of electorates and compulsory voter enrolment had been introduced in The proposals were put to voters in two referendums in and , and both were unsuccessful.

For their part, the Liberals looked for a way out of their precarious parliamentary position. Early in , Prime Minister Joseph Cook sought to bring about conditions which would enable him to request a double dissolution election from the Governor-General. The Government submitted two bills which it knew the Labor Party would reject. The Government Preference Prohibition Bill would prevent preference being given to unionists in Commonwealth work. Unsurprisingly, the Bill was rejected in the Senate for a second time on 28 May after an interval of three months from when it was first rejected.

This provided the Government with a trigger for a double dissolution election under section 57 of the Constitution. Newly-arrived Governor-General Ronald Munro Ferguson initially looked towards Westminster practices to settle the dispute. He was inclined to call another House of Representatives election. He realised that a double dissolution was the only option.

Griffith, one of the drafters of the Constitution advised him that the existence of a double dissolution trigger alone did not automatically lead to the granting of such an election.

As to the existence of either condition he must form his own judgment. Although he cannot act except upon advice of his Ministers, he is not bound to follow their advice but is in the position of an independent arbiter.

The Governor-General granted Cook his double dissolution on 4 June If the Liberals were frustrated by their numbers in Parliament, Labor was not without its tensions. Although it had won the election, had control of the Senate after the election and was in power in three states NSW, Western Australia and Tasmania at the beginning of , there were tensions between the industrial and political wings of the labour movement. As historian Joan Beaumont puts it:.

These tensions, simmering within the labour movement in , would intensify under the pressures of war. The election was announced on 26 June —a double dissolution election to be held on 5 September Parliament was prorogued on 27 June, the day before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and dissolved on 30 July. Both parties had already formally launched their election campaigns before war broke out—Labor on 6 July and the Liberals on 15 July.

Both leaders campaigned on much the same issues they had campaigned on at the election. Cook wanted to reform the Constitution to give the Commonwealth power over monopolies, introduce a uniform companies Act and set up wage fixing tribunals. He also said he wanted to introduce a new voting system—proportional representation in the Senate and preferential voting for the House of Representatives.

He promised marketing agencies for primary producers, an inquiry into the prevention of diseases such as tuberculosis and help for orphans. On 30 July , the Governor-General Munro Ferguson received the first official telegram from London warning that war was imminent. Only five of the ten ministers made it to the emergency Cabinet meeting called for Monday 3 August. That night both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition responded in similar terms.

A few days later, on Monday 3 August, Cabinet agreed to offer the British Government two things: to put the newly-acquired Australian fleet of seven ships under control of the British Admiralty, and to send an expeditionary force of 20, troops overseas to wherever it was required. Furthermore, it offered to bear all associated costs.

The cable was sent to London at 6. The outbreak of war was greeted in Australia, as in many other places, with great public enthusiasm. In response to the overwhelming number of volunteers, the authorities set exacting physical standards for recruits. But, nevertheless, by reason of the fact that we are part of the Empire, we may be called upon, willy nilly, to bear the consequences of our Imperial connexion. Furthermore, on the evening of Sunday 2 August, both Fisher and Billy Hughes, separately, issued statements indicating that at such a time the interests of the nation were above party politics.

It was bound to be a hard-fought political campaign. There were large public meetings supporting Home Rule in May and June , which Fisher and other Labor leaders had attended, countered by anti-Home Rule demonstrations. Parliament, which had been dissolved on 30 July , was generally considered irrelevant in any decision as to whether Australia would go to war or remain neutral. This arrangement was not just sentiment—it was underscored by legal and constitutional arrangements.

Australia accepted the authority of the British Government and its Parliament in such matters. Notwithstanding that the Australian Constitution provided that the Commonwealth Parliament could legislate with respect to both defence and external affairs subsections 51 vi and xxix respectively , and the Executive had the broader executive power of section 61, the Australian Government knew that the British Imperial Government remained responsible for the foreign policy of the empire including declarations of war and the power to enter treaties.

It did this without consulting Parliament, notwithstanding that it was dissolved at the time. He explained:. Had this request for troops come to the Government while Parliament was sitting no action would have been taken without a full opportunity for discussion; though the Government certainly would not have refused—it would have agreed to send any troops, and would have submitted, if the House was not sitting, its determination to Parliament afterwards, for honorable members to take such action as they might be advised.

In , some in the Opposition and the media felt that the situation was serious enough for Parliament to be recalled before the election. As the writs for the election had already been issued, neither option was likely to occur. Parliament could then meet immediately after the election. Alternatively, the proclamation dissolving Parliament should be revoked, a highly unconstitutional procedure that Hughes argued could be validated if the British Parliament passed an Indemnity Act. These ideas were not accepted by Cook and the election campaign continued.

Labor comfortably won the election, regaining most of the seats it had lost in Previously the difference had been 29 to 7. Voter turnout was It noted that the Australian Navy had been placed at the disposal of the British Admiralty and that its presence had ensured that the waters around Samoa and New Guinea had been kept clear of enemy ships.

Nevertheless, it recorded the loss of the Australian submarine AE1 in that campaign. After outlining the nature of the engagement, he read out some congratulatory telegrams, including one from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and then said:. There is a host of other telegrams from within Australia and from individuals outside the Commonwealth, but I do not think I need trouble the House with them. I have only to add that I do not think there is a soul in Australia but feels very happy indeed that such an opportunity arose, and such a success has followed the first serious naval action by our own ships.

Although Labor was in power, it was hardly united. Parliament quickly enacted the War Precautions Act in late October As Hughes put it:. The Bill confers upon the Commonwealth power to make orders and regulations of a far reaching character, and, as honorable members may see in clauses 4 and 5, is. Its aim is to prevent the disclosure of important information, to give power to deport, and otherwise deal with aliens, to interrogate and obtain information in various ways, and to appoint officers to carry into effect any orders or regulations which may be made under the Bill.

Recognising that these drastic powers are necessary to enable those in our midst, who seek to destroy the integrity and to injure the interests of the Empire, to be dealt with, I shall give the Government cordial support in passing this and other measures having that object in view. It makes it clear that offences against the regulations are punishable on summary conviction He praised manufacturers for their cooperation and for accepting the prices at which the Commonwealth had acquired goods.

This legislation closely followed that which was enacted in Britain. He wondered if the legislation was constitutional but felt that this was not the time to test that possibility. He also sought, and received, assurance that the provisions of the Bill would be limited to the duration of the war. He was concerned that freedom of speech would be curbed by section 4 d of the Bill which would enable:. The Governor-General [to] make regulations for securing the public safety and the defence of the Commonwealth Mathews was also concerned that the Bill prevented servicemen, who were required to have matters heard by a military court, from having the same access as civilians to the civil courts.

While Parliament was debating these measures, Australian and New Zealand forces landed at Gallipoli on 25 April as part of an Allied campaign to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. The Government and people of Australia are deeply gratified to learn that their troops have won distinction in their first encounter with the enemy. Matters about Gallipoli and Egypt raised in Parliament mainly focussed on the problem of gaining information about casualties from that front and the raising of individual cases in which letters from there had taken a long time to reach their anxious relatives.

The chief object of my rising is to make a suggestion to the Postmaster-General with regard to communications passing between Australia and the seat of war, in which we are more directly interested—Gallipoli and Egypt. I want to ask the Postmaster-General if he and his Government will take into favorable consideration the question of appointing an officer directly responsible to the Minister to look after the delivery of all correspondence and the despatch of all cable matter from the seat of war to Australia.