world war 1
In an age where each country’s prosperity hinged on its ability to maintain and expand its colonial empire, competition was fierce among the various imperialist powers to gain control of foreign territory. So when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist on the 28th of June 1914, it is no surprise that Austria-Hungary was quick to declared war on Serbia, igniting the spark that set off the thousand fires, that was to become the blazing inferno of World War I. In the days that followed the assassination, many entangled alliances were called upon for help. This bought together the Central Powers of the time; Austria-Hungary, Germany and Turkey, into direct conflict with the Allied powers, meaning France, Great Britain, Russia, the United States, Japan and Italy. Because of these alliances, when Britain declared war, not only were the French and Russian empires compelled to join the British, but Australia, still being a member of the British Empire at the time, also found herself at war.
Despite not being directly involved with the tensions which brought about the declaration of war, Australian soon found themselves playing an important role in what was thought to be 'the war to end all wars.' Australia, still a very young nation, having been established as a Federation only 13 years earlier in 1901, reacted to the outbreak of the war with an extraordinary manner of enthusiasm and felt a natural, strong sense of patriotism and loyalty to their 'mother country.' Initially, Australia's contribution to the war was going to be 20 000 men, however, the recruitment offices were overwhelmed with enrolments resulting in over 50 000 volunteers by the end of 1914. With around half a million men off at war, women and children were left at home to take up the many jobs the men had left behind.
Despite not being directly involved with the tensions which brought about the declaration of war, Australian soon found themselves playing an important role in what was thought to be 'the war to end all wars.' Australia, still a very young nation, having been established as a Federation only 13 years earlier in 1901, reacted to the outbreak of the war with an extraordinary manner of enthusiasm and felt a natural, strong sense of patriotism and loyalty to their 'mother country.' Initially, Australia's contribution to the war was going to be 20 000 men, however, the recruitment offices were overwhelmed with enrolments resulting in over 50 000 volunteers by the end of 1914. With around half a million men off at war, women and children were left at home to take up the many jobs the men had left behind.