Australia's Attitude Towards World War 1 Analysis

Australians supported the decision to go to war very enthusiastically in 1914 mainly because they were very loyal to England but of course, there are other reasons which influenced their decision. Because Australia was extremely loyal to their ‘mother country’, they of course did not hesitate in following Britain’s declaration on war. Australians had very little experience before World War 1 which started on the 28th of July, 1914 and continued until the 11th of November, 1918. It was said that the cause of World War 1 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sophie who was the Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. World War 1 was also known as ‘The Great War’, it was supposedly the war to end all

Before that, it was simply a collection of 6 British colonies. They partly self-governed but they were under the law-making power of the British Parliament. Many people had wanted Australia to maintain the British heritage which means only white people can be allowed into Australia, creating the ‘White Policy’. Because of this, non-Australians could not help in the war, no matter how much they wanted to.

Australians attitude towards war changed because it was not what they had in mind. They had not expected it to be as gruesome as they had imagined it to be. As the war progressed and as more of their friends were killed from the war, they realised that war was not something that they wanted to be a part of. While war became more realistic the soldiers, they became less enthusiastic.

Australia remains loyal to Britain throughout the war even though war was not what they expected. Australia had little experience in war and some soldiers were peer pressured into enlisting but they continued to support Britain as they were their ‘mother country’. Britain and Australia has very deep connections and will be there to support each