Group+A

High and Lows of World War 1 for Australia By Benton Rose Matthew Connor and Michael Buttarazzi

__Required Background Information__:

1. What caused your country to enter World War 1? Australia joined the Great War for the sole reason that they would be loyal to their mother country Great Britain. Andrew Fisher the prime minister from 1914 to 1916 declared, “that Australia would support Britain to 'the last man and the last shilling.” Andrew Fisher thought this was a perfect chance for Australia to show their loyalty to their mother country Great Britain. Australia actually prepared for war and prepared to send troops to the Great War before Great Britain declared themselves a part of the war. Australia was a young nation they wanted to prove themselves as a united nation under Great Britain. There main military force was named the Australian Imperial Force(AIF). One and every five men had been born in Britain so most of them called themselves Australasian Britons. Most men went to war for three main motives, to serve the kings and the empire, and then finally to go on an adventure. Great Britain joined the war August 4,1914. Great Britain declared all the nations under Britain’s Empire which included Australia. Australia was ready and sent their first troops in 1914.

(Prime Minister and lead activist for the Australian war effort)

2. Were the leaders/people of your country satisfied with the terms of the peace treaty at the end of World War 1? Explain.

Australia was pleased in some aspects of the treaty of Versailles and unhappy with others. They were unhappy because of their strong allegiance to Britain or “the motherland”. This caused them to be unhappy because of how Britain did not want the reparations that Germany had to pay to be too large and they ended up being very large. They were afraid that this would weaken Germany so much that it would no longer be able to act as a border to stop the spread of communism. Although these large reparations caused some Australians to be unhappy it also made some quite happy. This is because they felt like they gave many important troops to the war effort overseas and therefore deserved to be paid reparations. They contributed forces such as the Australian Imperial Force that fought to defend areas such as the Suez Canal. Australia also received some pacific islands that Germany had taken during the war. This expansion of land probably made the Australian people happy as it provided them with more income. That is how the treaty of Versailles made the Australian people both happy and unhappy. (A young soldier from the Australian Imperial Force-AIF)

3. What were the high points (best moments) and low points (worst moments) for your country DURING World War 1?

Australia’s High and Low points in World War 1:

Australia’s total population was 4.5 million people. During World War 1 over 62,000 people were killed, and over 152, 000 more were injured. Most of these people died on the western front from 1916-1917 (Over 40 thousand). A high point for Australia was when they destroyed the German Raider SMS Emden. Australia also took part in a series of advances against Germany and ended up making Germany surrender on November 11. The Australian Air Force and air corps played a big part in the war and helped win many battles.