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Why Did Australia Become Involved in Ww1?

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Why Did Australia Become Involved in Ww1?
Why Did Australia become involved in WW1?

Australia became involved in World War One in August ‘1914', as Britain was preparing to declare war on Germany. At the time Andrew Fisher (future Australian prime minister) promised that Australia would stand behind their mother country. He believed this war to be a noble cause where Australians could demonstrate their loyalty. As Australia is still part of the British Empire, our loyalty was pressured into joining the war and fighting for what they most respected at the time. Even though WW1 began after federation, Australia still showed immense loyalty to Britain and some still considered Britain as their home. When Britain declared war in ‘1914' it declared war on behalf of the entire British Empire, and that included Australia.

Many Australian citizens were overcome by nationalistic sentiments. As this nationalism began to grow, countries exaggerated their power and status as being superior to others around them. Propaganda was also widely used to influence Australian citizens to join and ‘fight for their country'. Examples include, Norman Lindsay's, War Poster 1914 which was published in The Sydney Bulletin. These techniques played an extremely important role in influencing and deceiving the Australian public. The political side of the war was concealed and changed in order to enhance this nationalistic view which the Australian public had at the time.

The Australian Government also had a main part in the country's involvement in ‘WW1'. They wanted Australia to be feared by other countries and wanted to show adherence to Britain. This also gave Australia the upper hand as Britain would return the favour by joining Australia's side in battle if needed. Australian troops were also very naive at the thought of war and took it as an adventure. Pay was also far substantial to the average working wage which also influenced more volunteers to sign up.

In conclusion Australia was involved in ‘World

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