Focus your exam revision on the ways in which Australians acted in response to WWI.
Quick quote: "Australians will stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling" Opposition Leader (soon to be Prime Minister) Andrew Fisher 1914.
Quick quote: "By 1914 most young Australians had thoroughly learnt an adherence to war, race and glory, and to two nations separated by the world. They vaunted their sunlit land, and drew snowmen on Christmas cards. [...] They were ‘independent Australian Britons', defenders of the white race in the Pacific, volunteers to die in the defense of the ideals they had chosen." Historian Bill Gammage 2010, The broken years: Australian soldiers in the Great War.
Task 2
Using what you know about Australia and Australians at the time of WWI, write an extended (400 word) response to the statement: 'All Australians were enthusiastic about the outbreak of WWI'. In your response, refer to the different communities and groups that were represented in Australia at the time.
Post your response to the forum and read through your peers' responses to see if there are any elements you have missed. Comment on at least one of your peer's responses before moving to task 3.
Using what you know about Australia and Australians at the time of WWI, write an extended (400 word) response to the statement: 'All Australians were enthusiastic about the outbreak of WWI'. In your response, refer to the different communities and groups that were represented in Australia at the time.
Post your response to the forum and read through your peers' responses to see if there are any elements you have missed. Comment on at least one of your peer's responses before moving to task 3.
Quick quote: "The British fleet is our all in all. Its destruction means Australia's destruction, the ruin of our trade and institutions, and the surrender of our liberties. The British Empire is our family circle and we cannot live outside it..." Melbourne Punch cited in: Gammage, B 2010, The broken years: Australian soldiers in the Great War.
Before moving to task 4, share your analysis of the resources with your peers on the online forum. Comment on at least one of your peer's posts.
Quick quote: "Soon after the war began, women and girls were knitting socks, scarves and balaclavas, for the soldiers. They knitted at home, on trams, in churches. When they ran out of knitting needles, they made new ones from bicycle spokes: when they ran out of dye, they used onion skins and wattle bark; when they ran out of wool, they learnt to spin their own." Historian Jan Bassett 1983, The home front, 1914-1918.
Task 4
For this task, you are required to survey your family and friends, asking them to imagine that World War III broke out tomorrow, would they volunteer to fight? Why/Why not?
Collate their answers, then contrast and compare their thoughts and reasons to what you know of Australians in 1914 at the outbreak of WWI.
For this task, you are required to survey your family and friends, asking them to imagine that World War III broke out tomorrow, would they volunteer to fight? Why/Why not?
Collate their answers, then contrast and compare their thoughts and reasons to what you know of Australians in 1914 at the outbreak of WWI.
Quick quote: "The other one said to me "Chas, I am going home to my wife and kids. I'll be some use to them as a cripple, but none at all dead! I am starving here, and so are they at home, we may as well starve together." With that he fired a shot through his boot. When the medics got his boot off, two of his toes and a lot of his foot had gone. But the injuring oneself to get out of it was quite common." Private Young, August 1915 (AWM)
Task 5 Analyse the graph opposite which shows the Australian enlistment figures during WWI. Answer the following: 1. Why might the enlistment numbers have dropped after the first month? 2. Explain the peak in enlistment after June 1915. What changed at this time? 3. Explain the peak in enlistment in February 1916. What events may have led to this? 4. Discuss the factors that may have led to the decreasing enlistment numbers after 1916. 5. Explain the reasons men may have been still enlisting in 1918. |
Using the enlistment figures as evidence and drawing on your knowledge, write an extended (400 words) response to the statement: 'Australian enthusiasm for WWI was not maintained throughout the war.'
Check your answers and extended response using the internet. Useful websites include:
- The Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1/
- The State Library of Victoria - http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/australia-wwi/home-wwi
You can research specific questions using google, but ensure the sources you find are accurate and reliable.
Check your answers and extended response using the internet. Useful websites include:
- The Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1/
- The State Library of Victoria - http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/australia-wwi/home-wwi
You can research specific questions using google, but ensure the sources you find are accurate and reliable.
Task 6
Your final task for this page is to collate all the 'quick quotes' on this page and revise them in a way that best suits your learning style. You may wish to:
- Draw a visual representation of what the quotes are saying.
- Role play with your family the people speaking the quotes.
- Write songs or jingles using the quotes.
- Create a word puzzle using the key words and concepts in the quotes.
- Write and rewrite the quotes to memorise them.
- Find your own method that works for you.
Your final task for this page is to collate all the 'quick quotes' on this page and revise them in a way that best suits your learning style. You may wish to:
- Draw a visual representation of what the quotes are saying.
- Role play with your family the people speaking the quotes.
- Write songs or jingles using the quotes.
- Create a word puzzle using the key words and concepts in the quotes.
- Write and rewrite the quotes to memorise them.
- Find your own method that works for you.