The War At Home

Conscription:


WW1:
Conscription was strongly debated in the First World War. To determine the voice of the Australian people on this issue a plebiscite was held  with the against vote of 1,160,033 winning a narrow victory over those in favour 1,087,557. Due to the closeness of the result the government decided to hold a second plebiscite  Once again the 'no vote won' with 1,015,159 in favour and 1,181,747 against. After the second vote the government decided that the Australian people  had spoken and the issue of Conscription was dropped.

WW2:
With the outbreak of the Second World War Australian men were conscripted to serve in the Citizen Military Forces to ensure home defence. which not included Australia but Australian territories in Papua. As the Japanese continued to encroach on Australia a bill was passed by the Labor Government in February 1943 extending government powers to compel service the South West Pacific Zone which included Australia, Papua and the adjacent islands, 


Wartime controls:

WW1:

Propaganda:
Propaganda in WW1 was aimed at getting Australian men to fight and get the money and labour the government needed to  the war effort. It was also designed to create anger towards the German forces as well as targeting nationalistic pride of the "motherland" showing  the Allied forces to be always far superior than their enemies. Propaganda was also heavily used in the for and against conscription debate to stress the respective arguments. 



Rationing:
The Australian government passed a War Precautions Act enabling them to acquire all the wheat and wool harvest. This led to shortages and war profiteering (that is selling scarce goods at a high price). Australians in WW1 were encouraged to be as self-sufficient as possible but due to alot of the food supplies being shipped to the allied forces the Australians standard of living dropped. 



Censorship:
Censorship was established in Australia to keep the enemies from knowing allied information. Military intelligence worked closely with the state police to ensure any 'suspicious behavior' was investigated which furthermore ensured the stop of 'leaking'. Sources from the media were also strongly censored to propagate the Allied forces 'March through Europe'. Soldiers had their letters scrutinised by  Regimental Officiers to ensure there was no mention of operational details that might be valuable to the enemy. Forbidden information included  locations, troop numbers, critisising superior officers and the weather.




Austerity:
The people in Australia had to 'live without luxury' for most of the wartime campaign, Australians had to give up or significantly reduce such luxury items as cigarettes, alcohol, cosmetics and ensure their meals were nutritional but inexpensive. The Australian government used the motto "save and save Australia" to promote this idea. All saved money would go to support the war effort. The government planned a saving of 100 million pounds, which would be essential to continue the war effort as it is estimated by historians that the war cost Australia 50,000 pounds an hour.





WW2:
Propaganda:
Propaganda was used mainly in Australia in WW2 to influence the public opinion of the Japanese and to show Australian's that they were, for the first time, under direct geographical threat from an opposing force. Japanese men in most, if not all propaganda, were characterised as short, with black hair, buck-teeth, and tiny eyes. Propaganda ensured that Australians not only supported the war effort but also enlisted to fight for their nation. 


Rationing: 
Due to the Japanese movement through the Pacific, food supplied from countries captured ceased. This cause major food shortages for Australians at home and abroad, the government put in place food rations to ensure everyone got there basic meal requirements. Like WW1 people were encouraged once again to be as self-sufficient as possible and were encouraged to grow their own food  in their backyards and local parks.







Censorship:
Censorship in WW2 was organised and operated by the Department of Information, they controlled newspaper and radio reports about military events, and monitored war correspondence to ensure a positive outlook on all Australian military affairs and to ensure the enemy did not receive any information about location of troops and other war related matters. 





Austerity:
Australians were once again encouraged to "make do and mend" all things they had and once again the standard of living dropped. The government strongly encouraged people to smoke less, drink less, plan meals for their food value and to give up cosmetics. Shops at the time stopped taking money as an economy but rather coupons from the ration books. This austerity saved a mass amount of money, supporting the Australian war effort immensely.





Role Of Women:

WW1:

In WW1 the Australian Government with the exception of nursing was against women participating in war related activities and so instead women became heavily involved in organisations such as the Australian Women’s National League, the Australian Red Cross, the Country Women’s Association, the Voluntary Aid Detachment, the Australian Women’s Service Corps, the Women’s Peace Army, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union to aid the war effort. The percentage of women in the workforce grew from  24% in 1914 to 37% in 1918 however their roles were still very traditional filling jobs in clothing, footwear, food and printing industries as the Unions feared women joining the workforce would lower wages.Women were also actively involved in  conscription and propaganda and  often were often featured in leaflets and poster as pro activists encouraging men to enlist or anti activist focusing on the horrific carnage of war.


WW2:
Women played a very important and vital role in World War 2. They held down jobs previously thought too physical for them such welding, machine repair, operating tractors and other heavy machinery. Women worked in factories making weapons, ammunitions and uniforms and assisted in the building of tanks, trucks and planes. Each branch of  the armed forces formed a women's auxiliary corp and although women were never expected to serve outside Australia some women found themselves in New Guinea working on observation posts or as drivers, radio operators or mechanics while nurses worked in New Guinea, Singapore and Indonesia. A volunteer Australian Women's Land Army was formed and women ploughed, harvested and milked cows greatly assisting in the food supply of Australia during the war.


Commemorating The Wars:

WW1:
World World War 1 is commemorated by Australians at the dawn services and marches held on Anzac day through
out the country and by those Australians who travel to ANZAC Cove in Turkey to pay their respects to those who died there. On Remembrance Day 11th November at 11am there is a minute silence so Australians can silently contemplate the sacrifices and struggles of war. Every Australian capital city has War Memorial and there are thousands of local War Memorials throughout the country that  list the men that paid the ultimate scarifice. The War Memorial in Canberra not only lists those who have died but has a tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a symbol of the sacrifice these men have made for freedom and has a museum with artifacts, pictures, recreation of battles and historic articles. The Flanders Poppy shown here in photos now grows on the killing fields of France has become known as the flower of remembrance and is used by Australian as a symbol of respect of those who have died.

WW2:
In addition to the commemorations outlined above which World War 2 shares with World War 1 Australians commemorate World War Two in formal ceremonies each year marking significant military engagements for example on the 15th August  the anniversary of the formal surrender of the Japanese and and on 4th May commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea. There are also memorials located across the country that specially relate to World War 2 examples include the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Sydney , The Coral Sea Memorial in Canberra and the Special Airforce Regiment Rose Garden in Melbourne.