LOCAL NEWS
WORLD WAR 1
CAUSES OF THE WAR
If you were to look back at WWI, you would see that there were direct and indirect causes to the war. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was an immediate cause. Gavrilo Princip, working with a Serbian anti-Austrian secret society called "The Black Hand" shot Archduke Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in order to make way for a Slavic revolution. The assassination didn't do as Princip hoped, and it was used as an excuse for Austria to take hostile action against Serbia. That was not the only cause of the war.
The Alliance System was one of the festering causes of the war. After Germany took Alsace-Lorraine, Bismarck wanted to make sure that France didn't make enough allies to take back the territory in a war. So he started to form an alliance with Austria-Hungry and Italy. France saw this as a threat, so it started making alliances of its own. France first turned to Russia then to Britain creating the Triple Entente. Now with forces in place on either side, nerves were frayed.
The Alliance System was one of the festering causes of the war. After Germany took Alsace-Lorraine, Bismarck wanted to make sure that France didn't make enough allies to take back the territory in a war. So he started to form an alliance with Austria-Hungry and Italy. France saw this as a threat, so it started making alliances of its own. France first turned to Russia then to Britain creating the Triple Entente. Now with forces in place on either side, nerves were frayed.
AUSTRALIA'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE WAR
In Australia, the outbreak of World War I was greeted with considerable enthusiasm. Even before Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, the nation pledged its support alongside other states of the British Empire and almost immediately began preparations to send forces overseas to participate in the conflict.
SIGNIFICANT BATTLES
BATTLES
The casualties suffered in the First World War were of a scale never before experienced. Great Britain and her Empire lost over 1,000,000 combatants; France, 1,300,000; Russia, 1,700,000; Germany and its allies, 3,500,000. Losses in life per day of the war exceeded 5,500.
Although each soldier would have been involved in some form of conflict whilst serving on the front-line (e.g. trench raids, snipers, shelling), it is possible to distinguish major battles whose names have gone down in history as some of the bloodiest conflicts ever. Some of the battles were:
- The battle of Verdun 1916
- The battles of the Marne 1918
- The battle of Ypres 1915
- The battle of Somme 1916
IMPACT AT HOME
The impact the Great war had on Australian's at home was that:
- the soldiers families: the families were affected by not having a steady pay coming in all the time, so they did not have a lot of money to buy food.
- businesses: businesses couldn't find employees to work for them, so they didn't have anyone running their companies. Also because so many people were away or had not a lot of money they couldn't buy the things they need.
- loss of loved one: families could loose their main supply of money. Loosing a loved one is hard in itself.
ANZAC
INTRODUCTION OF ANZAC DAY
On the morning of 25 April 1915, the Anzacs landed on Gallipoli and met fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. Their plan was to knock Turkey out of the war was quickly turned down hill and the campaign dragged on for eight months.
At the end of 1915, the allied forces were evacuated. Both sides lost huge numbers and went through hard times. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli and the events that followed had a profound impact on Australians at home. The 25th of April soon became the day on which Australians remember the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.
The Anzacs were courageous and although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy.
At the end of 1915, the allied forces were evacuated. Both sides lost huge numbers and went through hard times. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli and the events that followed had a profound impact on Australians at home. The 25th of April soon became the day on which Australians remember the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.
The Anzacs were courageous and although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy.