Editing History of Australia (section)

==First World War==
{{main|Australia in World War I| Home front during World War I#Australia|Economic history of World War I#Australia}}{{Further|World War I conscription in Australia}}
=== Australia at war 1914{{En dash}}18 ===
When the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, the declaration automatically involved all of Britain's colonies and dominions.<ref name="Frank Crowley 1973 p. 2142">Frank Crowley (1973) p. 214</ref> Both major parties offered Britain 20,000 Australian troops. As the ''Defence Act 1903'' precluded sending conscripts overseas, a new volunteer force, the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] (AIF), was raised to meet this commitment.<ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 166–67</ref><ref>Lowe (2013). pp. 506–08</ref>

Public enthusiasm for the war was high, and the initial quota for the AIF was quickly filled. The troops left for Egypt on 1 November 1914, one of the escort ships, HMAS ''Sydney'', sinking the German cruiser ''[[SMS Emden|Emden]]'' along the way. Meanwhile, in September, a separate Australian expeditionary force had captured German New Guinea.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Garton|first1=Stephen|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2, The Commonwealth of Australia|last2=Stanley|first2=Peter|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn=9781107011540|editor-last=Bashford|editor-first=Alison|location=Port Melbourne|pages=41–42, 48|chapter=The Great War and its aftermath, 1914-22|editor-last2=Macintyre|editor-first2=Stuart}}</ref>

[[File:Australian 9th and 10th battalions Egypt December 1914 AWM C02588.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian soldiers in Egypt]] with a kangaroo as regimental mascot, 1914]]

After arriving in Egypt, the AIF was incorporated into an [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps]] (ANZAC). The Anzacs formed part of the [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]] with the task of opening the [[Dardanelles]] to allied battleships, threatening [[Constantinople]], the capital of the [[Ottoman Empire]] which had entered the war on the side of the [[Central Powers]]. The Anzacs, along with French, British and Indian troops, landed on the [[Gallipoli campaign|Gallipoli]] peninsula on 25 April 1915. The Australian and New Zealand position at Anzac Cove was vulnerable to attack and the troops suffered heavy losses in establishing a narrow beachhead. After it had become clear that the expeditionary force would be unable to achieve its objectives, the Anzacs were evacuated in December, followed by the British and French in early January.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). pp. 42–43</ref><ref>Macintyre (1993). pp. 147–49</ref>

The Australians suffered about 8,000 deaths in the campaign.<ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 168</ref> Australian war correspondents variously emphasised the bravery and fighting qualities of the Australians and the errors of their British commanders. The 25 April soon became an Australian national holiday known as [[Anzac Day]], centring on themes of "nationhood, brotherhood and sacrifice".<ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 168-69</ref><ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 43</ref>

In 1916, five infantry divisions of the AIF were sent to the Western Front. In July 1916, at [[Battle of Fromelles|Fromelles]], the AIF suffered 5,533 casualties in 24 hours, the most costly single encounter in Australian military history.<ref name="Bill Gammage-1974">Bill Gammage (1974) ''The Broken Years.'' pp. 158–162 Penguin Australia {{ISBN|0-14-003383-1}}</ref> Elsewhere on the [[Battle of the Somme|Somme]], 23,000 Australians were killed or wounded in seven weeks of attacks on German positions. In Spring 1917, Australian troops suffered 10,000 casualties at the [[First attack on Bullecourt|First Battle of Bullecourt]] and the [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Second Battle of Bullecourt]]. In the summer and autumn of 1917, Australian troops also sustained heavy losses during the British offensive around [[Battle of Passchendaele|Ypres]]. Overall, almost 22,000 Australian troops were killed in 1917.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 44-46</ref>

[[File:8th August 1918 (Will Longstaff).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''8 August 1918'', by [[Will Longstaff]]. A depiction of the [[Battle of Amiens (1918)|Battle of Amiens]]]]

In November 1917 the five Australian divisions were united in the [[Australian Corps]], and in May 1918 the Australian general [[John Monash]] took over command. The Australian Corps was heavily involved in halting the [[German spring offensive|German Spring Offensive]] of 1918 and in the allied [[Hundred Days Offensive|counter-offensive]] of August that year.<ref>Macintyre (1993). pp. 175–76</ref>

In the Middle East, the [[Australian Light Horse]] brigades were prominent at the [[Battle of Romani]] in August 1916. In 1917, they participated in the allied advance through the Sinai Peninsula and into Palestine. In 1918, they pressed on through Palestine and into Syria in an advance that led to the Ottoman surrender on 31 October.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). pp. 46–47</ref>

By the time the war ended on 11 November 1918, 324,000 Australians had served overseas. Casualties included 60,000 dead and 150,000 wounded{{Em dash}}the highest casualty rate of any allied force. Australian troops also had higher rates of unauthorised absence, crime and imprisonment than other allied forces.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). pp. 40–45</ref>

=== The home front ===
[[File:Billy_Hughes_1919.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister W. M. Hughes in 1919]]

In October 1914, the Fisher Labor government introduced the ''[[War Precautions Act 1914|War Precautions Act]]'' which gave it the power to make regulations "for securing the public safety and defence of the Commonwealth".<ref>Mcintyre (1993). pp. 142, 161</ref> After [[Billy Hughes]] replaced Fisher as prime minister in October 1915, regulations under the act were increasingly used to censor publications, penalise public speech and suppress organisations that the government considered detrimental to the war effort.<ref name="Garton and Stanley-2013">Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 49</ref><ref>Mcintyre (2020). pp. 172–73</ref> Anti-German leagues were formed and 7,000 Germans and other "enemy aliens" were sent to internment camps during the war.<ref>Macintyre (1993). pp. 155–57</ref><ref name="Garton and Stanley-2013" />

The economy contracted by 10 per cent during the course of hostilities. Inflation rose in the first two years of war and real wages fell.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 51</ref><ref>Macintyre (1993). p. 155</ref> Lower wages and perceptions of profiteering by some businesses led, in 1916, to a wave of strikes by miners, waterside workers and shearers.<ref>Macintyre (1993). pp. 161–63</ref>

Enlistments in the military also declined, falling from 35,000 a month at its peak in 1915 to 6,000 a month in 1916.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 52</ref> In response, Hughes decided to hold a referendum on conscription for overseas service. Following the narrow defeat of the [[1916 Australian conscription referendum|October 1916 conscription referendum]], Hughes and 23 of his supporters left the parliamentary Labor party and formed a new Nationalist government with the former opposition. The Nationalists comfortably won the [[1917 Australian federal election|May 1917 elections]] and Hughes continued as prime minister.<ref>Macintyre (1993). pp. 162–67</ref>

From August to October 1917 there was a major strike of New South Wales railway, transport, waterside and coal workers which was defeated after the Commonwealth and New South Wales governments arrested strike leaders and organised special constables and non-union labour.<ref>Mcintyre (1993). pp. 170–72</ref> A [[1917 Australian conscription referendum|second referendum on conscription]] was also defeated in December. Enlistments in 1918 were the lowest for the war, leading to the disbandment of 12 battalions and mutinies in the AIF.<ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 47</ref>

=== Paris peace conference ===
Hughes attended the Imperial War Conference and Imperial War Cabinet in London from June 1918 where Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa won British support for their separate representation at the eventual peace conference.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fitzhardinge|first=L. F.|date=2006|title=Hughes, William Morris (Billy) (1862–1952)|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hughes-william-morris-billy-6761|access-date=5 November 2021|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}</ref><ref>Garton and Stanley (2013). p. 39</ref> At the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] in 1919, Hughes argued that Germany should pay the full cost of the war, but ultimately gained only £5 million in war reparations for Australia. Australia and the other self-governing British dominions won the right to become full members of the new [[League of Nations]], and Australia obtained a special League of Nations mandate over German New Guinea allowing Australia to control trade and immigration. Australia also gained a 42 per cent share of the formerly German-ruled island of Nauru, giving access to its rich superphosphate reserves. Australia argued successfully against a Japanese proposal for a racial equality clause in the League of Nations covenant, as Hughes feared that it would jeopardise the White Australia policy.<ref>{{Cite book|author-last1=Bridge|author-first1=Carl|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2, The Commonwealth of Australia|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn=9781107011540|editor-last1=Bashford|editor-first1=Alison|location=Port Melbourne|pages=522–24|chapter=Australia, Britain and the British Commonwealth|editor-first2=Stuart|editor-last2=Macintyre}}</ref> As a signatory to the [[Treaty of Versailles]] and a full member of the League of Nations, Australia took an important step towards international recognition as a sovereign nation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Treaty of Versailles 1919 (including Covenant of the League of Nations)|url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-23.html#significance|access-date=5 November 2021|website=Documenting a Democracy, Museum of Australian Democracy}}</ref>