Conscription Propaganda

In World War 1 there were two votes held for conscription in Australia. Of course, because of this there were many propaganda posters around. The propaganda posters advertised either “for” or “against” conscription. They worked in the same way as recruitment posters worked. No matter what they advertised, they all used one or more of the following techniques:

-          Persuasion – convincing arguments that choosing/not choosing conscription would be the best thing for society.

-          Fear – fear that if conscription isn’t put in place, not enough people would enlist; causing Britain to lose the war and Australia would be attacked.

-          Guilt – If conscription is not put in place, men aren’t helping out their country.

-          Patriotism/hate for Germans – If conscription is not put in place, people won’t enlist and Australia will lose pride and possibly be attacked by Germans.

Propaganda played a large role in convincing people whether to vote for or against. Both times the vote for against won over; and this is most likely because the propaganda against conscription was more effective. Perhaps families saw the posters advocating a “no” vote, and realised that the man of the household would be sent against his will and could actually die overseas and never return home.

Conscription Video-World War One

This is a video explaining conscription in Britain in World War One.
It starts with when the war is first announced, when everyone was very patriotic and rushed to apply for the military. Soon, the government realises that the number of new applications for service would not meet the requirements they needed due to the huge number of casualties. The war was spreading fast and the amount of men who volunteered just simply weren't enough, so they decided to introduce conscription.

At first it applied only to single men aged eighteen to forty-one, then soon it was extended to apply to married men also. The video goes on to explain the men who conscription did not apply to.

Please click on the link to view the video :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkck_5RqfLw

The Debate

I sat at home in front of the fireplace. It was a cold winter evening and the kids were doing their homework in the lounge room. My wife came in with dinner prepared. She slowly approached and sat down with me handing me the bowl of mashed potatoes and peas. She was silent until we finished our dinner. It was quite unusual of her, i wondered what was on her mind, but suddenly she began to speak.

“Darling,” her voice shook. “I have this letter, we have to vote against conscription,” she said to me.

“Against? Why would we vote against it?”

Conscription, I thought, well of course I’d vote for it. I’d heard of young men, with nobody depending on them, no one who couldn’t live without them; they had no children, no wife, nothing to fight for. Yet they refused to go to war, they forced the men with families, men with wives and parents depending on them, men with children to feed, to risk their lives on the front line. This was unfair. With conscription in place we could send out these immoral men, send them to war and fight for our country. Conscription will give everyone a fair go.

“But if the country decides on conscription... what if you’re sent out?” She whispered as she held me hand.

“I have to prove myself, I am a man after all, It’s the righteous thing to do.”

“Honey, you have a family, and children, think of the children! What if you never make it back?”

“I will dear, have faith in me.”

What consciption is and what it has do to with Australia in WW1.

What is Conscription in World War 1?

Conscription is a form of forced service. Most commonly it is referred to as compulsory military service but it can also be forced work. In many countries men are forced to serve a certain amount of time in the military or navy when he turns a certain age.  The reason why conscription is controversial is because some people believe that it violates the rights of an individual.

During World War One, every powerful country (minus Great Britain) had conscription in place, such as Germany, France, Italy and Russia.

What does conscription have to do with Australia in World War One?

At first, when World War one began in 1914, many volunteers flocked to the military to fight for Australia, but two years later, the number of new volunteers couldn’t make up for the number of casualties. The Australian Government made a direct appeal to all eligible men to volunteer, but soon realized this wouldn’t be enough. The government then held a poll, asking Australians whether they were in favour of conscription. The issue of conscription in World War One has caused much controversy between the people who are for and the people who are against conscription.

Introduction

How Did WW1 Begin?

There were many origins of World War 1, the four main ones were imperialism, the alliance system, nationalism and militarism.  

Imperialism – European powers were greedy for more land and colonies

Alliance System – A system that split nearly all of Europe in half. Germany, Italy (Although not long after Italy moved over to join the other side) and  Austria Hungary were allied (Triple Alliance), and France, Russia and Great Britain were allied (Triple Euntante).

Militarism – nations were very competitive and when one nation would build up a larger military/navy, other nations would feel the need to build up theirs as well.

Nationalism – Nationalism lead to unquestioning loyalty and fear and suspicion of foreigners.

The assassination of Austria-Hungary’s archduke and his wife was a trigger event of world war 1. The archduke and his wife were assisanted in Serbia, Austria-Hungary thought of this as a direct threat and immediately declared war on Serbia. Russia supported Serbia to protect trade routes, and soon enough all of Europe was at war.

At that time, Great Britain had a lot of power, and had rule over Australia, because Great Britain was at war, of course Australia would have to support them. Australians immediately signed up to help fight when war was declared, and Australia was able to offer 331 000 men over the course of 4 years.