20 May 2013TODAY WE WILL:

Examine: •What were the experiences of people of German

descent during

WWI?

•What were the experiences of Women during WWI?

•Class DER Laptop Policy

Review Activity•Which two battles on the Western Front most

represent the needless slaughter of young

Australian men in WWI?

•In which countries were they fought?

The Somme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tv5gBa9DQs

Australian Experiences During WWI

German Australians. The Enemy Within?

German wearingPickelhaube

Anti-GermanPropaganda Poster

What was its purpose?

German Pickelhaube

In 1914 over 36 000 people of German origin were living in Australia.

War propaganda had created fear, suspicion and anti-German feelings.

Governments and civilians began to focus their anxiety upon:

• people of German origin• those with German-sounding names or ‘appearance’

• those who spoke German.

Spy-mania and anti-Germanism became features of Australian life.

Following the outbreak of war, the Commonwealth Government acted quickly to oversee and control the behaviour of ‘German’ Australians and German citizens living in Australia.

Propaganda

Poster

German enemy aliens

ABC 7:30 Report

Spy-Mania and Anti-Germanism

The War Precautions Act 1914 (Cwlth), passed on 29 October 1914, gave the Department of Defence the power to act against what it saw as ‘threats’ to Australia's security.

• German citizens had to register at their local police station and report there on a weekly basis

• they had to take an oath not to do anything against the British empire.

• They were forbidden to buy and sell property.• They were not allowed to speak German on the

telephone or in public.• They lost their right to vote (in 1917 before the

second conscription referendum).

This legislation did not require proof that someone was aiding the enemy.

They were therefore assumed guilty without trial.

Propaganda

Poster

In 1915, Germans and Austrians who were old enough to join the army were put into German Concentration Camps across the Australia.

6890 men, women and children were classified as ‘enemy aliens’.

In New South Wales the three main internment camps were at Trial Bay Gaol, Berrima Gaol and Holsworthy Army Barracks. Women and children of German and Austrian descent, detained by the British in Asia, were interned at Molonglo near Canberra .

Others were carefully watched by the police and neighbours.

Some voluntarily went into camps so their wives and children could survive on a government allowance.

Other changes that affected Germans living in Australia were:

•They were sacked from their jobs•Their businesses were destroyed•Their schools and churches were closed•Their music was banned•Their food was renamed E.g. ‘Fritz’ was renamed

‘Devon’ •Place names (42) were changed E.g. Schlinkers Lane

changed to Bullecourt Lane (in Ultimo, Sydney)

Worksheet

Class DER Laptop Policy

•I must remember to charge my laptop each evening.

•I must bring my laptop to school each day together with my

HSIE books.

•Should I fail to bring my laptop, I understand that I will be

doing a

lengthy writing activity instead.

•When using DER laptops in class I will only be doing work

and using

websites and programs as stipulated by my teacher.

•Should I finish a given task I should ask my teacher for

further

instruction and not proceed to open other websites or

programs.

•Should I fail to abide by the above directions I understand

that I will be

doing class work with Ms Costello during recess or lunch.

The Experiences of Women

World War I, Nurses on Troop Ship, Egypt, 1915-1917

The Experiences of WomenFrom the outset, women were keen to be as actively involved in the war effort as men. Women applied to work in what were considered traditional women's roles , such as cooks and clerk, so that the men could be free to go and fight. However, the government still discouraged any attempts by women to serve in the armed forces.

While women were not allowed to enlist and fight as soldiers in Gallipoli, they were there too, working as nurses on board hospital ships.

These women relied on their own resourcefulness in attending to wounded soldiers as the ships sailed to general hospitals on nearby Greek islands and to Alexandria in Egypt. The nurses were not entirely removed from danger. At times, bullets hit the decks of their ships.

It is not surprising that women were displeased with not being recognised and included in the ANZAC legend.

Women’s experiences worksheet

Throughout World War I, a total of 2139 nurses served overseas in places like Gallipoli and France, while a total of 423 served in hospitals in Australia. Of these, 25 died and 388 were honoured for their service, seven of them being awarded Military Medals.

Women who were keen to get involved in the war effort in other ways often turned their attention to charity work. They relied on various methods of fundraising, including door-knock appeals and fetes to assist the men fighting overseas.

In 1914, the Australian branch of the British Red Cross was founded in Melbourne and quickly grew to have branches in every state. The Red Cross was predominantly staffed by middle-class women whose main task was to compile packages for the men who were serving overseas.

Women’s Involvement during WWI

In 1916, the Australian Comforts Fund was established. The fund raised money to provide 'comfort boxes' for the soldiers. These boxes contained items such as knitted socks, cigarettes, preserved foods. It is recognised that they knitted nearly 1.5 million pairs of socks during the war.

Working-class women did not enjoy the financial freedom of their middle-class contemporaries. Without their husbands at home to help with raising their families, working class women had to work long hours raising the children on their own. This meant that often they did not have the time, or the disposable income, to give to charity groups or to hire extra help.

Women and PropagandaWomen also had another important role - to influence and to encourage men to enlist. Women were both active and passive in this objective. Many women shamed men who had not enlisted by presenting them with a white feather to symbolise cowardice. Otherwise they simply shunned the men by turning away from them or crossing the street.

Images of women were passively used in recruitment propaganda campaigns. Recruiters played on the perceived vulnerability of women by depicting them in recruitment posters as in need of the Australian soldiers to protect them from the evil Germans. Conscription propaganda posters which featured women were also common.