At the end of June 1914, Australians read in their newspapers about the political assassination of an heir to a European throne. The murder increased existing tensions between the mighty empires of Europe. It set in train a series of events that led to war. German troops entered Belgium in August. Then the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. As a dominion of the British Empire, Australia willingly joined the war.
Australia at war
Find out about:
- Military organisation and weapons
- Where Australians served during the war
- Personnel and wartime experience
- Politics in Australia during the war
- Home front during the war
- Commemoration of war veterans
The Australian Government received a cabled warning on 30 July about the imminent danger of war.
On the morning of Sunday 2 August 1914, bulletins were posted outside Australian newspaper offices. The posters announced that Germany had declared war on Russia. Most Australians knew the war would involve France, and maybe Britain. That same day, Germany took the first steps towards invading France, through Luxembourg and Belgium.
On 4 August, Britain declared war on Germany, and the Australian Government offered its unreserved help.
The first shot fired in the war by the British Empire was at Portsea, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
In addition to those already in the regular forces, over 410,000 people enlisted to serve in Australia's armed forces during the war. This included more than:
- 1,200 in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
- 3,600 in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF)
- 410,000 in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF)
- 2,800 in the Australian Army Nursing Service.
Of those who enlisted, around 330,000 sailors, soldiers and nurses served overseas in military campaigns:
- at Rabaul in 1914
- at Gallipoli in 1915
- in the Middle East and North Africa between 1916 and 1918
- on the Western Front in Europe between 1916 and 1918
Alongside them were men and women from the British Isles and from dominions as far away as Canada, India, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa.
For some personnel, service continued after the war, against the Russians in 1919.
Praise for our First World War veterans helped Australia to gain international recognition as a new nation with its own identity.
Glossary
- British Empire
- dominion
- veteran