Who became Prime Minister of Australia in October 1915?
Why did he want to introduce conscription in Australia?
When was the first referendum on conscription held? What was the result?
When was the second referendum held? What was the result?
Who supported the introduction of conscription?
Who opposed the introduction of conscription?
Some web sites you can use: Conscription (Digger History) Conscription During the First World War (Australian War Memorial) Conscription Referendums (National Archives of Australia) Conscription (anzacday.org)
Below is a selection of sources related to the conscription issue in Australia. Select TWO of the sources - one from each side of the debate. For each source answer the following:
Which side of the conscription issue is the source supporting?
How does the source attempt to persuade its audience?
What is the perspective of the source?
How does the perspective affect the reliability of the source?
How useful is this source for an historian studying the conscription issue in Australia?
Write a response to the following question: How and why did the Conscription debate divide Australian society during World War One?
(You can use the following as a guide to structuring your answer so that you provide an explanation.) The Prime Minister of Australia, Billy Hughes, wanted to bring in conscription in 1916 because....A large number of groups in Australia agreed with the Prime Minister. Some of these were... They supported him because...However, many sections of society strongly opposed conscription. These included... They opposed conscription because...The debate became very heated. Some of the tactics used in anti-conscription propaganda included...Pro-conscription propaganda also used emotive tactics such as...The conscription debate had a strong impact on Hughes' party, the Australian Labor Party, because...Australia was also split along religious lines. The Anglican church supported conscription, while Daniel Mannix, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, led the opposition to conscription because...Each of the conscription referendums, in 1916 and 1917, resulted in...Despite the victory of the... (anti-/pro- conscription groups)... Australian society was deeply divided by the issue.
The Conscription issue in World War I
In this topic, students
You can download the following exercise as a Word file:
Focus Questions:
Some web sites you can use:
Conscription (Digger History)
Conscription During the First World War (Australian War Memorial)
Conscription Referendums (National Archives of Australia)
Conscription (anzacday.org)
Below is a selection of sources related to the conscription issue in Australia. Select TWO of the sources - one from each side of the debate. For each source answer the following:
Write a response to the following question:
How and why did the Conscription debate divide Australian society during World War One?
(You can use the following as a guide to structuring your answer so that you provide an explanation.)
The Prime Minister of Australia, Billy Hughes, wanted to bring in conscription in 1916 because....A large number of groups in Australia agreed with the Prime Minister. Some of these were... They supported him because...However, many sections of society strongly opposed conscription. These included... They opposed conscription because...The debate became very heated. Some of the tactics used in anti-conscription propaganda included...Pro-conscription propaganda also used emotive tactics such as...The conscription debate had a strong impact on Hughes' party, the Australian Labor Party, because...Australia was also split along religious lines. The Anglican church supported conscription, while Daniel Mannix, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, led the opposition to conscription because...Each of the conscription referendums, in 1916 and 1917, resulted in...Despite the victory of the... (anti-/pro- conscription groups)... Australian society was deeply divided by the issue.