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For king and empire
Title : For king and empire For king and empire
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Place Of Creation : Adelaide
Date of creation : 1915
Additional Creator : J. L. Bonython & Co.
Format : Book
Dimensions : 485 x 325 mm
Contributor : State Library catalogue
Catalogue record
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Description :

When Britain declared war against Germany on 4 August 1914, member countries of the British Empire including Australia were automatically included in the declaration. Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Cook stated:
Australia is now at war. Our duty is quite clear: to gird up our loins and remember that we are Britons.

The Australian government immediately took steps to raise the first contingent of service men which became known as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), as part of the Allies' alliance.

All who served in the AIF in the First World War were volunteers; bitterly contested conscription referendums in 1916 and 1917 were defeated. In South Australia, the total number of more than 34,500 volunteers comprised 38 per cent of the state's men aged 18-44 years. Women joined military nursing units and played a significant role at the home front.

The impact of the First World War on Australian society was profound, a major factor being the death of one fifth of the men who served overseas. The Gallipoli campaign and ANZAC legend have been recognised as contributing to a new sense of identity in the fledgling nation of Australia.
Subjects
Period : 1914-1918
Further reading :

Australia's war, 1914-1918 / edited by Joan Beaumont. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 1995

Bean, CEW. Anzac to Amiens, Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1983 Rev. ed.

Cochrane, Peter. Australians at war , Sydney: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2001

Kent, David. From trench and troopship: the experience of the Australian Imperial Force, 1914-1919, Alexandria, N.S.W.: Hale & Iremonger ,1999

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