Brenton

When the British decleared war on the Germans in 1914 they decleared the war was The Commowealth against the Germans. In Australia there was riots and violence due to the enthusiasm of Australians to join up with the mother land and fight against the Germans. A majority of the population were enthusiastic about the war but there was a few groups that were not as enthused. Due to the enemy against them was the Germans there were prejiduce and hatred towards the Germans living in Australia from the Australian people. The Hatred is shown when the Labor government of Andrew Fisher introduces the War Precautions act. The legislation cancelled all agreements with German companies and also barred trading between Australia and Germany. It also allowed the government to arrest anyone who they believed assisted the enemy or anybody who was delaying or obstructing recruitment. This legislation was widely accepted by Australians but there were people and groups which did not accept this legislation. There were not many that were against it but the ones which were, were groups such as Quakers which are a traditional pacifist religous group and another group that were against it were the Socialists. Due to the widespreade acceptance of the War Precautions act Germans in Australia had there Civil Liberties taken away and were cut off from everything and treated like aliens within Australia. Other then the War Precautions act anti-German propganda made by the Australian government was everywhere. This also divided the society due to rising hatred towards Germans. Evidence of this hatred towards the Germans is when Lutheran churches in Edinburgh, Netherby and Murtoa were destroyed by them being burnt down. Also a town named Kaiser Stuhl was renamed after a British general to Mount Kitchener. During the time of WW1 6890 Germans were taken in as Prisoner of War in Australia and put in camps due to the War Precautions act. By doing the things they did to the Germans living in Australia, it was done to protect the mother land and to protect Australia. But also on the other hand the things which were done were purely out of paranoia and done only due to the Government fueling the hatred the Australian public had towards the Germans through propoganda and misrepresentations or generalizations of the German race.
 * HOMEWORK PAGE**
 * Extended Response- 'The Politics of a divided society'**

By Brenton O'Brien

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