Tahlia

Tahlia - Australian History Page :)



Why Australia went to War.

Australia went to War because Australia is a loyal member of the British Empire and had been settled by the British and when Britain goes to War, Australia automatically is at War too. Britain was at war because Germany had invaded Belgium and Britain had a treaty with Belgium, promising to defend it if it was attacked. The war came in August 1914 because Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assasinated on 28th June. This led to a series of events over the next 5 weeks and this is when Germany decided to take action and declared War. All the major powers were linked together in alliances, which meant if one got involved then the others would also get involved. The two main alliances were the Triple Entente which consisted of Britain, France and Russia and the Triple Alliance which consisted of Germany Austria and Italy.

Analysis Activity. Figure 5.4. This poster helps encourage men to join the army with the use of imagery. When you look at the poster, you are immediately drawn to the soldier in the foreground holding a gun. The use of repitition has been used in the poster with the word "together", "join together, train together, embark together, fight together." The repitition of the word "together help manipulate the mens emotions and makes them see this as an opportunity to be together as a new nation and fight for their country. At the bottom of the poster, which is what is usually read last, there are words that read " show the enemy what australian sporting men can do", by putting these words at the bottom of the poster, they are what the viewers remember the most and keep in mind, and this manipulates them to prove their loyalty to their country and show the enemy what they're made of.

Figure 5.5. Although this poster is very plain, the use of bold letters in white immediately capture the viewers attention " Don't stand looking at this, GO AND HELP" and then they are drawn to the two soldiers fighting in the war, with the persuasion from these words and the imagery, the men immediately think "What am i doing here?" they realise they need to go and help out these men defend their country because they al lived here and they all had a chance to prove themselves. It manipulates the emotions of a man, he feel guilty for not being there already by the words "Don't stand looking at this".