It’s hard to imagine that in 1914, Australia was a happy, optimistic country, even as war loomed and a government faced one of its toughest decisions in history.
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But as Australia announced it would go to war and men across the country signed up for what they thought would be a fun adventure, the dark shadow of the Great War was not yet in evidence.
A new exhibition at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House shines a light on the political events which led to Australia’s involvement in World War I, from the outbreak in Europe in August, 1914, to the departure of Australia’s first convoy in November.
At the time, the government was in full campaign mode leading up to a federal election, but the decision to fight alongside Britain was bipartisan.
There to officially open the exhibition, Governor-General Peter Cosgrove said it was refreshing to see the Great War from a perspective “beyond bayonets and bully beef in Australia’s recollections of that centenary period”.
“What the military did was tremendously important, but the war affected all of Australia, and the decisions taken by the government then, resemble all those important decisions made by governments since,” he said.
“So there’s a continuum of national involvement from the first breakout of bad news through to, eventually, a soldier standing in a dangerous place.”
Exhibition curator Libby Stewart said that while the momentous decision was not made at Old Parliament House – which had not yet been built – but in Melbourne, the show’s starting point was the original cabinet table used in 1914.
“It’s the story of a government in election mode, a federal election a month or so after war is declared, a change of prime minister, the decision to raise a brand new army, an Australian infantry force aiming for 20,000 and ending up at 52,000 by the end of the year,” she said.
“And then, what was that like for the ordinary person on the street? What was the mood of the country in the lead-up to the end of the year? [There was] this sort of optimism, hopeful, it’s all a bit of an adventure, men were flocking to sign up. You know what’s coming but that’s not what we’re talking about in this exhibition, we stop at the end of the year when this convoy sails off, and then you know what’s in front of them and it is very poignant.”
Crisis 1914! The Call to Arms is showing at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
