I was in the National Library of Australia's Manuscripts Room looking through the papers of World War I prime minister Billy Hughes. Although it is a fascinating collection in terms of its subject matter, there is a dreary sameness about it because it consists almost entirely of official correspondence, often in duplicate and triplicate. I was therefore surprised and intrigued when I came across something colourful: a letter typed in red ink and adorned with bright stickers.
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The content of the letter turned out to be even more intriguing than its appearance. It is written by a George to a "dear comrade". Both George and his comrade appear to be members of a left-wing organisation called the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), an impression confirmed by pro-IWW slogans on the colourful stickers. The letter itself contains anti-war sentiment of such vituperative intensity that it challenges our mental image of those distant times. Its reference to the "military murder crowd," for example, brings to mind the anti-Vietnam War movements and protest-era songs.
There was significant opposition in Australia to the Great War. This opposition included Christian pacifism, support for Irish nationalism, and ideological socialism. The essence of left-wing anti-war feeling was the belief that the workers of the world were being compelled to fight each other in a war being waged for the benefit of aristocrats and plutocrats. The ideology of the 2000-or-so-strong IWW was, however, more radical than that of other left-wing groups. In addition to being against the war, the IWW was committed, at least in principle, to dismantling the state and capitalism itself.
Although always aggressively intolerant of anyone who disagreed with him, Billy Hughes took particular exception to the IWW and was determined to wipe them out. In September 1916, in the lead-up to the first conscription referendum, 12 leaders of the IWW were arrested and charged with offences including treason and arson. Police informers provided evidence against the 12 men. All were found guilty and given lengthy prison sentences. Further action against the IWW followed. In thenext year 100 members were sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour, and those not born in Australia were deported. Eventually the organisation itself was made illegal.
But why did George's letter end up in the Hughes Collection? The most likely explanation is that it was intercepted by a censor and brought to Hughes' attention. The War Precautions Act 1914 and other legislation enabled the federal government to take action against disloyalty to Australia or Great Britain. This meant that Hughes was able to use censorship, surveillance, and the resources of the newly formed Australian Special Intelligence Bureau against individuals and groups who opposed either the war or conscription.
From today's perspective, it is ironic and rather unedifying that a government waging a war in the name of freedom subjected IWW members and other opponents of the war to such treatment. It is also ironic that the IWW was crushed by the very apparatus of government that it was ideologically committed to dismantling.
Yet the most jarring thing about this century-old letter and the events surrounding it is that they don't leave us with a sense of historicity – that is to say, a sense of difference between the present and the past. For example, the modes of thought and expression in the letter and the fate of the IWW inevitably bring to mind more recent times, especially the ideology-saturated Cold-War era and the infamous show trials of that period. But such trials occurred in Eastern Bloc countries (and in Orwellian dystopias). Surely that sort of thing could never have happened in Australia.
As well as working as an historian, Dr Walter Kudrycz teaches history, philosophy, and Latin courses at the Australian National University's Centre for Continuing Education.
Keepsakes: Australians and the Great War is on at the National Library of Australia until July 19, 2015.
