To look death on the field in the face.

Young people rushed to join the army. It was like a great adventure. Some hurried because they feared the war would end before they got there. From the troopships (корабль для перевозки войск) the Australian soldiers wrote home to families and girifriends. Some said that it would have been unmanly (не по-мужски) not to go. Had they not joined up they could never have lived with their consciences - they could have never looked a girl in the face, they said.

Many Australian women encouraged men to go. Men who stayed home often received white feathers from women. A white feather was a way of saying 'Coward'. Others joined simply because their mates had. A good many reckoned (полагали) a soldier's pay was better than the wages they were getting. For a lot it was a simple choice between the army and unemployment.

Responding to the allied call for troops (призыв), Australia sent more than 330, 000 volunteers, who took part in some of the bloodiest battles. Suffering a casualty rate (процент потерь) higher than that of many other participants, Australia became increasingly conscious of its contribution to the war effort.

At the end of 1914 the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) was formed.

The Anzacs were employed in an attempt to knock Turkey out of the war. The idea was to force (захватить) the Dardanelles straights (проливы) at the eastern shore of the Mediterranean that opened to the Turkish capital. Once that was taken, the expeditionary force could enter the Black Sea and link with the Russian forces. It was first necessary to secure the Gallipoli peninsular, upon which Turkish troops commanded the straight.

In the early morning of 25 April 1915 British, French and Anzac forces made landings (высадка) on the peninsular. The Australians and New Zealanders scrambled (карабкаться) ashore and stormed the slopes (склоны) before them. They dug in and defied (не поддаваться) all attempts to dislodge (вытеснить) them, but were unable to capture the heights (захватить высоты) despite repeated attempts to do so. With the beginning of the winter, they abandoned Gallipoli and left behind 8000 dead.

The date of the fateful landing, April 25, 1915, became equated with Australia’s coming of age, and as Anzac Day it has remained the country’s most significant day of public homage (уважение, поклонение).

After their withdrawal from Gallipoli, the Australian divisions were deployed in the defence of France. Here they participated in the mass offensive (наступление) against the German line during 1916 and 1917.

During the First World War, out of a population of five million the armed forces voluntarily recruited 417, 000 men, more than half of those who were eligible (годный). Of the 331, 000 who served abroad, two out of every three were killed or wounded.

The soldiers had been promised great rewards for their service to the country. One of them was land. Land would be available to any soldier who wanted to become a farmer. Nearly 40 000 soldiers went on land.

The effects of the First World War on Australia's German-speakers

The population of Australia in 1911 was 4, 455, 005. In Australia there were about 100, 000 Germans in 1914. The First World War was a very difficult time for German-Australians. Before the War they were greatly respected. Between 1839 and 1914 German-Australians made a major contribution to Australia, particularly in South Australia (in 1900 almost 10% of the population of S.A. were German-Australians).

Then Germany was the enemy in the War, and with the anti-German hysteria many British Australians forgot this large contribution, and believed that the Germans in Australia fully supported the German Kaiser.

German-Australians were proud of their heritage and culture but politically they were completely for Australia. Most British Australians could not make this distinction. Many German Australians were in the Australian Army and fought and died for Australia. General John Monash was Australia's most famous commander in the War, and he was the son of German-Jewish immigrants.