1917-1919

1917- Volunteer rates have fallen by more than half and conscription is proposed by Prime Minister Hughes.

1917 April 11- First battle of Bullecourt, "Blood Tub," the poorly executed assualt on the Hindenberg line left the Australian 4th Division with 66% casualties.

1917 May 3- Seccond Bullecourt begins and eventually results in failure due to poor planning.

1917 May- Hughes is re-elected to office despite being soundly defeated on his proposal for conscription.

1917 July-Aug- The battle of Passchendaele rages and the attrition doctrine used by general Haig results in hundreds of thousands of Allied casualties.

1917 July- Uncontrolled increases in rent, the price of goods, and the number of unemployed result in the great strike of 1917.  Over 95,000 workers around the country (Australia)  and in crucial industrial and maritime capacities voice their discontent by striking.  Because of the high number of unemployed the Hughes administration was able to find an ample number of scabs to break the strike.

1917 Oct 31- Australians win a great victory at Beersheba with their famous regimental cavalry charge.

1918- The major offensives of this year involved Australian troops fighting alongside their allies in France.  During the second battles of the Somme and Arras they distinguished themselves in smaller battles such as Hill 104 and Hamel.

1918 Nov 11- By war's end, Australia had suffered the heaviest per capita casualties of any country in the war; 65% of its expeditionary force had become casualties.  There were over 60,000 dead and 150,000 wounded of a national population of five million.  Also, Australia was 377million British pounds in debt.

1919 Jan 18-  When the Versailles Peace conference began, Hughes was prepared to push Australia's interests forward and quantifiably show his country that its sacrifice was not in vain.  He quickly found an opponent in U.S. President Wilson, whose ideals stood in the way of Hughes' desire to annex New Guinea and make Germany pay the entire debt.  To Hughes, Australia's involvement in the Conference was a sign of its coming of age, i.e. formal recognition of its national sovereignty throughout Europe.  His persistence paid off and Australia acquired German New Guinea and was able to keep its anti-asian race laws in place.  But,Wilson managed to ensure that Germany did not have to pay for Australia's war debt which infuriated Hughes.  In the end, the three main players Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, and Georges Clemenceau viewed Hughes' demands as pestering and found him annoying.

The Peace Conference was very important to Australian sovereignty.  It showed that Australia had now formed its own national interests and, unlike before, the deaths of 60,000 countrymen now gave a worldwide voice to the new nation.  These fallen comrades proved that Australia would stand by its treaties, fight alongside its allies,  and remain to see the fight through.  The War marked Australia's deep loyalty to Great Britain but it also created a rift between the two which would result in Australia taking complete control of its foreign policy and self-determination during WWII.

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