Why Do Aboriginals Join The Army

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were treated differently before the war and during the war. They had few rights, low wages and poor living conditions before the war. They were not officially classified as Australian citizens, because of the 'Aboriginal Protectors Act' from 1869, which gave the government more control over them. This meant they couldn't go to a public bar to drink, couldn't vote, couldn't be in a relationship with a non-Aboriginal person, could not own any property and were not included in the census. When the war started and Australia was recruiting soldiers, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders tried to sign up, as they were

Young boys were read bedtime stories that usually included something somewhat like a hero single handedly defeating an army, so, when it was announced to the the public that Australia would be joining the war most were excited and supportive. "Political parties, churches, community leaders and newspapers seemed to support entry into the war" (Lewis, 2006). Source 1 suggests that recruiting was a moral and necessary commitment. Although there is evidence that many did not try to enlist and there are stories of white feathers being sent to women rejecting or abusing men who brought such shame. "Australia could make a significant contribution which would guarantee the enduring British support of Australian interests in

Prior to World War 1, Australians on the whole suffered due to their geographical isolation, which technology had yet to defeat. Transport was solely by arduous sea journey, which restricted travel and communication with the rest of the world. The mass transfer of Australian youth to fight in Europe enabled the world to see for the first time the unique culture which was developing in this far away land. Recognition and respect was quickly given for the courage, good humour and strength in adversity displayed by Australian soldiers. The easy going egalitarian troops challenged the military norms of their British counterparts. While this

During the early war period, there was a rush of Australian men enlisting to defend their mother country. The inherent sense of pride and patriotism that pervades Australian culture today was part of the driving force behind these men’s intentions. The First World War was propagated as an opportunity to seek adventure and see new exotic places, all the while defending their country. Peer pressure played a major role in inspiring these young men to enlist as they were told to “do their nation proud”. Conclusively, there were a variety of factors contributing to a young man’s urge to enlist but the hastened timeframe and imminent “call to adventure” caused the rush of people to enlist between 1914 to 1915.

In Australia, during World War One, conscription was one of the most divisive and bitter arguments of the time, however, it can be argued that conscription had a huger impact on Australia in World War Two than in World War One due to its implementation. By 1916, two years after World War One had begun, most of

Unlike other countries fighting in the war, Australia did not enforce conscription. Its armed forces relied completely on volunteers and at first there had been more volunteers than the army could accept. However by mid-1916, when news of casualties of the front began to reach home, support for the war declined sharply. In 1916, William Morris Hughes returned from inspecting the Western Front and was convinced that Australia should introduce conscription for the war effort. This led society to become divided into two major groups, the pro conscriptionists and anti conscriptionists.

Aboriginals have made several contributions to Canadian history, which has helped improve one’s standard of living. They have helped with various things such as inventions, discoveries of plants, and have helped significantly in war efforts.

The novel Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden, is, in my opinion, an accurate representation of some of the many problems that First Nations service members faced during the first world war: First Nations soldiers battled not only the Triple Entente but also discrimination, bigotry, and closed-mindedness. Every soldier had to cope during, and after, their service with the psychological and physical traumas of war, isolation, guilt, and even shame. All those factors, coupled with the instinct survive, are enough to drive anyone to seek something to help them deal with or numb their pain, whether emotional or physical.

As the English population began to increase, Aboriginal people were moved into missions in 1810, so the population could be manages and they were taught the European ways so they could be used as low paid labours, border lining slaves (Creative Spirits, 2002). When the Aboriginal people failed to move to Christianity and ‘civilised’ life, the Europeans thought it was due to the lack of intellectual ability because they didn’t understand the “complexity and holding power of the traditional culture and religion” to the Aboriginals (Psychology and Indigenous Australians, Foundations of Cultural Competence, 2009, pp. 77). The separation of Aboriginals from the community into missions was known as segregation. In the early 20th century, the Indigenous Australians all throughout the nation were exposed to the ‘protection legislation’ which in turn, denied them of their basic human rights as well as the freedom that was demanded by every other Australian. Aboriginals were increasingly moved of farms where they worked like slaves and put into government or church controlled reserves where they were expected to die out (Psychology and Indigenous Australians, Foundations of Cultural Competence, 2009, pp. 79). On the Australian census at this time, Aboriginals were still considered as

Aboriginal-Canadians have an excessive history of mistreatment and discrimination in Canada. Europeans considered Canada’s First Nations as savages, eventually residential schools were created which in extreme cases were comparable to Prisoner of War camps. According to Evelyn Kallen, “Substandard housing breeding disease and death, closed schools due to lack of teachers, heat, and/or running water are only two examples of continuing, dehumanizing life conditions on many reserves” (198). Although, extensive improvements have been made to reservations and Aboriginal rights, more improvement remains necessary. Allan Blakeney stated, “An important starting point of course, is that Aboriginal people in Canada do not, as a group, occupy high

World War I, also known as The Great War and The War to End All Wars, was caused by a build-up of offenses and the multitude of complex treaties made between the many countries of Europe and the need for those treaties to be enforced. As a member of Great Britain’s imperial kingdom, Canada was expected to help on the war front, and the Canadians didn’t disappoint. Although an aspect that may be surprising about the Canadian effort is the amount of indigenous Canadians that participated. These indigenous Canadians made accomplishments for their people that included war notability, honor, and a need to promote their civil rights.

Canada before working towards becoming a just society was a very discriminative place. During the events of World War One,WWI black and Chinese Canadians were prevented from joining the war along with aboriginals. Women were treated the same at the time, it was common for most women to stay at home wives and take care of the children. This was the stereotypical family at the time and was believed to be the ideal family too. Canadians thought poorly of minorities and even claimed it was to keep them safe, the aboriginals were an example, Canadians claimed the enemies might believe that they are savages which was a reflection of how they truly felt. Minorities were clearly being treated worse than the majority, they were seen as inferior and only good for

At the beginning of World War I, the Canadian government was hesitant about Aboriginals in the military. When the war broke in 1914, recruitment of “Status Indians” was prohibited, as they were often connected to torture and scalping. Some natives enlisted in face of the law, thanks to a commitment to their land. It wasn't until 1916 that the government allowed active

Once the Military Service Act was put in place, the problems began that made the Conscription Crisis of 1917 so significant. Almost immediately Quebec anti-conscription riots broke out all over Montreal. The province of Quebec was totally opposing the fact of serving in World War One. The fact that forcing young men to fight and die was thought to be an outrage in Quebec. Never minding the fact that the Canadian Corps was nearly in Complete English. During the riots nearly forty percent of the Québécois conscripted men did not report for their duty in the war. The views French-Canadian's between the majorities of the English Canadian's were basically utterly opposed to each other causing the relations between the two the lowest ever within Canadian history. In both the elections of 1917 and 1921 seventy percent of the Quebec Population voted liberal for the loss of trust from the conservatives due to this event. "The 1917 Election was the most bitter in Canadian history, viciously fought on both sides"- said

In the First World War people wanted the young men to go to war, but