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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. -
Andrew Fishers Famous Speech
Andrew Fisher, 4th Australian Prime Minister, ensures the Australian public that ''should the worst happen, Australians will stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to the last man and the last shilling.'' -
Britain declares war on Germany
Germany invades Belgium in order to outflank the French army. However, Britain protests the violation of Belgian neutrality, ensured by The Treaty of London signed in 1839. Therefore, The United Kingdom declared war on Germany, this subsequently signified the start of World War1 -
AIF train in Egypt
These units were formed into an army corps of three division 1st Australian Division, the New Zealand and Australian Division and a mounted division.The AIF did not recieve good training due to the lack of quality equipment, the Australian soliders also developed a repuatation for being Larrikans due to ther absurd idea of fun- stealing food. -
ANZAC Infantry Divisions land in Gallipoli
After four and a half months of training near Cairo, the ANZAC toops departed by ship for the Gallipoli peninsula, with troops from Britain and France. 16 000 Anzac troops landed two kilometres north of the intended position at Gaba Tempe. -
Battle of The Nek
The Battle of the Nek was a minor World War I battle fought as part of the Gallipoli campaign. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli peninsula. On 7 August 1915, two segments of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade mounted a tragic and futile attack on the Ottoman trenches on the Baby 700 which involved over 1000 Australian casulaties.The Australian's were used as Cannon Fodder, due to their repuatation as Larrikans. -
Evacuation from Gallipoli
The most successful operation of the Gallipoli campaign was the evacuation of infantry and Lighthorse troops. A well organised tactical deception operation was used in order to evacuate the troops. -
Battle of Fromelles
Australian and British troops from two divisions attacked German positions at Fromelles. Allied intelligence had failed to pickup that the Germans had abandoned these lines. The oncoming attacks by the Australian divisions were failures and consequently very costly in terms of firepower with 5, 533 Australian casualties. -
Battle of Pozieres Ridge
The Australian and British infantry troops launched an attack. The Battle of Pozieres Ridge on the Albert-Bapaume road saw the Australians and British fight hard for an area that featured an observation post over the surrounding countryside and battlefields. The Australian divisions of the Anzac Corps, having served in Gallipoli, were primarily given the task of capturing the Pozieres Ridge.The Australians troops captured the oupost, but at a cost of 5,708 casualties. -
Battle of Romani
The British and Australian defences were camped admist a series of large, towering sand dunes, 35 kilometres east of the canal, this position was held throughout the 4th of August. The next morning the Australian 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades advanced on foot with the bayonet. -
First Referendum for Conscription
Australians had to say YES or NO to the following question: ''Are you in favour of the Government in this time of grave emergency, the same compulsory powers of citizens in regard to their military service, for the term of this war, as it now has in regard to military service within the commonwealth.’’The referendum failed despite a vigorious conscrition campaign by Bill Hughes. 1087557 people voted in favour of the proposal and 1160033 against the proposal. -
Battle of Magdhaba
Magdhaba, a village located in the northern Sinai desert, was the scene of a battle when Turkish forces blocking the route to Palestine were attacked by Major General Harry Chauvel's ANZAC Mounted Division. Success in this hard fought battle was secured through an assault with the bayonet by the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade. Another mounted charge by the 10th Light Horse secured vital water supplies and was a vital contributory factor in the victory. -
First Battle of Passchendaele
The aim of this futile offensive attack was to capture Passchendaele village. The 3rd Australian Division came under German artillery fire before the offensive movement even started. Australian patrols reached Passchendaele village, but did not hold the village and were forced to retreat to their starting point. The 10th Australian Brigade was stopped by machine gun fire from its flank. The Australian and New Zealand Light Horse Brigades suffered a casualty count of nearly 3,000 men. -
2nd Referendum for Conscription
Bill Hughes' futile attempts to introduce concription in the first referendum resulted in the Labor Party expelling Hughes from office on the 14th Novemeber, 1916. Despte the split, Hughes tried to int-roduce Conscritpion through a 2nd referendum with his newly formed Nationalist Pary.Voting for the second referendum, however, again the referendum failed.1181747 people opposed the idea and 1059105 people were in favour of the proposal. -
Black Day of the German Army
Australian infantry troops and approxiametely 6000 armed tanks shatter German defensive forces and consequently reach the Hindenburg line (a sustainable defensive system comprising of bared wire metal fences and concreate trenches). Thus, pushing German defensive forces back past their own bared wire fences and metal trenches of the Hindenburg Line. Consequently, the AIF and British military services gained approxiametely 10 kilometres of land. -
Armistice Day
The Germann Government signed a treaty (armistice) with the allies at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. This significant event represented the official end of World War 1. The Australian population consequently reacted to this news with enjoyment and happiness due to the horrific imapacts of WW1 and the bravery demonstrated by the Australian infantry and Light Horse divisions which lead to the 'Birth of Australia as a Nation' or 'Our Baptism of Fire'.
