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War and Conscription in Australia

            Conscription is a system of compulsory enrollments of men and women into the armed forces, and it was a major issue in Australia between 1914 and 1918. There were different people on both sides of the issues which were and weren't in favor for conscription. Most countries fighting in the war, including Britain, fought with conscripted military forces except for Australia who heavily relied on voluntary enlistment. At first, there were many volunteers who wanted to enlist which greatly exceeded the numbers in which the army could accept; this however soon changed.
             During 1916, two years into the war soldiers numbers started declining, and the need for more recruitments was required. At this time recruitment campaigns did no help to encourage the need for men to enlist. The people who were in favor for conscription were those such as conservative politicians, the Universal Service League, Protestant church leaders and businessmen. These people urged the Australian government to follow Britain in introducing conscription. They argued that "eligible men should not be allowed to avoid their duty while others who had volunteered were dying for them." Australia's Federal Labour government and the Labour party were traditionally against conscription. They argued "should there was conscription of working men when there was no conscription of the wealth of the privileged classes?" They believed that pro-conscription supporters were selfish and wanted to force others to face death while they prospered.
             Trade unionists and small farmers also feared conscription; they believed that it would be used by employers to destroy the gains made by the Australian workers and also feared they would be left with no workforce.
             At this time Australia's prime minister was Labours W.M. "Billy" Hughes. He returned from Britain and the western front, completely for conscription and the need for it. He turned against his party's policies and wanted a referendum to win the public's support for conscription.


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