What was expected of soldiers on their return to Australia after WWI and WWII? How did soldiers respond to these expectations? The process of repatriation of servicemen who had fought in the First and Second World War was uneasy, as these men returned to a society that had undergone great transformations. The responses to the socially accepted standards of behaviour were widely variable, however this essay will aim to demonstrate some of the ways that returned soldiers negotiated the transformed social milieu that they had returned home too. This essay aims to also explore how expectations placed upon returned soldiers was shaped by the influence of pre-war gender roles as well as the emergence of the culturally mythology of the ANZAC legend and how both these forces influenced the public and private behaviours of returned servicemen. For example how returned servicemen were able to take advantage of their status as national figures to assist in their campaign to achieve higher levels of welfare benefits. The second argument that will be discussed relates to the assertion that upon return soldiers were expected to maintain a level of masculine dependency as highlighted by the Solider Resettlement Program. The final argument explored will examine how to ‘culture of silence’ forced men to internalize their wartime experiences, which caused tensions with the relations they had returned too. Soldier returned to the home front, not just as individual men but also as public representations of the ANZAC mythology. In response return service men, united together as a political entity were able to exploit the attention that this national sentiment perpetuated as leverage for their own political gains. The combined cultural fo... ... middle of paper ... ...008). McKernan, Michael, The Australian People and the Great War (West Melbourne: Nelson, 1980). McQuilton, John, Rural Australia and the Great War: from Tarrawingee to Tangambalanga, (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2001). Muir, Kristy, “Public Peace, Private Wars: The Psychological Effects of War on Australian Veterans”, War and Society 26, No. 1, pp. 61- 78. Nelson, Elizabeth, Victims of War: The First World War, Returned Soldiers, and Understandings of Domestic Violence in Australia, Journal of Women's History 19, no.4, (March 2007) pp. 83-106 Stewart, Elizabeth, and War Wounds: Medicine and the Trauma of Conflict, (Wollombi, Exisle Publishing, 2011), Slater, Elizabeth, ‘The First World War, Returned Soldiers, and Understandings of Domestic Violence in Australia’, Journal of Women's History 19, no. 4, 2007, p. 83- 96. .
The Web. 16 Feb. 2014. PEEK-ASA, CORINNE "Domestic Violence." Encyclopedia of Women's Health. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media, 2004.
Although these facts are all true one of the most important was that they would have the honour of representing their country with honour and pride which is the true Anzac Legend. This was how the Australian Imperial Force was formed. The Australians worked hard and were enthusiastic and had all their equipment ready for battle and the troops headed to Egypt for training.
“The war would be glorious, exciting and ‘over by Christmas’.” This is what people were hearing at the time. Australia was not geographically close to the war in Europe and they did not know the realities of war. They got a huge shock when they became part of it.... ...
Over the five years following the war, about 171,000 immigrants came to Australia. The government introduced the assisted passage scheme which gave immigrants temporary accommodation in Australia in exchange for two years of labour. Most immigrants came from places such as Poland, Yugoslavia and the Baltic States and then later Germany, Grease, Italy and Malta. The immigrant families were placed in old army barracks in severely poor conditions, and exposed to racial discrimination. They were often referred to with names such as ‘wogs’, ‘bolt’ and’ reffo’. Families were separated. Men were sent off to work on things such as t...
Although, most of it is accounted by the war itself, the suffering of many Australian veterans had much to do with...
The Australian participation in WW2 was similar to that of WW1 in many ways. After the British declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939, an Australian declaration of war was automatic. Aussie troops were soon sent to different parts of the world to help the British and other allied countries. It was not until late 1941 that they were recalled in order to defend the homefront. Darwin had been suddenly attacked by Japanese planes and small enemy submarines had snuck into Sydney Harbour. Darwin was repeatedly bombed by Japanese planes until July 1941, when along with American troops, the Aussies managed to drive them out of the Solomon Islands and northeastern New Guinea and eliminate a strong Japanese base at Rabaul. Without General MacArthur's troops, the enemy may very well have invaded Australia. This illustrates the importance of alliances.
The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial wars in history, perhaps because it was one of the first wars to be documented, filmed and shown on television for most of the public to see, judge, feel and eventually protest against. This essay will discuss the varying experiences of Australian veterans upon their return to Australia from Vietnam. In my opinion, I do believe that the Australian soldiers of the Vietnam War were treated horribly when they got back from Vietnam. Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell and many Australian families who had to fight in the Vietnam War believed that it was a bad idea to send troops. Families watched their men and boys leave for Vietnam as soldiers and came back as disrespected veterans.
Lucas, Rose. “The Gendered Battlefield: Sex and Death in Gallipoli”. Gender and War; Australians at War in the Twentieth Century. Ed. Damousi Joy and Lake, Marilyn. CUP Archive, 1995. 148-178. Web. 2 May 2014.
Aboriginal soldiers returned to their country where they had no citizenship rights, controlled by the government policies which prevented them from living in towns, socialising with other Australians and voting. This is evident in phrases such as, “He returned to the outback, no mates did he find. If he had a beer he was jailed and then fined,” and, “Confused and alone he wandered around, Looking for work though none could be found. The Anzac marches he badly neglected, Would show to his comrades how he was rejected.” This informs the reader about how the Aboriginal soldiers did not receive the same benefits as the European soldiers did, even though they made the same sacrifices during the
The Need for the Group. Domestic violence is a terrible curse to all those involved. It inflicts harm on the victim, the perpetrator and witnesses, whether they be children or not. While support services have long been available to assist women and/or children overcome any issues that arise as a result of domestic violence, these services have left out a significant portion of victims, those that are male. In 2012 the Australian Bureau of Statistics found “That 33.3 per cent of victims of current partner violence during the last 12 months were male” (ABS, 2012) and “37.1 per cent of victims of emotional abuse by a partner during the last 12 months were male” (ABS, 2012).
The Family Law Act was first considered for change as the Government felt that the original act did not deal well with family violence, this led to a National Plan being developed to reduce violence against women and their children . This plan came from an enquiry conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2010 which produced a report that provided information on Family Violence and the legal response; this included a section within this report that informed the reader on 187 recommendations for possible future reforms of the Family Law Act . The report concluded to show the need for an Amendment for the Family Law Act through research that had been conducted around violence within the home showing that men and women exper...
Tina Chen’s critical essay provides information on how returning soldiers aren’t able to connect to society and the theme of alienation and displacement that O’Brien discussed in his stories. To explain, soldiers returning from war feel alienated because they cannot come to terms with what they saw and what they did in battle. Next, Chen discusses how O’Brien talks about soldiers reminiscing about home instead of focusing in the field and how, when something bad happens, it is because they weren’t focused on the field. Finally, when soldiers returned home they felt alienated from the country and
Domestic Violence; The physical or sexual abuse from one partner to another in order to gain or maintain power. These Australians who suffer form domestic abuse are from anywhere at any age and from any background, this means that the 1 in 6 people effected could be your mother, your sister, your friends, your neighbour or even you. One of these women is Katherine. Katherine tells Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria of how she was in an abusive relationship for years and how she was oblivious that these types of abusive relationships existed and was totally unaware that her husbands kicking, slapping and yelling meant that she was in one too. Katherine tells DVRCV that reaching out and seeking help is always the best option for those experiencing domestic abuse. But with 1 in 6 Australians experiencing domestic violence and not enough resources to cope with these
Historically, domestic violence was viewed as only involving physical abuse. However, the more contemporary view of domestic violence has come to include not only physical types of abuse; but as well as emotional, sexual, physiological, and economic violence that may be committed
Swarbrick, Nancy. "Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand." 2. Domestic Violence in the 19th Century – Domestic Violence –. Nancy Swarbrick, 13 July 2012. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.