World War 1 ANZAC Project
A guide to assist Year 9 Humanities students investigate the life and service of a Guildford Grammar School ANZAC and explore the broader social and economic impacts of World War I.
Impacts of War on Australia
- Department of Veterans' Affairs. (2025, March 7). Australia's responses to World War I. https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/politics/response-to-warAfter the outbreak of war, Australia responded in many ways. Politically, the country continued on the road to a federal election. The Australian Government introduced economic measures to curb trade with 'enemy' companies. Both imports and exports declined. Socially, the outbreak of war generated many different responses, from initial enthusiasm to an increase in racism towards Australians of German, Austrian and Hungarian descent.
- AAP. (2014, March 25). Effects of WWI lingered long in Australia. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/effects-of-wwi-lingered-long-in-australia/hwj5ukci0By the conclusion of the First World War, Australia, due to a sacrifice by far the greatest per-capita of any Allied nation, was on the map.
- Beaumont, J. (2018, November 3). The damage inflicted on the Australian home front by the Great War. https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-damage-inflicted-on-the-australian-home-front-by-the-great-war/The scale of Australian military losses in World War I is well known. From a population of fewer than 5 million, more than 62,000 men and women died, and over 150,000 were wounded. Less widely known, however, is the profound damage that the war inflicted on the Australian home front.
- Mills, A. (2020, May 21). Spanish Flu: The flu went on and on. https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/the-flu-went-on-and-onAs the First World War was drawing to a close, and the monumental task of repatriating countless tired and homesick soldiers began, the world faced a pandemic that would be more deadly than “the war to end all wars”. Virologists believe that the likely origin of the Spanish Flu pandemic was in areas along the Western Front.
- National Museum Australia. (2024, January 9). Influenza pandemic. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/influenza-pandemicAn estimated 50 million people worldwide died as a result of the global influenza pandemic at the end of the First World War. Australia’s swift quarantine response from late 1918 delayed the arrival of the flu, but cases began to appear across the country in early 1919.
- Tibbitts, C. (2021, March 30). Casualties of war. https://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/article2Throughout history, war has brought destruction and misery to humanity, and left millions dead. Among those who survive, many are broken in body or damaged in mind and spirit.
- AAP. (2014, March 25). Effects of WWI lingered long in Australia. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/effects-of-wwi-lingered-long-in-australia/hwj5ukci0World War One changed Australia substantially, from its significance on the world stage to the economic impact it suffered as a result of the conflict.
What Was Life Like on the Australian Home Front in WWI?
History Skills. (2024, May 1). What was life like on the Australian Home Front in WWI? [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv3jjbekm8o
Fight for Country
ABC Australia. (2020, May 22). Fight for country: soldier settlements for Indigenous Anzacs | First Nation Farmers | ABC Australia [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvWbPYS2OaQ
Lest We Forget: The Australian Experience of Spanish Flu
Shea, C. (Executive Producer). (2020). Lest we forget: The Australian experience of Spanish Flu [TV series episode]. In, J. Feller & R. Latham (Producers), Australian Story. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.