St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

They went to confront an aggressive German militarism which had emerged under the reign of the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II. This militarism led German troops to invade Belgium—which Britain had pledged to defend—commit atrocities on unarmed Belgian civilians including children, and threaten the balance of power in Europe, the maintenance of which was a key concern of British foreign policy. Between 1914 and 1915, the German navy’s shelling of British civilians in seaside towns, the first use by the Germans of poison gas on the Western Front, the sinking by a German submarine of the British ocean liner Lusitania with the loss of 1200 passengers and crew, and the execution of nurse Edith Cavell (section 5) all seemed to point to Germany as a force that needed to be stopped. For many at the time, the prosecution of hostilities against Germany and its allies presented itself as a righteous cause and a moral duty, as well as a patriotic show of support for the British Empire. This is how Canon David Garland of Brisbane presented it during his military recruiting drives through Queensland in the early years of the war (section 2). However, the failed attempt by the Australian Government to introduce compulsory military conscription in 1916 and 1917 caused bitter divisions within the community. But widespread support for the war did not stop people recoiling from the awful cost and horrors of the conflict as it progressed, questioning the tactics of senior generals and forming a determination never to forget the suffering and sacrifice of those who fought on the battlefields.

In 1916 the 1st Australian Division captured the French village of Pozieres but in intense fighting lost 6800 men. In the image below, an Australian soldier mortally wounded at the battle is buried. A chaplain reads the service over the grave.

Australian War Memorial EZ0064

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