Learning objectives:
World War II began in September 1939 and officially ended with the surrender of Japan in August 1945. World War II was the second total war that the nations of the twentieth century world faced. Total war is the idea that when a nation is at war, it deploys its entire national population and resources, not just its military, against the enemy. There are two kinds of warfare happening in a total war. The first kind is the actual physical fighting between different nations armies, airforce and navies on thefront line.
In this kind of warfare nations will focus on deploying superior military technology and tactics to cause the most damage on the enemy. The second kind is the psychological war conducted between different nations working and civilian populations on thehome front. In this kind of warfare nations will focus on reorganising their economies to support those on the front line, controlling the amounts of information flowing from those fighting at the front line to those on the home front and ensuring that the home front is well protected and ready for a possible invasion by the enemy.
SOURCE 1 - Table showing the impact of World War II on the entire British population
- Locate and sequence the places where Australia fought.
- Explain why Australians Enlisted to fight in World War II.
World War II began in September 1939 and officially ended with the surrender of Japan in August 1945. World War II was the second total war that the nations of the twentieth century world faced. Total war is the idea that when a nation is at war, it deploys its entire national population and resources, not just its military, against the enemy. There are two kinds of warfare happening in a total war. The first kind is the actual physical fighting between different nations armies, airforce and navies on thefront line.
In this kind of warfare nations will focus on deploying superior military technology and tactics to cause the most damage on the enemy. The second kind is the psychological war conducted between different nations working and civilian populations on thehome front. In this kind of warfare nations will focus on reorganising their economies to support those on the front line, controlling the amounts of information flowing from those fighting at the front line to those on the home front and ensuring that the home front is well protected and ready for a possible invasion by the enemy.
SOURCE 1 - Table showing the impact of World War II on the entire British population
Download and complete activities 1, 2 & 3 on the Nature and Scope of World War II worksheet in your google drive folder.
The Scope of the War
Over 61 nations took part in World War II, and around between 50 to 80 million of those people where killed from the years 1939 to 1945.
Click on the following link for a list of all the countries directly and indirectly involved in the fighting that took place during World War II.
TWO MAJOR THEATRES
There were two major areas or theatres in the world where most of the major battles and campaigns took place. These wereEurope and North Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Historians refer to each area as a theatre where major conflicts took place.
European Theatre of War:
Asia Pacific Theatre of War:
ALLIANCES
An alliance is a friendship between two or more nations who agree to not attack each other during war. In World War Two theAxis Alliance fought against the Allied Alliance.
An alliance is a friendship between two or more nations who agree to not attack each other during war. In World War Two theAxis Alliance fought against the Allied Alliance.
Enlistment in WWII416 809 Australians enlisted for service in World War One during the years 1914 to 1918, representing 38.7% of the total male population aged between 18 to 44. In comparison 990 900 Australians enlisted for service in World War Two from 1939 to 1945. Around 3000 Indigenous Australians served in World War II. As during World War I, the government did not want them to enlist. In the early years of war many found ways to join up anyway and from, 1942, the government actively recruited them.
When Prime Minister Menzies announced that Australia was at war with Nazi Germany in September 1939, many Australians were reluctant to become involved in another 'European' war that didn't really threaten Australian shores. World War One had opened the eyes of the Australian public to just how costly involvement in a total war that was thousands of miles way could be. From 1939 until 1942 the major reason why other Australians volunteered to serve in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F) and the Royal Australian Air Force (R.A.A.F) was because they felt they had a duty to serve Australia and her allies like the loyal ANZAC diggers who fought in Gallipoli had done a generation before them.
From 1942 until the end of WWII, enlistment to serve in the Australian military became compulsory for Australian citizens over the age of 18 as conscription was introduced. Fascist Japan had taken Singapore and was advancing toward Australia with rapid progress. All Australians, regardless of whether they had volunteered to serve in Australia's military or not, were called upon to help defend Australia from a potential Japanese invasion and make the military equipment that our conscripts and soldiers required at the front line of the war.
When Prime Minister Menzies announced that Australia was at war with Nazi Germany in September 1939, many Australians were reluctant to become involved in another 'European' war that didn't really threaten Australian shores. World War One had opened the eyes of the Australian public to just how costly involvement in a total war that was thousands of miles way could be. From 1939 until 1942 the major reason why other Australians volunteered to serve in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F) and the Royal Australian Air Force (R.A.A.F) was because they felt they had a duty to serve Australia and her allies like the loyal ANZAC diggers who fought in Gallipoli had done a generation before them.
From 1942 until the end of WWII, enlistment to serve in the Australian military became compulsory for Australian citizens over the age of 18 as conscription was introduced. Fascist Japan had taken Singapore and was advancing toward Australia with rapid progress. All Australians, regardless of whether they had volunteered to serve in Australia's military or not, were called upon to help defend Australia from a potential Japanese invasion and make the military equipment that our conscripts and soldiers required at the front line of the war.
Source 1: A Propaganda Poster produced to encourage Australian civilians to enlist or join the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F). This poster was produced by LG McPherson and was used in Australia between the years 1939 to 1941.
A. Examine source 1. What message was the Australian Government trying to convey through this poster?
B. Explain why most Australians were reluctant to join (enlist in) the army in 1939?
C. How did this change by 1942?
A. Examine source 1. What message was the Australian Government trying to convey through this poster?
B. Explain why most Australians were reluctant to join (enlist in) the army in 1939?
C. How did this change by 1942?