Causes of WWI and Australian Involvement

Vocabulary flashcards covering the causes of WWI (MAIN acronym and alliances) and key details of Australian involvement in the Gallipoli Campaign and the Western Front (Battle of Fromelles).

MAIN

The acronym summarizing the long-term causes of WWI: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism.

Militarism

The belief that war was an acceptable means of achieving national glory and international prestige, which fueled a naval/arms race between Germany and Britain based on superior technology.

Triple Entente

The alliance established by 1907 between France, Britain, and Russia.

Triple Alliance

The alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, established out of great powers' fear of each other's militarism.

Imperialism

The domination of one or more nations by another that seeks to exploit the wealth and people of the dominated nation for its own interest.

Nationalism

The ideology of placing the interests of one's own nation above all others, such as Germany's desire to build an empire despite upsetting Britain and France.

Short term cause of WW1

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Motivations for Australian Enlistment

The reasons Australians fought in WWI, including proving themselves as a nation, defending Australia, supporting the King and Empire, adventure and excitement, seeing the world, and social pressure.

Gallipoli Campaign

The military campaign fought by Anzacs against Turkey from April to December 1915, initiated by Winston Churchill's plan to use battleships and open a front against Austria-Hungary.

Gallipoli Living Conditions

Harsh environmental and warfare conditions including unbearable summer heat, limited water, fast-spreading disease from unsanitary conditions, decomposing bodies attracting flies, and Turkish snipers targeting strategic personnel like officers.

Western Front (Australian Involvement)

The theatre of war in France and Belgium where Australian forces fought from March 1916 to November 1918, characterized by machine guns, barbed wire, and artillery shells favoring defensive positions.

Battle of Fromelles

Australia's first major engagement on the Western Front on 19–20 July 1916, resulting in 5,533 casualties (including nearly 2,000 deaths) in under 24 hours, making it the most devastating single-day loss of life in Australian military history.

James Grundy

An Australian soldier who survived the Battle of Fromelles and described advancing into machine gun fire as 'like walking in hail storm of bullets'.

Source 6.24

A historical source depicting early Allied soldiers in April 1915 at Gallipoli, documenting primitive, cramped conditions, extreme confinement, rocky terrain, lack of infrastructure, and physical exhaustion.

Source 6.37

A historical source documenting Western Front warfare, showing British soldiers alongside a dead body in uneven trenches.