Soldiers

Introduction

The end of World War I saw the dawning of a new age for Australia. The 1920s arrived with a sense of change. The returned soldiers, affectionately called diggers, searched for work and some semblance of the peace of pre-War years. Other groups in Australia, such as women and workers, had an important role in shaping the experience of soldiers in the 1920s.

The diggers had witnessed the horrors and violence of World War I. They had shared experiences that only other soldiers could understand. Upon their return, the diggers found a new Australia - one that had grown up during the War and faced the world with new confidence.

The diggers had to carve a new position for themselves in society, to rediscover a peaceful lifestyle and settle down in the Australia that had been promised - a land fit for heroes. It was not always easy for the soldiers to reintegrate into Australian society. Not all Australians understood the importance of the diggers in the War, or where the diggers belonged in society.

The end of the War and the return of the soldiers

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Billy Hughes, 'the Little Digger', had represented the Australian diggers at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, fighting for Australia's contribution in the War to be recognised by the great international powers. His determination to stand up against such international heavyweights as US President Woodrow Wilson gained Hughes the deep respect of the soldiers. This respect was mutual as Hughes felt a strong sense of obligation to provide the soldiers with a stable country and a job. He optimistically described Australia as 'a land fit for heroes'.

The immediate concern for the government was guaranteeing employment for the diggers. Following the end of the War, over 250 000 soldiers returned to Australia. Diggers found work with varying success. Although initially only 13 000 returned soldiers found themselves unemployed, this number steadily increased throughout the 1920s. For the majority of the decade, unemployment was over 5 per cent.

Soldiers found that in their absence women had charged into the workforce taking jobs usually occupied by men. Women worked as efficiently as men and were paid half the wage of a man. Employers were not eager to fire their female employees in favour of returned soldiers, particularly when few soldiers had the skills needed for basic work.

A lack of skills proved a disadvantage for soldiers keen to return to the workforce. During the War, technology had progressed in leaps and bounds. Many factories had been built and work usually performed by unskilled labourers had been replaced by machines.

Therefore, Australia seemed to be unprepared for the sudden influx of new workers. There was no job security, public assistance, or any guarantee that the diggers would be able to find employment once they returned home and demobilised, that is left the army for civilian life.

Soldiers who could not find employment began to demand financial assistance and support from the government. Soldiers who did find employment soon grew disillusioned with the poor working conditions and pay and so joined the various unions for support and representation. A small number of soldiers even joined the fledgling Australian Communist Party which campaigned for a more socialist government. They were influenced by the communist party that had come to power in Russia and was gaining influence in Europe.

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To add to employment problems, some soldiers brought the Spanish influenza with them and Australia became another on the long list of countries affected by the influenza pandemic that swept the world. 20 million people died worldwide, including 10 000 Australians.

Opposition Facing the Soldiers

The difficult situation facing the diggers was not limited to unemployment.

Among the diggers there was a strong sense of mateship, a sharing of wartime memories and experiences. While this shared experience formed bonds between former soldiers, it also had the effect of alienating them from the thousands of Australians who had not participated in active service in the War. Where once soldiers had a purpose and place in society, they now felt displaced and isolated. The soldiers had a strong sense of Australian pride and took offence at people who did not understand Australia's role in the War, held anti-war sentiments, or considered joining the Australian Communist Party.

One such example of opposition to the soldiers occurred when a soldier playfully teased a young girl. He was bitingly criticised by her when she retorted 'Well, I've never killed anyone'.

The diggers strongly opposed the socialist movement sweeping the world. Soldiers and members of socialist-orientated unions clashed over the union appropriation of the red flag. The red flag was the symbol of the Bolshevik movement in Russia - the communists who staged a devastating revolution, overthrowing the monarchy and installing a communist government in 1917. Australian soldiers had risked their lives in World War I and did not want to see Australia crippled by a communist revolution. The socialist tendencies of the workers and unions threatened the soldiers' hopes for an independent and proud Australia.

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Some groups of ex-soldiers formed private armies and resisted trade union and communist revolution, sometimes violently.

The returned soldiers retaliated against anti-war radicals when in Brisbane in 1919, a protest march was held against the War Precautions Act. Ex-soldiers violently interrupted the march and 19 people were wounded. When the Daily Standard criticised the soldiers, they smashed the windows of the newspaper's headquarters.

In the May Day demonstration in 1921 in Brisbane, a day when labour unions and socialist groups hold protests against capitalist governments, socialist radicals burned the Union Jack. The diggers were outraged and intervened in the protest. The soldiers burned the Bolshevik red flag, the symbol of socialism and anti-war sentiment, in revenge

Opposition facing the soldiers increased when the government passed legislation on the preferential employment of soldiers in the workforce. The already disgruntled working class of Australia grew even more frustrated as working conditions were not improved and there was more competition for fewer jobs.

The Promises of the Political Parties and Preferential Employment

Politicians recognised the potential votes represented by the diggers and the weight this support could add to their political parties. The 1920s opened with PM Billy Hughes' Labor Party scrambling to pass legislation to benefit the diggers and win their support.

Hughes followed an aggressively Australian line which promoted pride in Australia and legitimised some of the more repressive policies it suggested. Diggers responded enthusiastically to the Nationalist Party, swept up with love for Australia.

Hughes granted the diggers preferential employment in public service. However, many soldiers lacked the skills needed to perform their jobs competently and, as a result, the efficiency of the workforce was lowered.

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'A Land Fit for Heroes' - Repatriation Acts

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Prime Minister Hughes promised post-War Australia would be 'a land fit for heroes'. As part of a larger economic plan aimed to boost the post-War economy through the development of Australia's rural sector, several Repatriation Acts were passed in parliament. These were also called the Soldier Settlement Schemes.

These Acts allowed soldiers to settle and earn a living on farmland and sheep stations, boosting the agricultural economy and Australia's economic growth. 37 000 soldiers took up the government's offer and settled on small blocks of land in sugar-producing areas in northern Queensland, the Riverina and Murrumbidgee in New South Wales, and Gippsland and Maree in Victoria. Unfortunately, the scheme was not a success. Life on the land was tough and the rewards were few - unskilled and inexperienced soldiers didn't know how to run a farm, the land was often too small to provide a livelihood for even the smallest family and there was little support for them beyond the money provided by the government. By 1928, one-third of the soldiers gave up and returned to the city - and unemployment. The government lost £25 million.

Taken from an interview with John Wood describing his father's experiences, the difficulty of living on the land become clear: 'After Dad came back from World War I he applied to become a soldier settler. The 'boffins' at the Repatriation Department looked at a map of NSW and recommended Yenda, a small place out from Griffith. On the map it was shaded in 'Dairy Cattle'. When he got there he thought he had got off at the wrong station. He got 50 acres of salt bush country with an annual rainfall of 14 inches. A sheep would have starved on it. He battled on it for two years and then gave up in disgust. Dad started a shop instead and battled on until 1940 when he and my elder brother joined the AIF.'

Support for the Soldiers - Returned Soldiers' and Sailors' Imperial League of Australia

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In 1916 The Returned Soldiers' and Sailors' Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA or RSL) was founded. By 1919, membership numbered 150 000. This organisation supported and represented the servicemen and women who had served Australia in the War at home and abroad as they returned to civilian life.

One way in which the RSSILA represented the diggers' rights was by approaching individual government ministers on the issue of pensions and benefits, thus bringing these issues to national attention. The RSSILA became a powerful political force as it strongly influenced the vote of the soldiers. Political parties such as Hughes' Labor Party sought the influence of the RSSILA in its political programs.

One of the most important actions taken by the organisation was the official commemoration of Anzac Day - when on 25 April in 1915, the Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipolli - and developed it into a national day of remembrance for all of Australia's servicemen and women past and present. Anzac Day encapsulates Australian nationalism and identity and memorialises the moment when Australia stood her ground on the world stage.

Conclusion

The experience of the soldiers in the 1920s was mixed - many soldiers could not find good jobs and some soldiers who took up the government's offer of settlement in the country met with disappointment. The soldiers returned to a changed society where women took new social liberties, opposition to war had appeared, and the soldiers' role in Australia was no longer clear. Ultimately, the returned soldiers became part of the Australian workforce which had difficulty securing improvements in their working conditions in the 1920s.