World War 1 was a global conflict which began 28th July 1914, and ended 11th November 1918. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand during June 1914 was what first initiated the war later in July, but there were also many other causes which led to WW1 such as, alliances, militarism, imperialism, nationalism, secret diplomacy, and internationalism. There is an acronym called MAIN which tells you the main long-term causes of war(pg.5).
Militarism- the stronger nations wanted to maintain their power and in order to do so they practiced militarism. They would always be improving their militaries, so they were always ready for war
Alliances- prior to WW1 there were two major alliances, The Triple Entente and The Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente included Britain, France, and Russia. The Triple Alliance included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
Imperialism- stronger nations would conquer and control the weaker nations
Nationalism- weaker nations would rebel against the stronger nations, which commonly led to surprise attacks and assassinations, also know as terrorism.
28TH JUNE 1914
ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND, AUSTRIAHUNGARIAN ROYALTY, WAS ASSASSINATED
1ST-28TH AUGUST 1914
GERMANY DECLARES WARE ON RUSSIA, FRANCE AND BELGUM BATTLES AT THE EASTERN AND WESTERN FRONT BEGIN
14TH OCTOBER 1915
BULGARIA ENTERS THE WAR AFTER DECLARING WAR ON SERBIA
28TH JULY 1914
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARES WAR ON SERBIA, WW1 OFFICALLY BEGINS
25TH APRIL 1915
THE ANZAC TROOPS BEGAN LANDING AT GALLIPOLI, MANY CASULATIES OCCURRED
1ST JULY 1916
THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME BEGAN AND NEARLY 20,000 TROOPS DIED
6TH APRIL 1916
THE US DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY
11TH NOVEMBER 1918
GERMANY AGREES TO AN ARMATICE AND WW1 CAME TO AN END AT 11AM ON THE 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH
17TH DECEMBER 1917
THE RUSSIANS AND CENTRAL POWERS DECLARE PEACE MEANING RUSSIA LEAVES THE WAR
1. October 1914, The First Battle of Ypres
2.April 1915, The Gallipoli campaign begins
3.May 1915, Germany sinks HMS Lusitania
4.July 1916, The Battle of the Somme
5.January-June 1917, The US enter the war
6.July 1917, The Battle of Passchendaele
7.November 1917, The Bolshevik Revolution
THERE WERE MANY REASONS FOR THE MEN WANTING TO ENLIST SUCH AS, THE NEED FOR REGULAR PAY, THEIR LOYALTY TO BRITAIN, TO PURSUE COMBAT, ADVENTURE, AND GLORY, AND SOME SAW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE WORLD. DURING WW1 416,809 MEN ENLISTED FOR SERVICE, WHICH WAS 38.7% OF THE WHOLE MALE POPULATION AGED BETWEEN 18-44 YEARS OLD THESE AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS SERVED IN THREE THEATRES OF CONFLICT. THOSE THREE WERE, THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA, THE WESTERN FRONT, AND THE MIDDLE EAST. OUT ALL THE MEN THAT SERVED IN THE GREAT WAR, IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 58,961 MEN DIED DURING WAR, 166,811 MEN WERE WOUNDED, 87,865 MEN SUFFERED FROM A SICKNESS, AND 4098 WENT MISSING OR WERE MADE PRISONERS OF WAR.
THE NURSES THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR PLAYED A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE DURING WAR THERE WAS AN ESTIMATED 90,000 WOMEN WHO VOLUNTEERED AS NURSES FROM THE BRITISH EMPIRE. OUT OF THE 90,000 WOMEN WHO VOLUNTEERED, MORE THAN 3,000 WERE AUSTRALIAN, AND ABOUT 550 WERE FROM NEW ZEALAND. THESE NURSES SERVED IN MANY PLACES SUCH AS, INDIA, EGYPT, GALLIPOLI, FRANCE, AND BELGIUM. THEY HAD 3 MAIN ROLES WHICH WAS TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE TO THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS, PROVIDED COMFORT AND SUPPORT TO THE SOLDIERS, AND TO TRY AND CHEER UP THE SOLDIERS, EVEN IN TOUGH TIMES THEY WOULD WORK IN HOSPITALS, ON SHIPS OR TRAINS, AND IN CASUALTY CLEARING STATIONS WHICH WAS CLOSE TO THE FRONT LINE IN WAR. THE NURSES WERE LATER NICKNAMED BY DYING SOLDIERS AS ‘WHITE ANGELS’, THIS WAS BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE SURROUNDED BY ANGELS AFTER ARRIVING IN THE HOSPITAL.
NURSES THAT SERVED DURING WW1 FACED MANY CHALLENGES LONG AND SHORT TERM. ONCE A WOMAN HAD ENLISTED AS A NURSE, THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO STAY AND SERVE UNTIL WAR WAS OVER, UNLESS THEY HAD BECOME VERY BADLY INJURED OR BY MARRIAGE. THEY WERE CONFRONTED WITH ALL TYPES OF INJURIES AND CASUALTIES, RISKING THEIR OWN LIVES FOR OTHER
NURSES WERE EXPOSED TO BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL STRESS. MANY OF THE NURSES WERE AWARDED WITH MEDALS FOR THEIR COURAGE, BRAVERY, AND DEVOTION THAT THEY SHOWED DURING TIMES OF WAR. SADLY MANY OF THESE NURSES SUFFERED FROM POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD). THIS WAS A RESULT OF THE CASUALTIES THEY WITNESSED AND THE THINGS THEY HEARD SUCH AS, THE BULLETS, THE BOMBS, THE SCREAMS, AND CRIES FOR HELP.
Sister Claire Trestrail
Sister Alice Kitchin
CORKHILL WAS BORN ON THE 11/03/1887 AND LATER PAST OF OLD AGE ON THE 11/12/1985. WHEN PEARL FIRST ENLISTED, SHE WAS ONLY 28 YEARS OLD AND DIDN’T RETURN TO AUSTRALIA UNTIL SHE WAS 32. SHE SERVED IN THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE AND HER UNIT WAS THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY NURSING SERVICE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE AANS. PEARL HAD WORKED AT MANY HOSPITALS IN EGYPT BEFORE SHE WAS LATER POSTED TO FRANCE IN APRIL 1916.
DURING HER TIME SERVING AS A NURSE SHE WAS AWARDED WITH THE MILITARY MEDAL, 1914-15 STAR, BRITISH WAR MEDAL 1914-1920, AND THE VICTORY MEDAL. PEARL WAS ONE OF 8 AUSTRALIAN NURSES WHO RECEIVED THE MILITARY MEDAL AWARD DURING WW1, SHE WAS AWARDED THIS MEDAL FOR HER COURAGE, BRAVERY, AND DEVOTION.
FOLLOW LINK BELOW TO VEIW SISTER PEARLS ENLISTMENT PAPER:
HTTPS://RECORDSEARCH.NAA.GOV.AU/SEARCHNRETRIEVE /INTERFACE/VIEWIMAGE.ASPX?B=3421592
DURING JUNE OF 1918 SISTER PEARL CORKHILL WAS TEMPORARILY ATTACHED TO THE 38TH BRITISH CASUALTY CLEARLY STATION ALSO KNOW AS THE 38BCCS. ONE NIGHT DURING JULY OF 1918, WHEN PEARL WAS ON DUTY AND IN CHARGE OF THE HOSPITAL, THE 38BCCS WAS UNDER ATTACK DURING AN ENEMY AIR RAID.
ONE OF THE BOMBS THAT WERE DROPPED DESTROYED THE STERILISING ROOM AND THE OTHER BOMBS THAT FELL LANDED IN THE CAMP. DURING ALL THIS COMMOTION SISTER PEARL WAS ABLE TO STAY CALM AND CONTINUED TO TAKE CARE OF HER PATIENTS, IGNORING THE WARNING TO TAKE SHELTER. THIS IS HOW SHE WAS AWARDED WITH THE MILITARY MEDAL FOR HER COURAGE, BRAVERY AND DEVOTION.
REFERENCE LIST ALICE ELIZABETH BARRETT KITCHEN N.D., VWMA.ORG.AU, VIRTUAL WAR MEMORIAL AUSTRALIA, VIEWED 13 JUNE 2023,
<HTTPS://VWMA ORG AU/EXPLORE/PEOPLE/796995> AWM N D , CORKHILL, PEARL ELIZABETH (SISTER, MM, 1ST AGH AIF B 1887 - D 1985), WWW AWM GOV AU, THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, VIEWED 22 MAY 2023,
<HTTPS://WWW AWM GOV AU/COLLECTION/C90822> N D , SISTER PEARL ELIZABETH CORKHILL, WWW AWM GOV AU, VIEWED 18 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://WWW AWM GOV AU/COLLECTION/P11038153> 2013, STORIES OF AUSTRALIA’S WARTIME NURSES, MARCH, DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, VIEWED 22 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://WWW.AWM.GOV.AU/SITES/DEFAULT/FILES/DEVOTION.PDF>.CORPORAT ENAME =DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS; ADDRESS=21 GENGE ST, CC N.D., WHERE AUSTRALIANS SERVED DURING WORLD WAR I, ANZAC PORTAL, VIEWED 5 AUTUMN 2023, <HTTPS://ANZACPORTAL DVA GOV AU/WARS-ANDMISSIONS/WW1/WHERE-AUSTRALIANSSERVED#:~:TEXT=SOLDIERS%20AND%20MEDICAL%20STAFF%20SERVED> COURIE R MAIL 2021, WW1 NURSES HARROWING ACCOUNT, COURIER MAIL, VIEWED 8 JUNE 2023, <HTTPS://WWW COURIERMAIL COM AU/NEWS/QUEENSLAND/WWINURSES-HARROWING-ACCOUNT-SHRAPNEL-CUTS-OFF-WHOLE-LIMBS/NEWSSTORY/8EEA35FEE8D1335FC3B844FBB32EFD3E>.DAVIDSON, L 2021, A TIMELINE OF THE GREAT WAR: 10 KEY DATES IN WORLD WAR ONE, HISTORY HIT, VIEWED 16 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://WWW.HISTORYHIT.COM/KEY-DATES-IN-WORLD-WARONE/>.HISTORIC WAR TOURS 2022, NURSES IN WWI, HISTORIC WAR TOURS, VIEWED 18 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://WWW HISTORICWARTOURS COM AU/BLOG/2022/2/17/NURSES-INWWI#:~:TEXT=%22WAR%20IS%20A%20MAN> MCCORMICK, J 2017, WORLD WAR I RESOURCES, INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, VIEWED 15 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://WWW IN GOV/DOE/FILES/GUIDE PDF> NAA 1914, CORKHILL PEARL ELIZABETH : SERN SISTER : POB TILBA TILBA NSW : POE N/A : NOK M CORKHILL FRANCIS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA, VIEWED 25 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://RECORDSEARCH.NAA.GOV.AU/SEARCHNRETRIEVE/INTERFACE/VIEWIMA GE.ASPX?B=3421592>. 2023, AUSTRALIAN RECRUITMENT STATISTICS FOR WORLD WAR I | NAA.GOV.AU, NAA.GOV.AU, VIEWED 15 MAY 2023, <HTTPS://WWW NAA GOV AU/STUDENTS-AND-TEACHERS/LEARNINGRESOURCES/LEARNING-RESOURCE-THEMES/WAR/WORLD-WAR-I/AUSTRALIANRECRUITMENT-STATISTICS-WORLD-WAR-I#:~:TEXT=AUSTRALIA>
