Towards the future
Forging The Nation - Towards the Future
- Forging the Nation: home
- Federation
- National identity
- Seeking security
- The First World War
- Towards the future
- Australians
The Commonwealth of Australia was born peacefully, without revolution or civil war. It was established quietly through an act of the parliament of Great Britain.
Just thirteen years later the new nation faced the test of the Great War. Losses were heavy, but there were also gains. Many believed that on Gallipoli, in 1915, Australia forged its claim to nationhood.
The war could not be forgotten by a generation which had given so much. ANZAC Day, with its ritual, public parades, remembrance and reunion, took its place alongside the flag and other newly created symbols of nationhood.
The Australian nation survived a terrible ordeal in its early years. It continued to face further trials as the century passed, but these it met as a federated nation, aware of itself, and confident of its place in the world.
Stuart Reid
Ross Smith's Handley Page at Heliopolis 1918 drawing, 1918. ART50105