\q'R Conservatism and change : the RSL and Australian society, 1916-1-932 David Hood Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degiree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History of the University of Adelaide May :.994 É.w,.r,.i.'{ ì''\'þ rl_ Tab1e of ContentE Abstract iii Statement v Acknowl-edgments vi Preface vl_ l- Introduction t_ Chapter 1: Winning the war 25 Chapter 2: Breaking ranks 59 Chapter 3: There is only the war L28 Chapter 4: 'A great many temptations for men in a neutral position' 188 Chapter 5: Defence and immigration 234 Chapter 6 ¿ The RSL, labour, and the 'middle \^ray' 2'73 Chapter 7: Loyalty and disloyalty 329 Chapter 8: Looking ahead, 1932-1-939: a survey 362 Conclusion 388 Bibliography 397 Figuree Figure 1: Alphabetical list of South Australian state councillors, 1,920 -1,924 153 Figure 2¿ State and national- RSL membership figures, L920-1-939 364 l_ l_ l_ Abstract Conservatism and change : the RSL and Australian society, a9L6-1932 This thesis has two main themes: a history of the RSI-, in its formative years, and a study of the RSL and conservatism in Australia between L9L6 and 1932. By looking at the RSL as an agent of both reaction and change, the thesis hopes to contribute Lo an understanding of what it meant to be conservative in Australia during and after the first world war. The thesis argues that while many of the RSL's values, particularly the belief that political change should be gradual not sudden, conformed to those central to conservative ideology, in certain domestic matters such as repatriation and social welfare the RSL contributed significantly to change in Australian society. The thesis concentrates particularly on Australians' increased acceptance of a more interventionist state, and looks at the way in which its war experience caused the RSL to evolve attitudes toward state intervention which ran counter to those of many conservatives. av The thesis also looks at the waY in which nationalism shifted from the possession of the Left before the war to that of the Right after 1915. It argues that the first worl-d war had a profound effect on the subsequent direction of Australian society, and that the RSL had a role in this. It concludes that one of the enduring legacies of the first world war was that the vision and idealism of the prewar era were overtaken and replaced by a conservative preoccupation with natíonal stability, national safety, and national integritY. V Statenent This thesis contains no material- which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in any University and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. I consent to the thesis being made avail-able for photocopying and loan if accepted for the award of the degree. Hood 2o /s /q+ vl- Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people who helped in the preparation of this thesis: Bob Anderson; the staff of the Australian Archives, Canberra, the Australian Archives, Adelaide, and the Austral-ian War Memorial, Canberra; Bridget Brooklyn; Miriam Collinsr A.F. Denholm; Ashley Ekins; Bill Gammage; Margaret Hood; Ralph Hood; Shirley Lithgow; the staff of the Manuscripts Room of the National Ï-,ibrary of Austral-ia and t.he staff of the Mortlock Library of South Austral-iana; Kathy Mil1igan,' .Toan Ramsay; the staff of State Records South Austral-ia; Hugh Stretton; Wendy Way; and Lynette Ze|tz. I am also grateful to the former secretary of the South Australian RSL, K.W. Hoffmann, and the former national RSL secretary, Ian Gollings, for their permission to view records at South Austral-ian RSL headquarters in Adelaide and the National Library of Australia in Canberra. vl- l- Preface This is a thesis about the activities and attitudes of the Returned Sailors and Sol-diers' Imperial League of Australia between 191-6 and 1932, and how the character of conservatism in Australia changed after the first world war. The Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial I-,eague of Australia was formed as a national- body encompassing the state branches in ,June 19]-6. This thesis call-s the national body the ' RSLr or 'Leaguer, and the state branches the 'South Australian RSL', the 'Victorían RSLt, and so on. Returned Soldiers' Associations vtere formed in New South Wa1es, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia before the RSL v¡as, and these are described in this thesis as 'RSAs' Many state RSL branches continued to use 'RSA' after the nationaL body was formed. The League became 'The Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airmenrs Imperial League of Australia' after the outbreak of the second world war, and in October L965 officially adopted the name 'The Returned Services League of Australia'. Because of the complexity of combining a history of an organisation with a study of vr l- l- the evolution of ideas, each chapter of t.his t,hesis begins with an introduction that outlines the framework of the chapter's argument. The conclusion to each chapter summarises its main points, places it in the context of the argument being developed throughout the thesis, and points towards the next chapter. In this wâ/, it is hoped to demonstrate that the RSL was both a product of a society undergoing profound change as a result of the first world war, and a contributor to that change. Originally, the thesis intended to establish how tradition and experience shaped t.he outlook of the South Australian branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia in the 1-920s and 1930s. Three things led to expanding this. First, it became obvious that the Australian experience of the first world war was, indeed, a national experience. In general, a Queenslanderrs war experience was likely to be littte different from a South Australian's or a Victoriarl's, whether he or she was in France or Austral-ia. If the South Austral-ian experience was typical of the Australian experience, it seemed important to say so. l_x Second, the origins and structure of the RSL itself seemed both to reflect the national character of Australia's war experience and to substantiate it. Although not all state branches initially joined the RSL, and al-though there was frequently disharmony among them, t.he RSL remained a federal organisation, responding to the demands of the individual state branches while ensuring that they acted within a defined national policy. To understand the actions and attitudes of the South Australian RSI-., branch, it became necessary to understand those of its state counterparts and the federal body. Third, it became impossible to examine the RST, without grappling with what it meant to be rconservative' in Australia during the first world war and in the years after. This 1ed to a change in emphasis in the thesis. Instead of a thesis in which, to understand the RSL, it was necessary to examine what was meant by the term conservatism, it seemed more fruitful to study the RSL not as end in itself but as a means to understanding the broader question of how and why conservatism was changed by the first world war. The sources this thesis draws upon reflect this process of change. The principal x sources are those which rel-ate to the Sout.h Australian branch of the RSL. These South Australian records al-so contain a great deal- of federal material, which has been supplemented by examination of federal RSL records in Canberra. Sub-branch correspondence is poorly represented in t,he South Austral-ian records: inquiries to a number of sub-branches throughout South Austral-ia did not elicit material-. Neverthefess, sub-branch resolutions were extensively reported in South Australian publications such as Diggers' Gazette (the official journal of the South Australian RSL) and Returned Soldier (an independent journal), and there is an abundance of sub- branch material from all states in the national records in Canberra. Thus, while the predominance of Sout,h Australian material reflects the initial emphasis of this thesis, it remains a thesis about the Australian RSL because recourse to the federal material held in both Adelaide and Canberra has allowed the thesis to determine when attitudes were those of the South Australian RSL, when they were the attitudes of state branches as opposed to the federal branch, and when they represented the organisation as a whole. xl_ The thesis is about the formative years of the RSL, and its primary focus is on the period t91-6 to L932. The thesis argues that, by L932, the RSL had developed a character and direction in marked contrast to those of the immediate postwar years. 1932 is also a year in which RSL membership increased significantly from the previous year, marking the beginning of a period of growth which continued to the out.break of war in 1939. From 1-932 too, the RSL became increasingfy preoccupied with Australia's capacity to defend itself in time of war, a concern given added impetus when .Tapan withdrew from the League of Nations in March the following year. The last chapter, chapter 8, surveys the years L932 to 1939. It is neither a comprehensive nor detailed examination of this period, but a speculative outl-ine which suggests that, by 1,932, the RSI-, had turned in on itself, eschewing the vision of Australia it had espoused in the immediate postwar years and concentrating instead on the welfare of its own members and on keeping Australia safe.