MAKING HISTORY

Illustrated Essay

CHRISTOPHER BOAL (17792749)

BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
La Trobe University, Bendigo
THEME: World War One.
TOPIC: Combating venereal disease: Moral panics regarding sex and sexuality during The Great War.

INTRODUCTION:
1914. The Great War begins. Britain has declared war on Germany, with the major powers also entering
the war. Australia proud to fight in the name of the fatherland and longing to add to their own narrative,
eagerly sign up to fight. The Great war offers a multitude of opportunities in all countries for new
experiences and thus the spread of sexually transmitted infections is common because of the
inconspicuous nature that war expedited. This is the story of venereal disease and the moral panics
regarding sex and sexuality in Australia during World War One.

The Trumpet Calls, Date: circa 1918. Image Source: Museum Victoria.
TRACING THE SPREAD OF VENEREAL DISEASE:

With the outbreak of the Great War, millions of soldiers seeking new adventures and sexual experiences
enlisted to fight. The war appealed to young men and it was during this time that soldiers sexual
promiscuity grew and thus led to some 60,000 Australian soldiers becoming infected with venereal
disease (V.D).1 As a means of warning troops, The Gundagai Independent (Newspaper) published a
warning, urging troops to respect the disease as it was prevalent throughout Egypt during 1914 and
1919.2 Despite a number of issues facing the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) such as combat losses,
shortage of weapons, parts and food, V.D became increasingly widespread among the troops and was
seen as a source to potentially weaken the fighting force, and thus resulted in a loss of manpower. In the
first paragraph of The Gundagai Independent, a well-known author declared;

The disease is already responsible for a loss in the Australian Imperial Forces, since those who are severely infected
are no longer fit to serve.

While in Cairo, many Australian soldiers contracted V.D in the Wazza, the brothel district. Army medical
officer James Barrett estimated that on a daily basis roughly one thousand men were afflicted with the
disease and a further 33 percent of returning troops were said to be venereally infected.3 While various
attempts were made to control the spread of the disease by policing, prophylaxis, and punishment
disincentives, Australian military leaders marched their troops through the Wazza in an attempt to
discourage soldiers by showing them the women in which they had drunkenly acquainted themselves
with during the night. As the Australian soldiers image and status continued to grow back home, and a
new enemy within appeared, working class women and prostitutes became the logical scapegoat.4
This new attitude made for an explosive anxiety back home on Australian soil. Sex was the issue and it
was perceived as a great threat to Australias survival. The spotlight was on women with racial purity
and the future of the race a major concern. In this context, women threatened both the health and
morals of soldiers and more concerning the war effort. As stated by the commander of the Australian
and New Zealand Army Corps, Major-General Birdwood, it is as necessary to keep a "clean Australia" as
a "White Australia.5 In this sense, cleanliness and whiteness were not seen as separate but rather
interconnected with the security of the nation dependent on this notion.

1
Ruben Dunbar, Secrets of the Anzacs: The Untold Story of Venereal Disease in the Australian Army, 1914-1919 (Carlton North: Scribe
Publications Pty Ltd., 2015). Vii

2 The Gundagui Independent (New South Wales), 9 September 1915, p.8.

3
Michael Sturma, Public health and sexual morality: venereal disease in World War II Australia, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and
Society, 13/4 (1988), 730.

4
Judith. A. Allen, Sex & secrets: Crimes involving Australian women since 1880 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1990), 102.

5 W.R. Birdwood, Monumental mistake: is war the most important thing in Australian history?, In Anzac's Dirty Dozen: 12 Myths of Australian
Military History, 99/2 (2012), 301.
The circumstances surrounding the spread of sexually transmitted diseases summoned the General
commanding the Australian forces who called upon soldiers to realize on him rests the reputation of the
Australian forces and urged at all costs and hazards to avoid risk of contracting venereal disease or
disgrace himself.

The Gundagui Independent warns soldiers that men

have been discharged from service after acquiring
sexually transmitted diseases. Page 8 on Thursday, 9
September 1915. Source: National Library of
Australia.

Venereal disease had been in the public spotlight before the outbreak of the war in 1914. However, it
was the social stresses of war that aggravated the existing concerns about V.D and thus prompted
significant concern about the health of the nations fit classes. By this time, it was widely accepted that
V.D had become rife in Australia. This was partly related to the perceived increase in its incidence,
alongside the belief that it was becoming more prevalent in populations traditionally unaffected. The
mainstream media added to mounting concern reporting that V.D had swept the nation and was
spreading into populations 'hitherto unaffected'.6 Of course, public concern grew as V.D was supposedly
spreading from degenerate populations into 'fit respectable classes. This wartime epidemic was largely
a project of classification linking a person from one class intimately with another. In other words, V.D
was a project of classification: who got V.D and who gave it to whom. Often the social stigma associated
with the disease itself was seen as a way to determine an individuals public identity as respectable or
degenerate. What emerged during the war was an emphasis on the differences between classes of
sufferers.

The perceived collapse of the borders that separated fit and degenerate classes were depicted in
cartoons designed to warn people of the dangers of V.D. This however, may have helped reinforce the
existence of these 'classes' and their associated stigma.

6
Marina Larsson, An Iconography of Suffering: VD in Australia 1914-18, Gender and History, 24/3 (1995), 2-16.
Like some vile octopus, venereal disease with its tentacles spreads and seizes its prey. Illustrated above,
the octopus takes in human lives with the soldier, maiden, youth and mother taken victim. Page 5, 8 July
1916. Source: Truth (Melbourne Newspaper).

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST VENEREAL DISEASE:

As discussions about V.D were significantly high during the war, extreme measures of constraint were
enforced against white working class women and soldiers. The moral panics and associated sexual
anxieties were in part to disloyalties from soldiers and diseased women. Patriotic Journals devoted
pages to this new social evil in which sexually transmitted diseases, as opposed to bullets and bayonets
cut down the unwary soldier.7 Consequently, government and military energy focused on a need to
control women and protect an impressionable soldier. Understandably, the campaign against venereal
disease was intensified by the war with concern in many ways part of the more general concern for the
health and size of both the white race and the new nation.8 This symbolized the way in which the public
perceived the threat, with fear growing not in terms of individual suffering but in regards to a
deteriorating eugenically sound nation. In many ways, the campaign against venereal disease was one
of many programs aimed at cleaning up and improving the white race.

7
Philippa Levine, Battle colors: Race, Sex, and colonial soldiery in World War I, Journal of Womens History, 9/4 (1998), 104.

8
Lisa Featherstone, Lets Talk About Sex: Histories of Sexuality in Australia from Federation to the Pill (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011), p.
95.
While venereal disease served as an important symbol of moral corruption, the campaign against the
disease increased discussions about sex and sexual behavior. This was often led by moral crusaders -
typically clergymen and people who educated the public on issues regarded as too unsavory to warrant
free discussions. During this time, clergymen often raised question about the disease tracing its spread
to the drink and thus dedicated their time to prohibiting the sale of alcohol. Of course, it was well
established during this time that soldiers often drank in excess, and it was prohibitionists that purported
the link between drunkenness and venereal diseases in soldiers. Understandably this generated a
considerable amount of public discussion about the extent of venereal disease in the AIF. The public
however was often ill informed with estimates for the rising rates of V.D based on invented statistics
presented to provoke public outrage and illicit a response. Reverend S. D. Yarrington, a leader of the
Temperance Committee of the Presbyterian Assembly of Victoria, delivered an address, indicating the
drink as the culture of the Red Plague, stating, the great Red Plague is a devastating influence
which the drink is any degree responsible for.9 Yarrington claimed some 4000 men had been sent
back to Australia every year, and the drink was mainly responsible for that. He demanded the
government prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol and deal with the question of social purity
and the prevalence and cure of venereal disease. In this sense, the consumption of alcohol was
generally considered the principal cause for the spread of the disease with it hindering Australias war
effort.10

Picture: Soldat, La Patrie Compte Sur Toi, 1916

9
The Northern Miner (Queensland), 20 August, 1915, p. 3.

10
Judith Smart, Sex, the state and the scarlet scourge: gender, citizenship and venereal diseases regulation in Australia during the great war,
Women's History Review, 7/1 (1998), para. 5, in Expanded Academic ASAP [online database], accessed 8 August. 2017
French artists led the way in creating posters against venereal disease. This poster illustrates a man and
women embracing each other, followed by the physically debilitated soldier on his hospital bed. The
message reads: "Soldier, the country counts on you-keep healthy. Resist the temptation of the street
where a sickness as dangerous as the war awaits you It carries its victims to decay and death, without
honor, without happiness. . ."

Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine.

CONTROLLING VENEREAL DISEASE:

By the end of 1915, venereal disease was one of the most serious threats facing Australian soldiers. Up
until then, treatment was somewhat undeveloped with medical staff often inadequate, the methods
and equipment limited and the conditions shockingly bad. Of course, while it was an offence to conceal
any disease, soldiers were often very reluctant to go to regimental doctors for treatment, and instead
chose quacks and civilians. As one doctor explained, they knew they had disgraced themselves.11

While many soldiers became infected with venereal disease, it was viewed as an escape from the
unbearable conditions of war with treatment resulting in a substantial amount of time away from the
fighting. Of course, this had a severe impact on the fighting forces and attempts were made to control
the spread of the disease. In an address given on the Red Plague, Dr. Bottomley called to diminish
venereal disease by educating young men, criticizing alcohol, promoting teetotalism, and reducing the
hours for the sale of liquor.12 This was generally considered a necessary measure with legislative
restrictions enacted to prevent the spread of the disease. However, this was not the case, with it
proving to be a drain on the military. As stated by General Smith-Dorrien, unless checked, venereal
disease may seriously interfere with the progress of the war.

As better treatments prevailed and more thorough diagnostic methods were set in place, there was still
a very real stigma related to the disease, with its immortality and inherent nastiness prevailing. There
was an overwhelming push to medicalize, rather than moralize venereal disease, as medical
professionals honestly thought they could cure the disease. However, when asked to speak from the
moral standpoint Dr. Rentoul argued it was impossible to separate the moral from the physiological
standpoint. According to Rentoul, they were interwoven and there was only one way of really
combating the evil, and that was by continence.13

11
Lisa Featherstone, Lets Talk About Sex: Histories of Sexuality in Australia from Federation to the Pill (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011), p.
95.
12
The Workers Trade Union Print (Sydney), 5 August 1915, p.4.

13
The Woman Voter (Melbourne), 13 January 1915, p.3.
 Bacillus bulgaricus A bottle of bacterial culture which was used as a
vaccine against venereal disease.

Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine.

The Australian Worker newspaper offers a series of

proposals to deal with venereal disease. Page 6 on Thursday,
26 February 1914. Source: National Library of Australia.

SUMMARY:
In summary, the moral panics regarding venereal disease were exacerbated by the very unusual
conditions of war. The social stresses aggravated by the war rendered discussions about sex and
sexuality. Soldiers promiscuity as well as the supposed spread of venereal disease from degenerate
populations into 'fit respectable classes brought the issue further into the public spotlight, generating a
moral panic never quite seen before in Australia. Newspaper articles published in The Gundagui
Independent, The Northern Miner, The Workers Trade Union Print, and The Woman Voter have
provided evidence to support the notion of a moral panic revolving around the disloyalties from
soldiers through contracting sexually transmitted diseases while abroad. In many ways, the newspapers
supported, shaped and reinforced public attitudes and understandings of the moral panic regarding
sexuality. These moral panics were also reinforced by moral crusaders who voiced their concerns about
the disease as a means to prohibit the sale of alcohol and potentially reduce the spread of the disease.
The research has shown that these were some of the most prominent ways that war generated moral
panics regarding sexuality on the Homefront.
 Bibliography

Primary Sources

The Gundagui Independent (New South Wales), Venereal Diseases, Warning to Troops, 9 September
1915, p.8.
The Northern Miner (Queensland), THE RED PLAGUE AND THE DRINK, 20 August, 1915, p. 3.

The Workers Trade Union Print (Sydney), The Red Plague, 5 August, 1915, p.4.

The Woman Voter (Melbourne), Venereal Disease, 13 January 1915, p.3.

Secondary Sources
Allen, Judith. A., Sex & secrets: Crimes involving Australian women since 1880 (Melbourne: Oxford
University Press, 1990).

Birdwood, W.R. Monumental mistake: is war the most important thing in Australian history?, In Anzac's
Dirty Dozen: 12 Myths of Australian Military History, 99/2 (2012), 294-324.

Dunbar, Ruben, Secrets of the Anzacs: The Untold Story of Venereal Disease in the Australian Army,
1914-1919 (Carlton North: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd., 2015).

Featherstone, Lisa, Lets Talk About Sex: Histories of Sexuality in Australia from Federation to the Pill
(Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011).

Larsson, Marina, An Iconography of Suffering: VD in Australia 1914-18, Gender and History, 24/3
(1995), 2-16.

Levine, Philippa, Battle colors: Race, Sex, and colonial soldiery in World War I, Journal of Womens
History, 9/4 (1998), 104-130.

Smart, Judith, Sex, the state and the scarlet scourge: gender, citizenship and venereal diseases
regulation in Australia during the great war, Women's History Review, 7/1 (1998), para. 5, in
Expanded Academic ASAP [online database], accessed 8 August. 2017.

Sturma, Michael, Public health and sexual morality: venereal disease in World War II Australia, Signs:
Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 13/4 (1988), 725-740.

Image Sources
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Soldat, La Patrie Compte Sur Toi, U.S. National Library of Medicine [Image]. (1916),
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