'The Bully of the World': The Queensland Press and Germany, August 1914–April 1915.

During the period between the outbreak of war in August 1914, and the first major engagement for Australian troops in April 1915 on Gallipoli, the Queensland press in Australia articulated a vision of the conflict framed by binary opposites. The most pervasive of these was the positioning of German militarism and lust for conquest as the antithesis of the civilized values embodied in Pax Britannica. The approach of the newspapers over the course of these nine months can be divided neatly into two distinct though overlapping themes—why the Germans fought and how they fought. In its exploration of these issues, the Queensland press demonized the Germans for their perceived barbarism and disregard for civilized norms. In contrast, the perceived righteousness of the British cause facilitated a celebration of Australian nationalism and imperial loyalty as complementary imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]