 The most notable of these was the so-called Red Flag Riots in Brisbane, in 1919.At the outset of the war, Australia's economy had been quite small and dependent largely upon agriculture and the resources industries for export earnings, while most manufactured products were imported from overseas.Almost immediately uncertainty over the continuation of foreign trade led to a rise in unemployment, indeed it was estimated that after only a couple of days of Britain having declared war, that up to 15,000 men had been retrenched in New South Wales alone due to concerns about the continued availability of foreign markets for Australian produce.