 At the outbreak of the war there were about 35,000 people who had been born in either Germany or Austria-Hungary living in Australia.Due to large-scale German migration in the late 19th century, there were also an inestimable number of people of German origin, many of whom maintained an affinity for their ancestral roots.Many of these were naturalised Australians, and indeed it is believed that many men of German origin enlisted in the AIF.