Information and events to do with World War Two in Australia.
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| 523657904 | Foreign affairs at the beginning of the period | At the beginning of World War Two, Australia's foreign affairs were shaped largely by its membership to the British Empire and the 'Imperial framework.' Australia's membership to the League of Nations was not more than nominal. | 1 | |
| 523657905 | The Balfour Report | In 1926 Britain declared all dominions of the British Empire as autonomous communities- in "no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of domestic or external affairs." The BR was codified with the Statue of Westminster in 1931 but ratified in Australia only in 1942. | 2 | |
| 523657906 | 1926 line from the Balfour Report | "in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of domestic or external affairs." | 3 | |
| 523657907 | Ratification of the Balfour Report | Occurred in 1941 in Aus. | 4 | |
| 523657908 | Australia's opposition to the Balfour Report | Australia did not appreciate the independence in foreign affairs that the B.R gave it- Australia was uncomfortable with making a relationship it saw as based on tradition and good faith into a legal document, believing this would lead to separation. Menzies put it best when he said the relation was a 'matter of spirit and not of the letter.' | 5 | |
| 523657909 | Manchuria Crisis | In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria in China. Economic sanctions were imposed on Japan by the League of Nations but Aus was reluctant to follow because Japan was its best customer. Australia was thus making decisions based on its economy (though to be fair this was during the Great Depression.) The Manchuria Crisis also highlighted Australia's attitude to the League of Nations. It supported it in principle but was reluctant to offer actual support. | 6 | |
| 523657910 | 3rd of September 1939 | Australia enters the war automatically after Britain. Menzies announces it on radio- "it is my melancholy duty..." Aus wanted to support Britain but was not as enthusiastic as it had been entering WW1; the population had learned their lesson. | 7 | |
| 523657911 | Phoney war | At first most Australians felt that the war was 'phoney' and that there was little actual threat. This change in 1941 when Japan entered the war with Pearl Harbour. | 8 | |
| 523657912 | Six years of considerable unity | Most of Australia was united during the war due to the reality of threat imposed upon Australia by the Japanese and the threat of Nazi occupation in Europe. Also everyone was involved in the war effort, even the housewife rationing on the "kitchen front." | 9 | |
| 523657913 | Britain's inability to defend | It was clear from mid 1940 onwards that Britain, after suffering a heavy blitzkrieg attack by the Germans, would be unable to defend Australia, leaving Australia vulnerable to threat of invasion by Japan and thus turning to new allies like America. | 10 | |
| 523657914 | 27th of December 1941 | John Curtin makes the announcement "Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links of kinship with Britain." This was due to the fact Australia was now under threat of invasion by Japan and Britain seemed unable to defend Australia. | 11 | |
| 523657915 | Malaya falls | At the end of January 1942 Malaya fell to Japan and Australia was directly threatened. | 12 | |
| 523657916 | 15th of Feb 1942 | Singapore falls and 15,000 Australians become POW. A shock to Australians; invasion very real threat. | 13 | |
| 523657917 | 19th of Feb 1942 | Darwin bombings, 2 air raids by about 90 Japanese bombers. Produced panic and left 243 dead. Between 1942 to 1943 Darwin, Townsville, Katherine and Broome were all bombed by the Japanese. | 14 | |
| 523657918 | Tension with Churchill | Churchill wanted the Australian 7th division to be sent to Burma; Curtin refused and said that Australia needed its soldiers to protect its home turf following the fall of Singapore. Defiance of British order new step for Australia. | 15 | |
| 523657919 | June 1942 | Japanese submarines attack Newcastle and Sydney Harbours, two midget submarines are sunk in Sydney Harbour. Australia is united in fear of Japanese invasion. | 16 | |
| 523657920 | 7th of December 1941 | Japan bombs Pearl Harbour; Australia declares war on Japan immediately w/o waiting for Britain- a sign of growing independence. | 17 | |
| 523657921 | Growing American Alliance | Fear of invasion influenced the Curtin government to hand over control of the war policy to the USA and accept its request that US General Douglas Macarthur be put in control of all allied troops in the South West Pacific region. The US had an ulterior motive: USA needed Aus as a base to mount a counter attack against Japan. This new alliance would influence future relations between the two powers. | 18 | |
| 523657922 | An unequal alliance | Australian government could now only decide whether Australian troops could be moved out of Australian territory and refuse the use of troops in operations it deemed 'unwise.' War time censorship and diplomacy meant images of warm relations between Australia and the USA were promoted, but relations were actually often strained. By 1943 Australia wanted to continue relations but on its terms; the USA refused, so by the end of the war Australia was reaffirming ties with the UK. | 19 | |
| 523657923 | Unnecessary campaigns | The US prevented Australia from a prominent role after 1943 and put it on minor campaigns that did not influence the war outcome, leading to tensions between Australian and US soldiers (division.) | 20 | |
| 523657924 | Prisoners of War | Over 30,000 Australians became POWs during the war, most taken prisoner by Japan at the beginning of 1942 (fall of Singapore.) They suffered years of starvation, disease, brutality and forced labour. Thousands were sent to Japan as slave labour, e.g. building the Burma-Thai railways. 64% survived owing to Australian values of mateship and sharing. | 21 | |
| 523657925 | Malaria, cholera, dysentery, tropical ulcers and malnutrition | Some of the tropical diseases suffered by POWs. | 22 |
