On the 15th of February in 1942 one of the biggest defeats of the British Empire was accomplished by the Japanese, Singapore was surrendered. The Fall of Singapore was relatively destructive to the relationship between Britain and Australia. Australia relied on Britain holding Singapore as it was the last defence against the Japanese and it was feared that Japan would go on and invade Australia if it fell, Australia openly showed that they could not rely on the British for defence by becoming a strong ally with America and asking them to help with the feared Japanese invasion. Australia feared the threat of invasion constantly throughout the war, when Singapore fell the Australian government predicted a certain attack by the Japanese. Australia relied on Britain holding Singapore as it was the gate way to Australia, it was feared that if it fell a Japanese attack was imminent. The Australian Prime Minister at the time, John Curtain, suggested the Fall of Singapore to be “Australia’s Dunkirk” and said it would be followed by the “battle of Australia” (National Archives of Australia). This corroborates with Curtain’s statement after Singapore fell, he said, “the fall of Singapore opens the Battle for Australia.”( http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/bfa/overview.html, Richard Reid). The government was preparing the Australian public for a Japanese attack, they wanted the public to be ready for an attack that was, what they thought, certain to come. After the Japanese air raid on Darwin on Feb 19 1942, Curtain told Australians there was “no more looking away now. Fate has willed our position in this war.” It is obvious that the government was predicting an invasion, an invasion that probably wouldn’t have happened if Britain held ... ... middle of paper ... ...The fact that Australia publically sought America’s help angered Britain, but it was all that Australia could do seen as Britain let Singapore fall to the Japanese and did not given Australia suitable reinforcements to help with the growing pressure from the Japanese. It is shown throughout the war that the fall of Singapore damaged Australia’s relations with Britain, there are even cable grams of John Curtain telling Elsie Curtain how badly the relations with Britain and that he has a fight with Churchill almost every day (National Archives of Australia). Australia had always felt the threat of invasion in WWII but when Singapore fell it was almost certain. Australia moved further away from Britain when they publicly sought Americas help with the growing threat of a Japanese attack. None of this would have happened if Singapore had remained in British control.
The Kokoda track campaign stopped the invasion of Australia and the Japanese advancing any further in WW2. Australian’s believed that Australia was going to be invaded, but it is now mostly believed that Japan was not going to invade. Australia thought they were going to be invaded because of the multiple attacks by the Japanese already, including the bombing of Darwin, Townsville and Broome and also the findings of midget-submarines in Sydney Harbour. The battle started on June 1942, in Papua New Guinea, on the Kokoda Track. The Japanese were planning to take Port Moresby so they could get access to the Port and airstrip to invade Australia. It is estimated that 6000 Japanese troops landed on the beaches of Papua New Guinea,...
On September 3, 1939 Prime Minister, Robert Gordon Menzies, declared the commencement of Australia's involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station. From 1942 until early 1944, Australian forces, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders played a key role in the Pacific War forming the majority of Allied strength throughout the South West Pacific. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders affected Australia’s World War Two efforts in their extended volunteering and willingness to fight and die in the war. Aboriginal people were a crucial part of defending the Australian home front, in which they had limited or no rights. Many experienced equal treatment to white Australians for the first time in their
In 1937, Japan started a war against China, in search of more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America which is when the Allies (Australia, Britain etc.) then declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese started extending their territory closer and closer to Australia and started taking surrendering troops into concentration camps where they were starved, diseased and beaten. When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told
Firstly, the Kokoda Battle was an important event because of its cultural significance to Australia. The Kokoda track stands as an icon for Australian participation in the Second World War, just as Gallipoli serves the same purpose for the First World War. In 1942, the Australian Territories of Papua and New Guinea were in law if not in public sentiment, as much a part of Australia as the Northern Territory. It is then quite true to say that Australian soil was invaded by the Japanese in 1942. The main objective of this battle was for Japan to capture Port Moresby via the Kokoda track and from there they would control the Pacific. This war was also very significant because of the mateship, loyalty and hard work the Australians did to protect our country even when they were “flat out” of energy, as evidenced by this quote
Life is not always easy, at some point, people struggle in their life. People who are in the lower class have to struggle for a job every day and people who are in upper class also have their own problems to deal with. These ideas are very clear in Mary Oliver’s “Singapore”, Philip Schultz’s “Greed” and Philip Levine “What Work Is”. In "Singapore" a woman is likely lower class because she works at the airport and her job is to clean the bathroom. In both “Greed” and “What Work Is”, the speakers make the same conclusion about the struggle in the lower class. “Greed” furthermore discusses how Hispanics get a job first before whites and blacks because they take lower wages. All three poems deal with class in term of the society. The shared idea
The partnership between Australia and Japan instigated with the signing of ANZUS treaty in 1951. ANZUS joined the nations of Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America in a defence security pact for the Pacific region. It chiefly resulted from the fear of communism by Western nations. However, from Australia’s point of view at the time, ANZUS also offered protection against a potential threat from Japan. Australia was concerned that Japan would try to conquer the Pacific region again after suffering defeat in the Second World War. Hanson.M (2001:28) sates that shortly after the end of World War Two, Australia wanted the Japanese government turned into a democracy. She even wanted a peace treaty that punished those leaders responsible for Japan’s aggression, broke the great industrious complexes of Japan’s economy, and left Japan disarmed. The ANZUS treaty however, created a connection between Australia and Japan on easier terms. With United States backing Australia, it was now safe to interact with Japan. Although ANZUS did not guarantee direct military support from United States, it still provided consultation in an event of attack on any of the three countries. Wolferen.K (1989:54) notes that security co-operation has been growing between Australia and Japan throughout the 1990’s. Communist China was the major concern for the two nations. Japan and Australia had the same negative views about communism, which led to them sharing a common purpose in countering the communists within that region.
Shadowing World War II, there was an amplified fear of communism in Australia. The influence of the threat of Communism in Australian local politics from 1945 to the 1950’s was very strong as you can see through Robert Menzies, the Petrov Affair, The fear of Ussr spies, the royal commission and the Alp split show relevant threats to the Australian Domestic politics by saying they are spies, traitors and liars.
In 1914, Australia joined the First World War. Although it was seen as a European war, the Australia government decided that Australia should support its 'Mother Country', Britain. The prime-minister at the time, Joseph Cook, stated Australia's position : "Whatever happens, Australia is a part of the Empire, right to the full. When the Empire is at war, Australia is at war." Many Australians objected to the country's involvement in the war, but the majority of the population agreed with the government's decision. Australia joined the war for many reasons, but two main reasons were :
middle of paper ... ... The willingness of the Australian people to volunteer and help out in the war effort was outstanding. Australians also showed great pride and allegiance to England. One of the problems with people being so ready and willing to volunteer is they didn’t fully understand the realities of war.
The Australian participation in WW2 was similar to that of WW1 in many ways. After the British declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939, an Australian declaration of war was automatic. Aussie troops were soon sent to different parts of the world to help the British and other allied countries. It was not until late 1941 that they were recalled in order to defend the homefront. Darwin had been suddenly attacked by Japanese planes and small enemy submarines had snuck into Sydney Harbour. Darwin was repeatedly bombed by Japanese planes until July 1941, when along with American troops, the Aussies managed to drive them out of the Solomon Islands and northeastern New Guinea and eliminate a strong Japanese base at Rabaul. Without General MacArthur's troops, the enemy may very well have invaded Australia. This illustrates the importance of alliances.
The reason the Japanese attacked Hong Kong was because Winston Churchill was using it as his main outpost in Asia, and it was helpful for him to repel the attacks of the Japanese. However previously many of the chiefs-in-staff in London had called it an ,“Undesirable military commitment.” But they could not pull the British troops out as it would weaken their already weakening watch over Asia.
Singapore is a city-state main island that is in Southeastern Asia, located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of Indonesia between latitudes 1º 09´N and 1º 29´N and longitudes 103º 36´E and 104º 25´E. The Malay Peninsula is about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of the Equator and consists of the diamond-shaped island called Singapore. Singapore lies directly between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean with the makeup of 63 separate islands. The total land area of Singapore is 704 square kilometers (272 square miles). The lowest point on Singapore is sea level and the highest point is Bukit Timah at the lofty elevation of 162 meters (531 feet). (Szczepanski,) Nearly two-thirds of Singapore’s island is less than 50 feet (15 meters) above sea level. The eastern part of Singapore Island is a very low plateau cut by erosion into an intricate pattern of hills and valleys.
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbour, Japan and America’s relationship was tense, and the failure to come to an agreement about the situation in China lead to Japan aggresively planning the attack on Pearl Harbour. In the early 1930’s, Japan had many economic complications and was struggling with its ever-growing population numbers, and the need to accommodate them. Nevertheless, the United States, along with several other countries, stopped accepting Japanese immigrants into one’s own country, adding to the stress of Japan’s worries. Japan’s solution was to invade an unindustrialised China, and take over supremacy. This meant Japanese civilians could take shelter in China’s rural areas and Japan would be able to solve its economic crisis, though in 1937, the invasion lead to war between China and Japan. After the Japanese formed an alliance with Germany in 1940, France was forced by Japan, into letting Japanese soldiers into the northern part of its country, and by the next year, Japan reined the entire country of France . These aggressive actions by Japan ...
Waltzing Matilda in 1915 is bring Australian arms thoughts of the massacres at Gallipoli (Turkey). Massive unskillfulness British in terms of politicians (chiefly Winston Churchill) and generals resulted in the death toll that knockout every town and every city, even the place is a small country at that time.
With all these affairs, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad reinforces his views in that ‘Australia is not "Asian" in any sense and therefore its attempts to become more involved in Asian affairs should be resisted by Asian countries’ (p.81). This illustrates that the Australian leaders were entrenched with attitudes of unease; this meant that there was considerable attention on criticism for the contribution in Indonesian affairs. There is evidence that states ‘Australia felt vulnerable to the emergence of hostile Asian powers’ (p.83). This showcases that Australia was in an unsafe state from the surface of Asian influence, however, at the same time has to consider the United States and the British as central to its defence. To summarise, the commentators continue to view Australia’s contribution to the Asian leaders as valuable in terms of defence and economics.