Why Did Australia Gain Its Independence Essay

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Many people think that Australia gained its independence from England in 1901, in fact, it only became a self-governing colony still under the control of England. The newly formed Australian Commonwealth established itself in 1901 with the signing of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution. Australia was able to self-govern itself, but the colonies were still under the control of the British government. Furthermore, this meant that the British monarch was still head of state, and the Australian Commonwealth had limited power to make laws. Everything had to go through the British Government before Australia could make any final decision. Australia could not enter into any international arrangements; the British government handled any …show more content…

Curtain wanted his troops back from Africa and after many disputed arguments between Curtain and Churchill; Curtain got the 6th and 7th Divisions back. The 6th and 7th division headed back to Australia; in the meantime, Japan attacked the Australian mainland bombing towns in the Northwest. It is the first time that Japan attacked Australia since the beginning of the war. Japan desired to seize the entire pacific; in summation to that, they also wanted to assail the United States of America. Japan launched an attack on the US Naval Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941; which brought the US into the war. With the addition of the United States fighting alongside with the Australians now in the Pacific, they would also take responsibility for their defense by providing equipment and reinforcements. In response to the new equipment and reinforcements that America provided Australia would lose fears of an imminent invasion. While Australia directed its main effort towards the war in Japan, hundreds of thousands of Australians continued to fight in Europe. Meanwhile, in the fight against the Nazi regime would continue on, Australia lost more than 30,000 Soldiers to Japan as prisoners of war. Out of those 30,000 Soldiers in captivity, 10,000 would die. At the conclusion of the war, both Germany and Japan would surrender to the allied nations. Consequently, Australia would lose more than 40,000

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