Preview

World War Two: Why Did Australia Get Involved?

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
312 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
World War Two: Why Did Australia Get Involved?
Why did Australia become involved in World War Two?

1) Australia and Britain shared the same king. When the king of England declared war on Germany, Australia also was at war. Australia had no choice in the matter.
2) The public did not like the aggressive nature of Hitler’s ambitions.
3) Australians WANTED to support Britain.
4) It was a show of strength in an attempt to persuade Hitler to back down.
5) Germany and Japan directly threatened Australia’s security.
6) It was the right thing to do.
7) By acting decisively Australia hoped to persuade other commonwealth nations to join Britain as well and to show the general population that Australia was serious about this war.
8) The one reason all Australians agreed upon for going to war was that Hitler and Germany were doing the wrong thing and the right thing to do was stop them invading countries.
9) The common theme on both sides of parliament was that Germany ruling other nations by force must be resisted.
10) There was a unity in deciding to support Britain from the Government. There was much discussion and debate on HOW we would support them.

Where did Australians fight?

The first contingent to leave Australia set sail for the Middle East in January 1940. Australians fought all over the world as part of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) or in other Empire forces.

o Britain – Battle of Britain 1940 o North Africa – Battle of Tobruk and El Alamein o Greece and Crete – Germans invaded Crete 1941 o Singapore – 1941-1942. Singapore invaded by the Japanese. o Burma – 1942 – Australian troops engaged in campaigns to prevent the Japanese invasion o Australia 1942 – Darwin bombed for the first time. o New Guinea – 1942-43. Australian groups involved in jungle warfare against the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    World War One was a war that affected Australia, its culture and history in ways that are still prevalent in today’s society. The hardships that the war placed on the country and its people helped to allow Australia to adapt and change to manage these issues in the best way possible for the continuation of Australia’s prosperity and cultural growth. However this also brings up the question as to whether or not World War One did not actually help bring the people of Australia together, but instead divided the Australian nation on multiple levels. There are many arguments as to why this is often believed to be the case, but there are also many other arguments which go against this idea stating that this war actually helped unify the nation due…

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Federation for Australia was when six independant Brisitsh colonies were no longer divided. It was the year “1901” when Federation happened for Australia. Federation took place because of the need to be more organised, to improve the defence of Australia, better transportation, stronger communication, to unify the economy and to strengthen the pride of being Australian. The idea of six colonies uniting as one had an apeal to people which lead to motivating the spirit of Australia and being as one. However, it was a long process to Federation, requiring referendums and the Queen's approval.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In March 1916, the Australian Imperial Force moved to France, and by July and August, the Australians were heavily involved on the Western Front. The 5th Division was the first to encounter the Germans on 19 July 1916 in a small but bloody engagement at…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Australia‟s experience with the Japanese in WWII, we were prepared to support any United…

    • 1881 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Australia has played many roles in international affairs after World War Two by associating with many organisations which included the United Nations in UN conventions and peacekeeping courses, regional agreements which included the Colombo Plan and APEC and also East Timor.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Forward Defense Policy was based on the concept that it was in Australia’s best interest to meet any threats to Australia as far away from the mainland as possible. This method of defense basically gave Australia more time, and wiped out a few 100 communists. It was Australia’s method to helping their allies fight against countries so they don’t arrive in Australia ground. Australian troops were frequently being sent overseas because of their support with the United States. This procedure of forward defense would get Australia setting up military bases outside Australia and it would convey them to Korea, Malay and Vietnam. This policy rooted that ‘it’s better to fight then over there than here’. This would control communism, forbidding it from spreading any further across Asia and eventually Australia. Since Menzies was a firm supporter in Forward defence, Menzies himself stated “We either commit ourselves with great friends and allies or we do not. If we do not, than then we must attend to our own defence… If there is a war of our own existence it should be carried out as far from our soil as possible". Forward defence required the fusion of Australia with its powerful allies. These "great friends" are Great Britain, our traditional ally, and the United States. Given that the United States became more actively involved in the Vietnam War,…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Honourable Prime Minister William Hughes has represented Australia on the world stage as a strong and independent nation. Firstly, Mr Hughes argued that Australia, and indeed other British nations be privately represented in President Wilson’s proposed League of Nations. Although a strong supporter of British rule, Mr Hughes noted that Australia’s considerable war effort justified the need for our nation to be independent in this regard. The Prime Minister also argued for compensation of Australia’s war costs, stating that Germany should pay for our war expenditures. Finally Mr Hughes lobbied against the inclusion of a clause to be included in the treaty guaranteeing the “Equality of nations and equal treatment of their nationals.”…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of war, young Australia wanted to prove their loyalty and worth to their “mother country” which they mostly still relied on. At the time, other nations had more men in their army then Britain, so Australia was keen to provide them with soldiers. When enlisting soldiers, the government hid their true thoughts and only provided the public with the exaggerated truth. As the war went on and more people died, Australians finally realized the truth of war. Even though their opinions changed, they still provided Britain with needed soldiers. Even when the armistice was signed and the war ended, the impacts was still felt in Australia for years…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it was first announced in April 1962 that Australia was to fight in Vietnam it was seen by the majority as necessary and needed. Many Australians supported the war because of their fear of communist advancement and the Domino Theory. They were motivated to support the war by the common dreaded thought that Australia might fall next to communist rule. Furthermore many Australians believed fully in the government as a protection strategy. This policy advocated…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of Menzies’ arguments was that Australia’s allies, specifically America, would require our help in the fight against communism in South Vietnam. At the start of the conflict, America had appealed towards its allies for help, particularly SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation), but also ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty), in actively supporting the containment of communism. In his speech, Prime Minister Menzies said, “as well as providing guarantees and assurances for our security, make demands upon us”. Australia realised that if we did not come to the aid of America in their time of need, then America would not do the same for us. It was a risk that we could not afford to take, as after WW2, Australia had made itself essentially dependent of US military aid. Therefore, Australia involved itself in the Vietnam War partially because of requests for help from the allied United States.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The majority of Australians supported the country's involvement in the Vietnam War in its early years mainly because of the threat of communism. Australia felt that if communism dominated South Vietnam it would be an even bigger risk to Australia because of the domino effect. If Vietnam fell into communism so will its neighboring countries including Australia. Australia did not want to fall into communism and agreeing to the request for help by South Vietnam, Australia supported the war and troops were immediately sent to Vietnam.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia in World War I is known to be a divided society, with its people and its government constantly fighting. Many Australians believed that the war wasn’t theirs to fight in; others believed that they should all support its mother country Britain. Half of the government believed conscription was the way, the other half not so much. The onset of war brought in…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia grew more divided between the anti-war movement and government supporters. Australia’s anti-war movement was strongly connected to protests against conscription, or ‘National Service’ as it was called. The conscription lasted for 42 years.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Australian Government also had a main part in the country's involvement in ‘WW1'. They wanted Australia to be feared by other countries and wanted to show adherence to Britain. This also gave Australia the upper hand as Britain would return the favour by joining Australia's side in battle if needed. Australian troops were also very naive at the thought of war and took it as an adventure. Pay was also far substantial to the average working wage which also influenced more volunteers to sign up.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Mordike, J. ‘An Army for an Empire: Britain and Australia’s Military Forces 1901-1903’ in Australian War Memorial, Vol 9, 1986.…

    • 3387 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays

Related Topics