Essay On Australia's Involvement In Ww2

World War II was a very historic period. It lasted from 1939 to 1945, almost 6 years. During this period the Allied nations, consisting of Britain, France, America versus the Axis power, consisting of Germany and Japan. The Australia/ America Alliance was solidified due to Japan’s involvement in war. The key events that solidified this alliance is the: attack on Pearl Harbour, the relationship between Australian Prime Minister John Curtin and US General Douglas MacArthur and the

Australia’s response to the threat of communism after WW2 was extraordinary. Australia and its politicians immediately recognised what could happen of a result of the domino theory. With the Soviet Union influencing so many countries and causing China, Vietnam, and North Korea to turn Communist it was only matter of time until it reached Australia, and all in all this was when Australia took action.

Many people still thought that a woman's place was "in the kitchen", this changed shortly after the second world war. 500,000 women joined the workforce post WW1 because all of the men had gone to war. This set Australia up and benefited from more people with a wider experience in many jobs.

Although both the World Wars had significant impacts on Australians, the statement that wartime controls in World War One had a greater impact on Australians than they did in World War Two is fairly inaccurate. There are a number of reasons as to why this was the case, as demonstrated through the government 's wartime controls. One of the wartime controls that was utilised by the government in both World Wars but had greater impact on Australians in World War Two was conscription. Another wartime control that had a higher degree of impact on Australians in World War Two than in World War One was the detainment and isolation of ‘enemy aliens’ when the government again took steps to protect their national security. With such a large number of servicemen deployed overseas, the role of women in Australia also changed drastically to meet the needs of the armed forces, the government and the economy and this influenced Australian life more in World War Two. Therefore, although both wars affected the lives of many Australians in mental, physical, social and economic aspects, the wartime controls of World War Two had a much greater impact on Australians than in World War One.

During World War I, the Australian home front was impacted by a long and varying list of occurrences during the period of time between the years of 1914 to 1918. The home front was influenced politically through the arguments over the conscription vote and as Australia became divided between the different war beliefs. It was also influenced by social change, as the use of censorship drastically altered the Australians’ views of war and women began to pick up odd jobs in order to assist the soldiers as very few of them were allowed to directly help as nurses in Gallipoli. There were also extreme economic alterations as the wages in Australia were pushed down and prices were pushed up, and the country discarded major trade partners who had become their enemy.

Politically the great depression hit Australia hard, as many Australians lost confidence in their government representatives. A number of radical or extremist organizations gather strength and popularity as a result of the large scale public dissatisfaction. In Australia the developing of the new capital Canberra was put to a stop leaving a population of 7,000 in limbo, workers were laid off and the federal capital commission was abolished. The Sydney harbor bridge was a great way of bringing employment back into Australia during the depression. At the time of the war and after the great depression it was Australian best interest to have an alliance with Great Britain. Australia needed to form an alliance with Great Britain during World War II, because if the war ended up near or in Australia, we would need the help from Great Britain and their allies. Having Great Britain as its ally at that time was the right thing to do as it protected its colonies from the imperil japan and other foreign invaders. During the period of 1942 Australia was extremely worried as the fall of Singapore in February 1942 and had the threat of a possibility of a Japanese

Australia 's prime minister had changed from John Curtin to Francis Forde to Ben Chifley. He realised that Australia needed a long term plan so that the people of Australia could protect and defend themselves from potential attacks. World War 2 ended in about 1945 and communists (people who wanted everyone to be equal) started popping up in Australia. Australia was under heaps of stress due to war and other issues and they needed to populate or perish.

Australia was not one of the main countries involved in WW1, however one cannot say they did not contribute largely. From The Western front to The Middle East, Australian troops fought bravely on what appeared to be “The war to end all wars”. Of course one would say that Gallipoli was the most known campaign but it was in The Western Front where the Australian troops fought it what was regarded to be the most important theatre of war.

In the duration of the 20th century after WWII, in which two significant events occurred which were the fall of Singapore to the Japanese army and the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese- the fear and the threat towards the system of communism started to emerge and expand throughout Australia. As these events occurred they also encouraged the Australian government to really think more closely about issues of national security in the post war environment. Also in order to protect Australia from future attacks or wars, Prime Minister Robert Menzies set out to ally Australia more closely with the United States. In the decades after WWII, a fear of the growing influence of communism in Asia also meant that Australian governments were willing to send troops to conflicts in Asia. As

There were two main ways in which the women in Australia made a lasting impact on the Australian home front. In 1914 24% of Australian women worked, however in 1918 37% of women in Australia worked which is a 13% increase throughout the war. The reason why the number of women working increased was due to the lack of men in the workforce and many women had to take over the vacancies or the Australian economy would have lost a large amount of the work force and would have had a recession throughout the war. In 1914 the Red Cross was created to contribute towards the war effort in Europe and by the end of the war there were over 200 charities operating throughout Australia. Many women volunteered with different charities as a way of increasing the moral of Australian troops fighting in Europe by sending welfare packages which included socks, cigarettes and food.

Extending over five years, 1st September 1939 to 2nd September 1945, World War Two, (WWII), which was fought throughout many campaigns, battles and attacks, caused large amounts of death and destruction on a global size as the Allied Forces, of whom came out victorious, fought against the Axis powers. The Battle of Kokoda was a significant battle in WWII for the Australian soldiers and the Australian population as a whole due to feats overcome by Australian militia which significantly influenced Australia’s national identity, as well as helping to shape and showcase the personality of the young boys who grew into men and the courageous acts completed by ‘true-blue aussies’ which saved the Australian mainland from isolation and invasion by the

The end of World War One saw the dawning of a new age of Australia. It had a great effect on the Australian economy and social structure of the world. The Great War resulted in the death of empires, birth of nations and national boundaries being redrawn around the world. It ushered in prosperity for some countries while it brought economic depression to others. It influenced literature and it changed culture.

In the period following WWII there was a growing fear within Australia of communism. The common belief was that communism would spread from the USSR to Asian countries and eventually reach Australia. This theory is known today as the domino theory.

Australia became involved in the First World War because they were part of the British Empire at the time. Once Britain declared war, Australia was automatically involved in the war, as well as all her other colonies.

The events of World War Two such as the failed Malaya campaign, the fall of Singapore, the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the stretched resources of Britain, led to Australia developing a more independent foreign policy however, independent of Britain. The changing of alliance between Britain, Australia and the United States of America has led to a substantial impact on shaping Australian society and where Australia are today. The fall of Singapore and the Malaya campaign brought the war extremely close to Australia even reaching Australian soil for the first time and generated new opinions and perspectives on the war for all Australians. Furthermore, with its greatest military defeat of all time, Britain had to recover and Australia had to