Year 10 History

AUSTRALIAS INVOLVEMENT IN
WW2
 Key Points
World War II started when Great
Britain declared war on Germany in
1939. It ended in 1945.
The war was fought between the
Allied Nations (a group of countries
that included Great Britain, the
United States of America, Australia
and New Zealand) against the Axis
powers spearheaded by Germany,
Italy and Japan.
Almost one million Australians were
involved in World War II.
The Australian mainland came under
direct military attack for the first time.
World War II was the deadliest
conflict in history.
 Why did Australia become involved in
WW2?

Australia and the

Empire
Read the following extract from the
speech on the 3 September 1939 by the
Prime Minister of Australia in 1939,

Robert Menzies:
My fellow Australians
It is my melancholy (sad) duty to inform you that, in
consequence of the persistence by Germany (because of what
Germany has done) in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has
declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at
war.
No harder task can fall to the lot of a democratic leader than to
make such an announcement.
Great Britain and France, with the cooperation of the
Dominions (countries connected with Great Britain and France),
have struggled to avoid this tragedy. They haveI firmly
believe, been patient: they have kept the door of negotiations
open; they have given no cause for provocation (an attack).
But, in the result, their efforts have failed, and we are
therefore, as a great family of nations, involved in a struggle
which we must at all costs win, and which we believe in our
hearts we will win...

Listen at: http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/wardeclared/

Why Australia became involved in World
War 2 (in a nutshell)
Australia was drawn into World War 2 because:
Australia was connected to Britain in many ways, such as similar politics and culture
Also, Australia had once been a colony of Britain (Australia, because it had once been owned
by Britain, decided it had to go to war because Britain decided to go to war)
Although Australia had the right to determine its own foreign policy (Australia decided who it
could be friends or enemies with), Australia usually followed Britain's lead in European matters
(so, for events in Europe, Australia just did what Britain did).
Most Australian citizens were of British or Irish stock - there was a familial bond (people felt
they were the same as British or Irish people), so there was a close connection between Britain
and Australia
Australia's Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, followed British Prime Minister Chamberlain's
policy of appeasement; when that didnt work, Australia felt it should then oppose Germany,
just as Germany had.
Australia followed Britain expecting that, in return, Britain would help protect Australia should
Japan invade
 Task One
1. Menzies said that because Great Britain had
declared war on Germany that Australia was also
at war. What does this tell you about the way
Australians thought about Great Britain at this
time?

2. What do you know about Australia and

Australians at that time that might explain why
Australians at the time thought that way?

3. Do you think Australians have the same

attitude to Great Britain today? Why do you think
Australians have this attitude today?

4. Thinking about recent wars, like Iraq and

Afghanistan, is there any country today that
Australia seems to follow into wars? Why do you
think Australians have this attitude today?
 Background to the war in the Pacific.
One of the major ways Australia was involved in fighting
during WW2 was in Asia against the Japanese.

Although Japan had said it would not become involved in

the war, it actually did in 1941. Although the war had been
mostly in Europe until then, it was now also in the Pacific,
and this became known as The Pacific War. Australia and
Britain were heavily involved with fighting the Japanese,
but America was not involved in the war at all.

Japan then attacked an America naval base at Pearl Harbor,

and also seemed headed to Australia when they attacked
Singapore in 1942.

America then declared war on Japan and sent troops to the

Pacific to fight the Japanese.

The Japanese moved swiftly southwards capturing the

British naval base at Singapore and the Philippines before
launching an attack on New Guinea.
The map on the next slide shows the Japanese advance
during World War II:
During the final days of December 1941, the Australian Prime Minister at that time, John Curtin, brought
back to Australia the Australian troops who were fighting in the Middle East so that they could defend
Australia. In his New Year message to the people of Australia, his comments included the now famous
words:
Without any inhibitions1 of any kind, I made it quite clear (to the American president) that Australia
looks to America2, free of any pangs3 as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom.

1: inhibitions limits; restrictions

2: looks to America relies on; led by
3: pangs feelings of pain or upset
 Task Two
Reflection:
Think back to the speech by the prime
minister of Australia in 1939 (Menzies), and
your answers about:
the connections Australians felt to Britain
and
the idea of Australia having connections to
countries other than Britain today,
consider:

Did your answers include the sorts of

connections to Britain that Curtin talked
about, and the connection with America? To
ensure you are aware of such things, write a
comment about those aspects now.
 1942: The Fall of Singapore
Many British and Australian soldiers were in Singapore at
the time. Although Britain and Australia were confident
they could defend Singapore against the Japanese, the
Japanese attacked Singapore and took it over. Why?
Firstly
Define propaganda: misleading or bias information or
advertisement towards a political point of view.
Define stereotype: a generalisation of a group of
people.
Look at the following information and answer the
questions that follow in Task 3 (below):
Propaganda posters
 Propaganda poster
Who and what do you see?
I see a Japanese man holding a knife with full of blood holding
up a sign saying Much waste of material make so happy
thank you. The hat with the rising sun . Making fun of their
English. Has small eyes and ink is written in blood.
Whats the author/creator wanting people to do/think?
A message to the Allied nations was to stop waisting their
resources so that they can not defeat us.
Document A

Document B

Document C
Russell Braddon, a 21-year-old Australian gunner, was captured and spent four years in Changi
prisoner-of-war camp. He survived, and went on to become an outstanding journalist. On April 23,
1983, two days before Anzac Day, he wrote an article for the Sydney Morning Herald called Remember
Singapore:
We were fed lies about our potential enemy. Disregarding Japans recent history (of which we were
ignorant), our intelligence officers (told) us that Japanese soldiers were both physically and militarily
inadequate.
we were toldthey were puny, myopic, afraid of the dark and badly armed. (If only) we had been (as
well-armed) as they wereas they raced through the jungle with confidence.
We may not be in a position to defend ourselves for another hundred years, but we should never
again be asked to face an enemy about whom everything that we have been told is either untrue or
wishful thinking.
The negative image created about the Japanese by propaganda during wartime was to have damaging
consequences. The residents of Singapore, including our own soldiers, truly believed that the eyesight
of the Japanese was extremely poor and that they suffered from being unable to see clearly at night.
So, they believed that the Japanese could not fly at night, and, therefore, not bomb at night. This
negative belief, applied to all Japanese flyers, became the basis on which predictions were made about
how the Japanese would behave; the facts were ignored.
So, when the Japanese flew over Singapore at night to bomb it, they were amazed to find there were
no blackout procedures (blackout is turning off all lights all over the city). In fact, the city was lit up
like a Christmas tree.
The negative stereotype that the Japanese were poor fighters, with poor equipment and poor eyesight,
that had been used by the British and Australians to make the Japanese seem hopeless and ridiculous,
falsely became the basis of determining the fighting ability of the Japanese.

Document D
 Task Three
1a. Make a list of the things that made it easier for the Japanese to take over
Singapore, and also identify which document had the information. You may
wish to put this in a table like the one below:

What made it easier for the Japanese to take over Singapore?

Document A Document B Document C Document D

1b. Using all the evidence write a detailed paragraph that sums up your findings.

2. Now reflect on the role of propaganda in the fall of Singapore: How did the beliefs
and attitudes about the Japanese (which had been created and promoted by
propaganda used by Britain and Australia) make it unnecessarily difficult for the British
and Australians when they had to defend Singapore?