Widespread empathy for Great Britain's cause Large sections of the Australian community felt loyal to Britain when the war was declared. More than 90% of migrants to Australia in the 8 years before 1914 were from the United Kingdom. Many Australians still called England 'the mother country'.
Most Australians believed that they were a part of the British Empire and wanted to do all they could to protect it. It was popularly believed that participation in the war would also 'prove' Australia as a new nation.
One reason that Australia was important to the British Empire was its size. The British Empire was the only empire in history to control an entire continent. Another reason was that it was a destination for British colonists. Australia began as a penal colony.
Australia's involvement in the First World War began when Britain and Germany went to war on 4 August 1914, and both Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher, who were in the midst of an election campaign, pledged full support for Britain.
As Commonwealth realms, the two countries share a monarch, King Charles III, and are both active members within the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair became the first British head of government to address the Australian Parliament. Australia maintains a High Commission in London.
British settlement of Australia began as a penal colony governed by a captain of the Royal Navy. Until the 1850s, when local forces began to be recruited, British regular troops garrisoned the colonies with little local assistance.
It maintains significant ties with ASEAN and has become steadfastly allied with New Zealand, through long-standing ties dating back to the 1800s. The country also has a longstanding alliance with the United States of America.
As part of the British Empire, Australia was among the first nations to declare war on Nazi Germany and between 1939 and 1945 nearly one million Australian men and women served in what was going to be the Second World War.
They also wanted money, to support themselves and family, so they thought attending war would give them a lot of money. They also wanted to show that they were willing to fight for their mother country so that their peers and young women were proud of them. They also wanted to enlist because of the hatred of the 'Hun'.
Introduction. Australia was a collection of British colonies from 1788 until 1901. The first colonies were established as places where criminals were sent to live and work. These were known as convict settlements or penal colonies.
While Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606. The Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline.
If the British had never come in the first place, it is highly likely the east coast of Australia at least would be French. The Dutch might have claimed Tasmania and New Zealand both, and possibly parts of Western Australia as well.
Widespread empathy for Great Britain's cause
Large sections of the Australian community felt loyal to Britain when the war was declared. More than 90% of migrants to Australia in the 8 years before 1914 were from the United Kingdom. Many Australians still called England 'the mother country'.
Unlike the other countries engaged in World War I, conscription was not introduced in Australia. All the Australians who fought in World War I were volunteers. Prime Minister Billy Hughes made two attempts to introduce conscription: two conscription referenda were held in 1916 and 1917.
World War I had a damaging effect on the economy. Although it stimulated new industries, some were not competitive. As an importer of labour, capital, and manufactured goods, and an exporter of commodities, Australia benefited from its relationship with the British Empire.
At first, Australia was only a colony in the sense of being a penal colony - somewhere to send England's undesirables. Later discoveries of mineable deposits - including precious metals and gemstones - made the place more attractive in the traditional colonial sense.
The Federation conventions. Convinced the colonies would be stronger if they united, Sir Henry Parkes gave a rousing address at Tenterfield, New South Wales in 1889 calling for 'a great national government for all Australians'. Parkes's call provided the momentum that led to Australia becoming a nation.
By the end of 1915 it became harder for Aboriginal Australians to enlist, and some were rejected because of their race. But this did not deter others, and some travelled hundreds of kilometres to enlist after being turned down at centres closer to their communities.
The German soldiers feared and respected the skills of the Australians. In a letter captured and translated by the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade in May 1918, a German soldier wrote to his mother: We are here near ALBERT, I am in the foremost line, about 200 metres opposite the British.
And the German learned to fear Australians, because they were reckless, ruthless - and revengeful. During the Third Battle of Ypres, autumn 1917, the ANZAC's (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) met the Germans on high ground, in front of Polygon Wood.
The US naval victory at the battle of Midway, in early June 1942, removed the Japan's capability to invade Australia by destroying its main aircraft carriers. This made it safe for Australia to begin to transfer military power to fight the Japanese in Australian Papua and New Guinea.
Foreign relations between neighbouring countries Australia and New Zealand, also referred to as Trans-Tasman relations, are extremely close. Both countries share a British colonial heritage as antipodean Dominions and settler colonies, and both are part of the core Anglosphere.
Australia has a mature relationship with Russia that allows us to confront our differences directly when necessary but work constructively where our interests intersect. Bilateral contact has been limited since Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, and the July 2014 downing of flight MH17.
After establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1972, Australia established an embassy in Beijing in 1973. The Australia-China bilateral relationship is based on strong economic and trade complementarities and longstanding community and cultural links.