aUSTRALIA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH BRITAIN CHANGED IN A FUNDEMENTAL WAY DURING THE PERIOD OF 1931- 45
...8-1910 and we demanded separate nation status at Versailles Conference after World War 1. By 1931, the British were willing under pressure from Canada to grant the dominions the right to formulate their own dependant foreign policy; this was made law by the Statute of Westminster. The Statute of Westminster was not ratified by conservative UAP government, therefore showing Australia relied on Britain even though it gave us independence. When Great Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939 so did Australia, we declared war immediately, with no parliamentary debate. Australia was not untouched and war was 4,000 miles away and yet because Britain was in it, patriotism in 1939 resulted with duty to Britain. On December 7, 1941 were the attacks on Pearl Harbour, they were a sign of entry of Japanese into the war. Australians knew that they Japanese had attacked Mantchuria in 1931; they saw it as an act of aggression. In 1937, the Japanese attacked China, 300, 000 people killed (as Hitler barks down on a road of aggression so does Japan). The “Rape of Nanking” in 1938 conditioned our view of Japan's aggresive foreign policy however enlistings maintained at a balance. Australians viewed the Japanese as poorly equipped and short sighted. Also in 1941, a new labour government was elected and John Curtin was made prime minister. His message was that “Every human being in this country whether they like it or not is at the service of this government in the defense of Australia”. 1942 was the turning point of Australia’s relationship with Britain. On the 28th February, 1942 was the Fall of Singapore. 17, 000 Australian troops (a whole division) were taken prison and 1/3 of Aussie troops never came back. After 1942, Australia’s relationship with Britain was fundamentally changed. The fall of Singapore proved that Britain had failed to protect Australia, thus the Curtin government looked to USA for a new defense relationship. After the fall of Singap...