The Kokoda Campaign : World War Two Impacted Australia

Australia’s new dependence on America resulted in a large influx of American soldiers to Australia and while Australian society was initially accepting and welcoming of their unorthodox culture, behaviours and morals, this quickly turned to contempt and created an unsavoury relationship between Australians and Americans whom they saw as being a bad influence on the women and youth of Australia. Australians regarded Americans as being, “overpaid, oversexed and over-here”. However, while this had the possibility to cause influential divides in society, Australians realised the necessity for the American presence in their country and the security they had provided, overruling any irritation felt towards them. The Australian war effort in the pacific regions had also served to amplify and fuel the ‘Anzac legend’ creating a national sense of pride and unity during the war. Australia’s involvement in the Second World War thus served to create a more independent Australia, in charge of its own policies and decisions in foreign affairs, creating cohesion within society.

Australia entered the war in 1939 and it became at their doorstep on the 19th February 1942, Nazi Germany and Japan were major enemies to Australia during the war. Australia’s foreign policy and changing alliance during 1942 impacted our national identity because Australia developed a new relationship with America, while it weakened the strong connection with Britain, which demonstrates that Australia was starting to become its own independent country. At the beginning of war, Australia had a strong relationship and alliance with Britain, making Britain their leaders when entering the war. Secondly, as the war progressed Australia began to look to America as an opportunity for protection from the Japanese, while Britain was fighting their own

Although Australia’s relationship with the British was weakened as the result of actions during WW2 our relationship with the USA was the reciprocal; this period resulted in a strengthening of ties with the Americans. A few key events were pivotal in this change. The first of these was when General Douglas MacArthur took over the defence of Australia and the Pacific Campaign in March 1942, discarding the current battle plan of holding ‘The Brisbane Line’. Instead in his quote “...so I instantly changed the conception (The Brisbane Line) with the basic thought that the ‘battle of Australia’ would be settled in the little islands to the north, north-east and north-west. I would make my fight there - win, lose or draw” explains that the battles, in which the fate of Australia would be decided, were to occur in the Philippines.

The significance of Kokoda for Australian’s can be seen in many different ways. In a strategic sense and also in a symbolic sense. Firstly, the Kokoda Campaign saved Australia from possible invasion, or more precisely from being isolated from the United States of America . Secondly, Kokoda was the battle that lead to victory in the Second World War, as well as to improvement of Australia’s post-war practices and military operations. Symbolically, the Kokoda Track will be remembered when Australia’s think of the Second World War, just like when you think of the First World War, the landing at Gallipoli looms large, both have captured the Australian imagination. Each year five thousand Australians take up the mentally and physically

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

Yet, the amount of emphasis that is placed on the Anzac legend could be argued to be incorrectly placed and channelled by certain groups for their own gain. This essay will argue that the Anzac legacy of the Australians being the perfect soldier is highly embellished and are no more remarkable than any other soldier. Furthermore the importance and Australia’s involvement in the First World War has been grossly inflated. Additionally, this will analyse claims made by historians and other academics about how the Anzac legend has changed overtime, and Australia’s involvement in wars.

The Western Front, while the main focus of combat in WW1, many Australians ignore this part of the war, as they focus more on the Gallipoli campaign and its legend. However with the centenary of the First World War here, many people have begun to realise that Australia was involved in other theatres of the war, and not just Gallipoli. The focus of this essay will be on the Events leading up to Australia’s involvement, the weapons of the western front, life in the trenches, trench warfare, The Battle of Fromelles and the End of the war.

The reason japan raided and attacked Australia wasn't because we were a threat to them and we were going to invade them it was because their leader wanted to invade and attack and colonise Timor how ever Japan thought that if they invaded Timor they somehow thought that Australia would either invade japan of worse ruin their planes and help defend Timor and help fight of the Japanese. This attack was not provoked, Australia was going up against Japan in the war but was not considered a threat to them due to the fact that they were aided with America.

During World War II, of the 7 million people who lived in Australia, 550 000 served overseas in the armed forces. While this was a high proportion of the population and they all fought bravely in battle, it still can not be said that their efforts made a significant contribution to the course and outcome of the war. In campaigns such as Tobruk and El Alamein in North Africa and, primarily, Papua New Guinea, the Australian troops gave a good account of themselves and made significant contributions to the battles in each of these areas. However, in comparison to battles in the European theatre of

On the 25th of April 1915, Australia took its first major step as a nation by sending soldiers off to fight in Gallipoli; these soldiers charged and fought their way through countless challenges, forging themselves a legend, but more importantly – forging Australia an identity. As time sparks controversy and scepticism, many begin to doubt the validity of the ANZAC legend. This opinion however, is unmistakably inaccurate as many diverse and credible sources document the ANZACS battle against their trials and tribulations as being heroic. The ANZACs endurance, mateship and courage are undoubtedly an accurate depiction of the ANZAC legend.

The Kokoda trail is significant to Australia’s history as the Australians showed great courage and mate ship in what was one of the most important battles that affected Australia’s out come in World War II. Kokoda was more important to Australia as it was fought close to Australia’s shores and we were fighting to attempt to prevent Australia being invaded by the Japanese, compared to other battles fought far away for the British Empire such as Gallipoli. Kokoda was significant due to the different style of fighting to suit the surroundings of dense forest and that Australian defense forces where the first to inflict defeat on the Japanese Army in World War II. The Kokoda trail battle was due to Japan in World War II, they were attempting to

To sum up, it can be seen that with Japan intention of expanding its imperial force ultimately led to the attack on Darwin, where the consequences that followed the attack have manifested into making the event a significant one in Australian

The terrain on the Kokoda Track was very mountainous, with frequent mist and heavy rain. The dense jungle of Papua New Guinea was good at concealing big groups of men, which worked in both sides favour, as a result of this the Australian soldiers could not see and communicate with each other properly and they often got lost in the jungle. Fighting in the jungle resembles fighting at night, as they couldn’t aim properly through the foliage. These reasons support the fact that terrain, along with inexperience, were obstacles faced by the Australians on the Kokoda track in

World War I (1914-1918) was considered the 'Great War' and Australia’s Gallipoli campaign has always been considered as the pinnacle of the Australian military feats. This is due to the constant glorification of the event despite the fact it was an unmitigated failure. However, the work of the Australian army force in the most important battleground of WW1 the 'Western Front' is often cast under the shadow of Gallipoli. The battles on the Western Front took place in France, Belgium and parts of Germany and this is where some of the most pivotal battles were fought. The contribution and success of the Australians will be assessed through the analysis of several sources related to four major contributions related to the Western Front. These include the amount of Australians involved, the external opinions of Australia in the Western front, The Battle of

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