Diplomatic history of Australia facts for kids

The diplomatic history of Australia is all about how Australia has dealt with other countries throughout history. For a long time, Australia's main connection was with Great Britain. But in the 20th century, things changed a lot! Australia started making friends and working with countries beyond just Britain and Western Europe. After 1941, its closest friends became the United States and New Zealand, forming an important agreement called ANZUS. In recent times, Australia's trade with China has grown hugely, though their relationship has had its ups and downs.

Australia in the 1930s: Trying to Keep the Peace

In the 1930s, Australia was a small nation of about 7 million people. The biggest worry for Australia, and for many other countries, was the fear of war. Everyone wanted to avoid conflict, especially with powerful nations like Germany, Japan, and Italy. This led to a policy called appeasement, which meant trying to keep peace by giving in to some demands from these countries.

Australia strongly supported Britain's efforts to appease Germany. Australia was also very worried about Japan, a large country with a strong military and big plans in Asia. Because Japan was Australia's second-biggest trading partner, Australian leaders and business people hoped to keep Japan happy to avoid war. Even while trying to keep the peace, Australia also started to build up its own military, just in case. However, Australia was too small to make a big difference on its own in world affairs back then.

Changing Friends: From Britain to the United States

When World War II began in September 1939, Australia was part of the British Empire. Australia relied on Britain to protect it, especially from Japan. When Britain declared war on Germany, Australia quickly joined in. The Prime Minister at the time, Robert Menzies, said that Australia would stand with Britain. Australia was one of the first nations to help Britain, sending its soldiers to fight in the Middle East and North Africa.

But everything changed on 7 December 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japan then attacked many other places in Southeast Asia, including Singapore. Singapore was very important for Britain's defense plans, but it fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. Thousands of Australian soldiers were captured. Australia suddenly felt alone and unprotected.

Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was focused on the war in Europe and couldn't send much help to Australia. So, Australia's Prime Minister, John Curtin, turned to the United States. He famously said, "Australia looks to America." This moment marked a huge change: Australia began to rely on the United States instead of Great Britain for its safety.

Australia and the United States: A New Friendship

Australia sent its first official diplomat to another country in January 1940, and that country was the United States. After Japan attacked Darwin in Australia, US President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur to move his American base from the Philippines to Brisbane. By 1943, over 120,000 American soldiers were in Australia.

At first, Australians welcomed the Americans warmly, but sometimes there were small disagreements. General MacArthur worked very closely with the Australian government and took charge of their combined military operations. The fighting against Japan continued in Southeast Asia for two more years. MacArthur used a strategy called "island hopping" for his American troops, which meant skipping some islands and attacking others to get closer to Japan. He suggested that Australian troops should continue clearing out Japanese forces from places like New Guinea and Borneo.

Australia's Changing Population: A New Look at Immigration

After World War II, Australia's society changed a lot, especially with new ideas about who could live in Australia. Immigration played a huge part in this. After the war, the Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, started a program to help people move to Australia. His famous slogan was "populate or perish," meaning Australia needed more people to grow and be safe. The government especially wanted people with skills for industries.

At first, Australia looked to Britain for new arrivals. The program was popular with young couples and single people because it was cheap and offered a new adventure. But soon, there weren't enough ships, and not enough people were coming. So, in a big step, Australia started looking beyond Britain for migrants.

In 1947, Arthur Calwell agreed to bring 12,000 people each year from countries like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Many of these people were refugees who needed a new home. They were welcomed on humanitarian grounds, meaning out of kindness, but they had to agree to stay in Australia for two years and work in jobs chosen by the government.

Over the next 20 years, immigration continued to change. More agreements were made with other countries. In the late 1950s, Australia started accepting more immigrants from the Middle East. In 1958, a new law removed the "dictation test," which had been used to stop non-European people from entering Australia. Now, people from non-European countries could come if they had skills Australia needed and could fit into Australian society. This attracted many professionals and skilled workers.

By the late 20th century, the idea of a "White Australia policy" was very unpopular around the world. This policy was eventually stopped. Since then, Australia has welcomed many migrants from Asia and other parts of the world, leading to a policy of 'multiculturalism', where many cultures live together.

The Cold War and Australia's Role

After World War II, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States, who had been allies, became rivals. This led to the Cold War, a period of tension without direct fighting. It was a struggle between two different ways of life: Communism (led by the USSR) and Capitalism (led by the US). Australia firmly sided with the United States. The Cold War became the most important influence on Australia's foreign policy.

As the world divided into two main groups, Australia strengthened its alliance with the USA. Australia, along with Britain and France, became a key ally of the USA in the Asia-Pacific region. Countries like China (after 1949) and North Vietnam (after 1954) supported the Soviet Union. Australia worried about the spread of Communism in Asia, especially after the Communist Revolution in China in 1949 and North Korea's attack on South Korea in 1950.

Australia looked to the US as its new "great and powerful friend" to help stop Communism. The Australian government worked hard to link Australia's foreign policy to the US in the Asia-Pacific. Two major agreements were made in the 1950s:

• ANZUS: An agreement between Australia, New Zealand, and the US to help each other if attacked.
• SEATO: A larger agreement for defense if any member was attacked. Members included the US, Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, and South Vietnam.

The Vietnam War

When communist North Vietnam attacked South Vietnam, many Western countries, including Australia, saw it as a step towards Communism taking over democratic nations. Australia's government believed in "forward defense," meaning they wanted to stop Communism far away from Australia, in Southeast Asia. Sending troops to the Vietnam War was seen as a way to strengthen Australia's alliance with the USA, especially after Britain had reduced its presence in the region.

In October 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson became the first US President to visit Australia. This visit happened as more and more people around the world were criticizing the war in Vietnam. Most Australians seemed to support the war at first. However, many Australians also started protesting. They wondered why Australia was following the United States into a war that seemed to have little to do with them. The Prime Minister, Harold Holt, famously said, "All the way with L.B.J.," showing how closely Australia was tied to US policy.

By 1970, anti-war feelings grew very strong in Australia. Huge rallies, church services, and candlelight marches took place. Many different people joined the "moratorium movement," from young activists to mothers of soldiers, and even famous politicians and artists.

The strong feelings about the war in Australia helped lead to the election of the first Labor government in 23 years in 1972. The new Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, immediately stopped conscription (forcing people to join the army) and brought Australian troops home from Vietnam. The US signed a peace treaty for Vietnam in 1973, after pulling out its troops in 1972. However, South Vietnam was eventually taken over by North Vietnam in 1975.

New Relationships: Moving Closer to Asia

The Whitlam government, a new kind of Labor government, wanted Australia to be more independent from the US. They felt that Australia shouldn't automatically follow US defense policy. This annoyed the United States government. For example, when US President Nixon bombed North Vietnam in late 1972, some Australian politicians publicly criticized him, which briefly stopped cooperation between Australia and America.

Instead, Whitlam focused on Australia's closer neighbors in Asia. He removed the last parts of the "White Australia Policy" and introduced a new system for entry. With race no longer a barrier, many people from Asia, especially Vietnam, started moving to Australia. This change helped shift Australia's foreign policy focus from the USA to Asia and greatly increased trade with Asian countries.

In 1973, Australia officially recognized the People's Republic of China as the "real" China. It became a priority to build a more open political and trading relationship with China. Dr. Stephen Fitzgerald became the first Australian ambassador to China, and Australia encouraged understanding and appreciation of China's history and culture. The Whitlam government was moving Australia away from its past racist views and towards a multicultural future.

Recent Times: Continuing Changes

The focus on multiculturalism and stronger ties with Asia continued even after the Whitlam government ended in 1975. Relationships with China kept growing until the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in 1989. Like many other nations, Australia stopped diplomatic and trade relations with China for two years after these events.

Australia also developed a relationship with Indonesia. In 1975, when Indonesian troops invaded Portuguese Timor, the Whitlam government did not object strongly. Maintaining good relations with Indonesia was seen as the most important thing at the time. Later, Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating also supported Indonesia, even though Indonesia continued to mistreat the people of East Timor.

When John Howard became Prime Minister in 1996, he took a different approach to the East Timor conflict. He quickly sent peacekeeping forces to East Timor and supported their independence. This support for a mostly Christian country against a Muslim nation affected Australia's reputation with other Muslim countries.

Since the 1970s, when Vietnamese "boat people" started arriving, many waves of refugees from troubled countries in Asia and other parts of the world have sought safety in Australia. Many have faced dangerous journeys. How to deal with these refugees has been a very difficult political issue in Australia.

Images for kids

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  Keating with U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993.

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  Howard maintained a strong friendship with US President George W. Bush.