Figure 1.--Cricket at the time of World War II was still the Australian national sport, to some almost a relgion. Thus was just one of the many British traditiins that dominated Australian life. The first test match was hekd (1877) between Austrakia and Britain. The rivalry was intense. Perhaps a sign of the times that the relationship with the mother country was cahanging, the British captain, Douglas Jardin, at the 1933 Test Match with Australia at the Adekeid Oval adopted the rather unsportsman like tactic of bowling the ball at the Australian batters, essentially beaning them. It was called 'biodyline'. It caused a sensation at the time. and the two governments had to intervene.

Australia was an isolated corner of the British Empire, about as isolated as you can get ion the globe. The closeest bneibir to the south coast where mos of the people live is Antartica. Very few Austalians had traveled abroad. And very few Ameruicans or Europeans had been to Australia. Bfore budget air travel, foreign trips were a province of the wealthy. There had been great enthusiasm for coming to Britain's assistance when World War I broke out in Europe (1914). Most Australians were still of British stock and still saw Britain as the mother country. The fact that Britain declared war for Australia did not come into political focus until the conscription debate and even more so after the War. Australians as people in other countries, including Britain and America, after the War began to see it as a huge mistake. This provided great support for the Labour Party which like the British Labor Party with its Socialist underpinnings approached pacifism. The war crisis woud change that as in Britain. Most Austrlians were still of British stock. And the country's customs and traditions were largely British. Many Australians began to question Australia's constitutional status and ties with Britain, especially when Britain proved unable to quarantee Australian security. Prime-Minister John Curtin (1941-45) who became Australia's prime-minister only 2 months before Pearl Harbor would lead this fundamental change. Ironically, he had began his political carrer as an outspoken critic of war in general, and Workd War I in particular, opposing militarty spebndingb in the inter-war period. He would, however, be Australia's war-time prime minister in the greatest war of all time. Perhaps a confirmation of Trotsky's dictum. "You may not like war, but war will find you." And he right away would have major disagreements with British Prime-Ministrer Winston Churchill. The 1 million American servicemen that would pass through Australia during the War would play a role in this monumental reorientation. It not only occurred at the top, but with the population as a whole. The gact that it was the Americans and not the British that would come to Audtralia's rescue was an eye-opening exoperience for most Australians.

Created: 2:44 AM 3/24/2023
Last updated: 2:44 AM 3/24/2023