War & upheaval (1909-1950)

Students investigate the debates and perspectives about Australia’s participation in World War One and World War Two.

Students analyse the ways in which social, political and economic cohesion of the nation was influenced by the impacts of these conflicts, including different perspectives about participation in war and conflict, enlistment and conscription and the ways that different groups experienced the war. (VCE History Study Design 2022–2026 p.56)

World Wars

World War 1914-1918

Horne, Julia The "knowledge front", women, war and peace. History of Education Review, 45(2), 151-167. 2016
Keneally, Thomas Australians : Eureka to the diggers
Larsson, Marina Shattered Anzacs: living with the scars of war
McKernan, Michael Victoria at war : 1914-1918
Newton, Douglas Hell-bent : Australia's leap into the Great War
Smart, Judith. Women waging war: The National Council of Women of Victoria 1914-1920 Victorian Historical Journal, Vol. 86, No. 1, Jun 2015: 61-82.
- choose PDF/EPUB link above Abstract to download full text
Post war play creates furore in Bendigo
- post war sectarianism and division
State Library Victoria blogs on World War 1
Voices from the Great War blog and video

World War 1939-1945

Dean, Peter (ed) Australia 1942 : in the shadow of war
McKerrow, John The American occupation of Australia, 1941-45 : a marriage of necessity
Australia in the War of 1939–1945.
- very detailed multi-volume official history
Saunders, Kay The dark shadow of white Australia: Racial anxieties in Australia in World War II Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1 April 1994, Vol.17(2), p.325-341
Tsokhas, Kosmas Anglo-Australian relations and the origins of the Pacific War History: The Journal of the Historical Association Vol. 80, No. 260 October 1995, pp. 400-420

Upheaval

Books

Macintyre, Stuart Australia's; boldest experiment : war and reconstruction in the 1940s
McLean, Ian W. Why Australia prospered : the shifting sources of economic growth
- see particularly chapter 7 and 8.
Murray, Robert The making of Australia : a concise history
Waters, Christopher Australia and appeasement: Imperial foreign policy and the origins of World War II.

Articles

Andrews, E. Australian labour and foreign policy, 1935-1939: the retreat from isolationism Labour History No. 9 November 1965 pp. 22-32
Hancock, Keith The Australian basic wage case of 1930-1931: Judge-made economic policy The Economic and Labour Relations Review Jun 2013, Vol.24(2), p.181-204
Great depression revisited AQ: Australian Quarterly Vol 80 No. 5 Sept. / Oct. 2008.
- This issue reprints various articles published in the journal in the early 1930s regarding Australia and the economic depression.
Dimsdale, N. H., & Horsewood, N. J. The causes of unemployment in interwar Australia. Economic Record, 78(243), (2002) p.388-405.
Henderson, A. A pillar of economic strength Weekend Australian (1 Oct. 2011).
- Government economic policy response to the depression.
McKernan, Michael Turning the heart to stone [The effects of sectarianism on the commemoration of Australia's war dead] Eureka Street, Vol. 4, No. 9, Nov 1994: 18-21
H.G. Wells in Australia
- State Library blog post regarding the controversy over Wells condemnation of appeasement of Hitler and Prime Minister Lyon's response

When Spanish Flu came to Victoria

'Spanish Flu' (or pneumonic infuenza) swept through the world in the immediate aftermath of World war 1, causing massive disruption and deaths.

See this video about the effects of the world pandemic on Victoria and Australia. There is also an accompanying blog.

Legislation

Pamphlets

Political pamphlets

During the 1930s and 1940s there were a range of political pamphlets published espousing a range of views on the economic depression, and the causes of the war. There were also government pamphlets discussing issues at the end of the war. See these searches for online access to many of these pamphlets.