To what extent did Australian security fears and responses to those fears change during the period of 1914 to 1949?

TO WHAT EXTENT DID AUSTRALIAN SECURITY FEARS AND RESPONSES TO THOSE FEARS CHANGE DURING THE PERIOD OF 1914 TO 1949?
Name:
Course Code:
Date:
For the first half of the 20th century, Australia seemed to peg its foreign policy on what gave them the strategic advantage in case of a war. Australian fears are not unfounded, as Grant (Australian Senator stated in Australian Parliament in 1949) once said, ‘Australia is in a precarious position by reason of the fact that as a white people we are surrounded by Asiatics.’ His statement summed up the underlying fears that drove foreign policy in Australia. First, it is an island nation and while it would be easier to protect it from external attacks, the country’s population would be stretched thin across the country and any defense mechanism would be ineffective against a strategic and more militarily stronger enemy. Secondly, Australia is surrounded by nations that she does not share cultural, political and economic ideologies with. It is a ‘western’ country that is in the east and therefore the fear of an attack from the easterners has always been imminent. Thus, Australian geographical location coupled with its small population and relatively weak military informed the choice of Australian foreign policy in the first half of the 20th century.
In the early 20th century, Australia considered itself a part of the British empire. Even as a sovereign country, Australia still felt it was under the British rule up and largely went with what Britain went with. Throughout the first three decades of the 20th century after Australia became a federation, its foreign policy framework was anchored in appeasement. She did whatever she could to avoid conflict with militarily superior powers at the time like Germany and Japan. Australia sought cordial relationship with the United Kingdom for protection. At the time, United Kingdom was a military superpower and Australia sheltered under its umbrella. In 1916, the then Australian prime minister Billy Hughes commissioned 32,500 Australian men to help Britain in the first world war. The main reason for his action was to not only to return a favor of Britain’s protection, but also to gain leverage and make sure Britain had a debt to repay to Australia should she ever be in war.
As the years went on and the second world war started, Australian foreign policy also seemed to change. Imperial Japan foreign policy in 1930s and early 1940s threatened Australia as a sovereign nation and regional hegemony in the east Pacific. At the time, Australia offered to help Brit...